AD Agencies
Mitali Srivastava Hough launches The Equal agency
MUMBAI: Utopeia’s co-founder and head of strategy, Mitali Srivastava Hough, has today announced the launch of “Equal” on World Social Justice Day with a very special thought in mind. The Equal agency will specialize in Cause marketing and CSR solutions for brands.
Srivastava Hough states that there is a greater need than ever before for brands to connect with communities who have been ignored for a long time.
She says, “The voices of the underprivileged, rural India, minorities, LGBTQIA, women, differently abled and other marginalised groups are getting stronger by the day and it’s critical that brands find a genuine way to connect with, communicate with, and endorse their voices. There is also a need for genuine conversations around equality, human rights, inclusion and social protection. It is now mandatory for businesses in India to spend 2 per cent of their average net profits on CSR, leading to investment in areas such as education, health, poverty, gender equality and hunger. It is essential that this investment is aligned with long-term strategic planning with clear goals and a true connection with communities and audiences, in order to grasp the opportunity and make a deep and long-term impact. Brands are recognising that engaging effectively in CSR can reap long term results. So, Equal has been launched to create meaningful and genuine solutions in CSR and Cause marketing.”
She adds, “At Equal, we will provide end-to-end solutions in the CSR category to help brands use their CSR budget to maximise returns and build long term properties that can benefit employees, consumers, stakeholders, brand equity and business.”
Srivastava Hough has done various projects in this field already and believes that her true passion lies in this area. She has been an activist for various social causes for over a decade. She has also done CSR and Cause marketing projects for Reliance Foundation, Adani Foundation, Ambuja Foundation, and the recent Rainbow Lit Fest, and others.
Prior to co-founding Utopeia Communicationz, Mitali Srivastava Hough was an AVP in DDB Mudra, and has worked in Ogilvy India and TBWA India, where she led strategic planning for brands such as Volkswagen, Big Bazaar, Bournvita, Asian Paints, etc.
AD Agencies
Publicis Brazil’s creative chief Mauro Ramalho lands the jury chair at Abby Awards 2026
Mauro Ramalho brings 25 years of global advertising firepower to the new creative commerce, use of data and B2B category at Goafest
GOA: The Abby Awards 2026, powered by The One Club and The One Show, has appointed Mauro Ramalho, chief creative officer of Publicis Brazil, as jury chair for its newly launched creative commerce, use of data and B2B category. The announcement, made on 18 March, signals the awards’ intent to bring serious international muscle to a category that sits squarely at the intersection of creativity and commercial performance.
Ramalho is not a name that needs much introduction in global advertising circles. Over 25 years spanning three countries, he has worked at some of the industry’s most creatively restless addresses. At AKQA in San Francisco, he worked across McDonald’s, Nike, Fox, Target, Kraft Foods and GAP, and helped lead “The Lost Ring” for McDonald’s, one of the first alternate reality campaigns and among the most awarded projects of its era. He later moved to Organic in Toronto, bridging the Detroit and Toronto offices on Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler, before spending over a decade building CUBOCC into one of Brazil’s most iconic and innovative independent agencies, which subsequently joined the IPG network.
A stint at FCB followed, where Ramalho led integrated work bridging online and offline, before he joined R/GA São Paulo as vice-president and executive creative director, stitching together the São Paulo office with New York, London, Portland and California on global clients including Verizon, Google, Meta, Samsung, American Express and Heineken. He now heads Publicis Brazil as its chief creative officer.
His trophy cabinet includes Clios, Effies, TikTok awards and MMA Smarties, and he has served on juries at the Andys, TikTok and the Lisbon Awards.
The Abby Awards 2026 is scheduled to take place at Goafest 2026 on 20, 21 and 22 May in Goa.
For Indian advertising, landing a jury chair of Ramalho’s calibre for a category built around data-driven creativity and commerce is a statement of ambition. Goafest just raised its own bar.
