Brands
Will never look at rebranding Vicks: P&G India
MUMBAI: Nearly all of us remember the Vicks ad that went viral last year featuring transgender social worker Gauri Sawant and her daughter Gayatri. The ad touched and moved many. In the second phase of the campaign, Vicks has launched a new digital campaign for its #TouchOfCare brand proposition.
‘One in a Million’ is yet another inspiring story, this time of Nisha, a young girl who has Ichthyosis, a genetic skin condition. The transformation of Nisha due to the love and care provided by her adoptive parents Aloma and David Lobo, forms the crux of this digital video.
Created by Publicis Singapore, the story is a first-person narrative by Nisha, an orphaned girl with Ichthyosis who was abandoned by her biological parents when she was just two weeks old.
Ever since the company launched its first digital movie in 2017, people have been curious and anticipating #TouchOfCare to turn into a series and a long term campaign. Though the multinational corporation did not see the campaign becoming this big and receiving the response that it did, P&G Healthcare regional associate brand director for Asia Maithreyi Jagannathan said that the objective of the campaign was to drive on the equity of the brand and make it beyond just a cough and cold brand so that people don’t think of P&G only when they are sick.
2017 Vicks #TouchOfCare ad:
The new digital campaign is another example of cause marketing that seems to be the recent trend in the industry. Nearly everyone wants to associate with a cause and showcase that in their advertisement. It may often become a challenge for a marketer to distinguish the media spends between cause driven campaign and functionality driven campaign. P&G however seems to have it sorted as Maithreyi confirms that while this is more of a creative campaign, the company will continue to use its functional campaigns on all media platforms.
The Gauri Sawant film went massively viral on digital as it was a digital-first campaign and only after the team saw the phenomenal response it received, it decided to leverage other traditional mediums to promote the campaign. Similarly, for this second phase of the campaign, while it has kicked off with digital, as and when the campaign grows bigger, it will use a mix of television and print to reach the masses.
Content driven marketing is becoming larger by the day and P&G does not want to be left out on it. Mentioning that it has to be a balance between data driven content and functional advertising, Vicks India country marketing manager Ritu Mittal added, “Content driven marketing is a lot more data driven today because the clear objective is that you need more people to see it. Nobody will share functional advertisement on their social media but thousands will share a powerful content.”
2018 Vicks #TouchOfCare ad:
Vicks has been around for over a decade and many may see the brand as a grandmother brand that the Gen-Z may not completely resonate with. So much so that the formulation for Vicks hasn’t changed in the last 128 years. So, is there a dire need for brand Vicks to reinvent itself? P&G clearly doesn’t seem to think so. Mittal said, “You change the brand positioning only when the brand is not working and Vicks has been doing great numbers for us and so we don’t need to rebrand the product.”
Whether the decision to stick to the traditional form of Vicks works for or against the brand, only time will tell. But maybe the #TouchOfCare campaign was indeed a saviour for the company to get the millennials’ eyeballs as they are all about cause buying.
Brands
Magellanic Cloud names Syed Ameeruddin CEO of e-surveillance arm
Keeping a sharper eye on the future, Magellanic Cloud is putting a seasoned watcher in charge.
MUMBAI – Magellanic Cloud Ltd. has elevated Syed Ameeruddin as Chief Executive Officer of its e-surveillance business, bringing its iVIS and Provigil operations under a unified leadership to accelerate growth in intelligent monitoring and infrastructure solutions.
Ameeruddin, a nearly two-decade veteran of the company, steps into the role after leading the e-surveillance vertical. His career trajectory—from Business Development Manager to the top of the vertical—reflects a steady climb built on operational depth, client engagement, and strategic execution across multiple subsidiaries.
Over the years, he has played a central role in expanding the company’s footprint, strengthening client relationships, and streamlining operations. He has also been instrumental in integrating acquisitions, helping align new businesses with Magellanic Cloud’s long-term strategy while stabilising performance across diverse domains.
More recently, Ameeruddin has contributed to securing key mandates spanning railways, the National Highways Authority of India, and the BFSI sector—wins that have bolstered the company’s order book and deepened its presence in critical infrastructure.
Commenting on the move, Joseph Sudheer Thumma said Ameeruddin’s leadership has been “pivotal in shaping the e-surveillance business,” citing his ability to drive growth, build teams, and deliver strategic wins as key to the company’s journey. His elevation, Thumma added, is expected to further accelerate expansion in AI-driven surveillance and infrastructure solutions.
The transition comes as demand surges for AI-enabled monitoring, centralised command systems, and large-scale deployments across mission-critical environments. Magellanic Cloud’s e-surveillance segment—anchored by iVIS and Provigil—has emerged as a significant growth engine, delivering projects across banking, transport, highways, and public infrastructure.
In his new role, Ameeruddin will focus on scaling platform capabilities, expanding deployments in complex environments, and developing integrated solutions that enhance real-time intelligence and operational resilience. He will continue to serve as Chief Operating Officer of the company alongside his new responsibilities.
With this leadership shift, Magellanic Cloud is doubling down on its ambition to stay ahead in India’s rapidly evolving surveillance ecosystem—where seeing, increasingly, is not just believing, but predicting.
