MAM
Audi India enhances digitalisation focus with online sales and service initiatives
MUMBAI: Audi, the German luxury car manufacturer, announced a vital step in its digitalisation journey with the roll-out of digital sales and after-sales offerings. The incorporation of Augmented Reality, a 360° Product Visualizer, and online bookings on the Audi India website bring the buying experience straight to a prospective customer’s fingertips.
Audi India head Balbir Singh Dhillon said, “Digital customer-centric initiatives are a key focus area for Audi in India. We have been at the forefront of enabling and introducing future technologies for our customers – including Augmented and Virtual Reality elements. Taking this Digitalization strategy a step forward, we are pleased to announce digital sales for our product portfolio and after-sales support for our existing and future customers. While our belief in a digital future is already profound, the advent of Covid-19 has only made it stronger as to how we interact with our customers going forward. With the initiatives announced today, we are taking digital experiences to the living rooms of our customers and offering them the flexibility to purchase their preferred Audi of choice and even book their next service appointment online.”
Buyers can now familiarize themselves with features, configure their Audi, explore finance options, and place an order, all from the comfort of their home. Audi was the first luxury car manufacturer in India to leverage Virtual Reality (VR), enabling Audi Q8 and Audi A8 L buyers to engage with, and personalize their cars in a never-seen-before manner.
Further, existing Audi customers can now book a service on the Audi India website and can schedule a car pick-up and drop as per their convenience. Real-time service status updates and online payment options will be added over the course of time.
Dhillon further added, “Digitalization plays a major role in buying and engaging with a customer. Audi India leaped into 2019 by becoming the first luxury car maker to unveil and introduce a digitalization roadmap – “myAudi Connect”. Digitalization will continue to be at the core of our strategy. As a brand, we are investing holistically in all possible avenues to be ‘Future Ready’. Through all our digitalization initiatives, we want our customers to experience what we stand for – ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’.
In 2019, Audi India launched Connected Car technology with the ‘myAudi Connect’ App. The App gives complete information on the car to the customer with features like Time-based curfew notifications and Disturbance notifications which alerts customers in case of any incident with the car. The ‘myAudi Connect’ App also complements the lifestyle of the Audi owner by bringing a host of lifestyle features and offers. As part of its Digital Retail initiative, Audi had also taken e-commerce to the next level. Customers are able to purchase genuine Audi merchandise directly from the Audi Shop on URL (www.audiindia.in/audishop).
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.
