MAM
ItzCash gets bullish on DTH, cable, movie and mobile bookings
MUMBAI: Essel group company and digital payments facilitator ItzCash generates around 20 per cent to 22 per cent of its Rs 3,000 crore business from satellite cable / DTH recharge by subscribers for Dish TV. Now the company has set itself a scorching growth target of 42 per cent per annum as it bids to notch up business worth Rs 5,000 crore by 2018.
It is banking on the rapid growth in pay TV subscriptions, its new strategic partnerships with India’s largest online ticketing entertainment brand Bookmyshow, mobile bookings and Zee TV group’s on the go OTT platform dittoTV to help it get to that target.
BookMyShow has added a new Cash Top-Up feature to its ‘MyWallet’ to make it even easier for everyone to transact on the app or website. The partnership allows users to recharge their MyWallet by paying cash at the nearest ItzCash World outlet. While in its partnership with dittoTV, the company aims to capitalise on its offline network to offer revolutionary Rs 20 easy-recharge for monthly subscription.
Says ItzCash chief growth officer Bhavik Vasa, “Our partnership with BookMyShow and dittoTV will benefit the larger sections of the society while enhancing customer experience. While with these tie-ups, our partners will leverage our deep entrenched retail network, we plan to aggressively build on our customer base in the online entertainment industry.”
ItzCash has a presence across various segments serving 35 million consumers having 110 million accounts and over 75,000 franchisees branded as “ItzCash World” in 3000 plus cities and towns.
To be fair, the company has been growing at 40 per cent per annum year on year in the entertainment sector. And that’s what’s making Vasa that much more confident.
Says he: “ India is fast becoming a digital country and will soon be the world’s second largest market with 650 million internet users and 520 million smart phone users by 2020 as per a recent Google-BGC Digital Payments report. The food and entertainment sector tops the list of adoption and growth of digital payments.”
Adds BookmyShow vice-president business intelligence and marketing Marzdi Kalianiwala: “At BookMyShow, we believe in customising our offerings to address the needs of our consumers. While acceptance for online payments is on the rise, a significant set of users still remain to be apprehensive about it, either due to lack of proper internet infrastructure facilities or security concerns, which prevents them from actively using BookMyShow to meet their entertainment demands. By introducing Cash Top-Up to our ‘MyWallet’, we are eliminating these barriers and extending our services to those who prefer cash as their preferred mode of payment. We are delighted to partner with ItzCash, which will enable users book tickets on the BMS app and website without having to use their credit/debit cards or net banking.”
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.
