MAM
Dentsu APAC elevates next generation leaders
Mumbai: Dentsu Asia Pacific has announced promotions of its next generation leaders. As a part of this development, Sharan Jaswal has been promoted to general counsel APAC, Luke Speers to chief people officer APAC, both effective from 1 April. The company further has named Paul Koppelman as chief financial officer for APAC, effective from 1 May.
“Asia Pacific is critical to the future growth of Dentsu and our clients. I am delighted to see the promotions of three executives in the region, bolstering the existing team with exceptional people who have grown through our organisation,” commented Dentsu International global CEO Wendy Clark.
Jaswal brings nearly 20 years of in-house experience with previous roles at ESPN Star Sports and Yahoo!. She joined Dentsu in 2015 as senior regional counsel and has steadily assumed responsibility and respect from her peers, being promoted to deputy general counsel, APAC in 2018. She’s a vocal DEI advocate, founding Women@dentsu in Singapore in 2018 and currently co-leads the women empowerment pillar of dentsu’s DEI strategy in the region.
“Sharan’s a trusted advisor, respected for her strong commercial acumen. She has a proven record of developing and leading our legal teams across South Asia, South-East Asia and Creative businesses in APAC, all while initiating a DEI agenda in Singapore and supporting our global initiatives in the region,” added Wendy.
Luke Speers brings extensive experience from the digital, telecommunications and financial services sector having previously worked as head of people at iSelect, one of Australia’s largest insurance comparators, Telstra and The MitchelLake Group in consulting capacities. He joined dentsu Australia in March 2016 as head of talent, and was promoted to HR Director in August the same year, before being promoted to chief people officer in April 2019 and adding South-East Asia to his remit in 2021.
“Luke’s passionate about people. His exposure to global brands and start-ups across sectors has enabled him to develop expertise pivotal in identifying and securing world-class leaders, building high-performance teams and helping secure the success of some of the world’s most exciting organisations,” commented Wendy.
Paul Koppelman has a track record of delivering transformation and growth, with a strong global outlook. Having worked in Europe and Asia Pacific over his 20-year career, he has held leadership positions in several global companies across banking, technology and media & entertainment.
Wendy said on Paul’s promotion, “Paul is a respected member of the finance community and has proven his strategic and commercial capability as a partner to the ANZ business. His appointment will bring stronger commercial acumen and rigor across the APAC region.”
MAM
VML India lands two finalist spots at Cairns Hatchlings 2026
The Mumbai agency is back in Australia with two teams, a UN brief and 24 hours to impress
MUMBAI: VML India is heading to Australia again. The Mumbai-based creative agency has secured two finalist spots at the Cairns Hatchlings 2026 competition, one in the Audio category and one in Design, making it the only Indian agency to have reached the finals in both editions of the contest since its launch in 2025.
Four people will make the trip. Senior copywriter Shilpi Dey and senior art director Raj Thakkar will compete in Audio. Art directors Shabbir and Shruti Negi will go head-to-head with the world’s best in Design. The finals take place at the Cairns Convention Centre from 13th May, culminating in an awards ceremony on 15th May.
The work that got them there is worth examining. For the Audio category, Dey and Thakkar tackled a brief for LIVE LIKE MMAD with a campaign called Inner Voice, Interrupted. Using spatial audio techniques, the campaign recreates the overwhelming self-doubt that descends after a long workday, physically panning negative thoughts left and right before cutting the noise entirely to reveal a confident inner voice. Strategically targeted at commuters via Spotify during evening rush hours, the campaign reframes the hours after work as an opportunity for personal growth and charitable action.
For the Design category, Shabbir and Negi worked on a brief for Canteen’s Bandanna Day, a campaign highlighting how cancer pushes teenagers out of their own defining moments. Using a pixelated design language to create stark contrast between a blurred world of isolation and a focused world of connection, the campaign, titled The Flipside of Cancer, shows teenagers fading into the background of birthdays, skateparks and school proms. As a Canteen bandanna appears, the blur flips and the teenager snaps back into sharp focus.
Kalpesh Patankar, group chief creative officer of VML India, made no attempt to disguise his satisfaction. “We are immensely proud to see our teams consistently excel on the Cairns Hatchlings platform since its inception,” he said. “They have masterfully tackled challenging briefs across diverse categories, demonstrating both layered storytelling and a unique creative approach. This exceptional teamwork is truly inspiring.”
Dey and Thakkar, returning to the finals after last year’s run, were candid about the demands of the audio medium. “It’s one of the most demanding mediums, where we only have a few seconds to capture a listener’s world with sound alone, so absolute clarity is essential,” they said. “The true measure of creative work is its ability to create positive change, and our audio submission was made to help those who need it most while encouraging people to silence the inner voices that hold them back.”
Shabbir and Negi, competing in Design for the first time, described the experience as “a completely different beast.” “We see it as an opportunity to showcase our expertise, raise the bar, and challenge ourselves in new ways, while also learning from creative minds from across the globe,” they said.
In Australia, the four finalists will face a live 24-hour brief from the United Nations before presenting in a live pitch session. Twenty-four hours, one brief, one shot. VML India has been here before. It knows exactly what is at stake.
