AD Agencies
Adman Diwan Arun Nanda, co-founder of Rediffusion, passes away
MUMBAI: Diwan Arun Nanda, one of Indian advertising’s towering figures and co-founder of the agency Rediffusion, passed away this week in Mumbai. He was 76.
Born in 1948, Nanda cut his teeth at Hindustan Lever after graduating as a gold medallist from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. His early work included the lightning-bolt logo for Rin detergent, which seared itself into household memory.
In 1973, with Ajit Balakrishnan and Mohammed Khan, he set up Rediffusion, thumbing his nose at the global giants then ruling the market. A coup soon came with Eveready’s transistor-battery campaign—“The chosen one”—that announced the firm’s creative muscle.
Over the next decades Nanda steered Rediffusion into the premier league, wooing clients from telecoms to fast-moving consumer goods. His fame rested not just on catchy slogans but on fierce integrity. When a magazine failed to deliver on claims hyped in its ads, he promptly gave up the account, unwilling to mislead.
Nanda’s reach went well beyond Madison Avenue. He advised prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in the 1980s, forged a tie-up with Young & Rubicam, and sat on the boards of Air India, Eveready, Kingfisher Airlines and Yes Bank. Colleagues remember him as a demanding mentor who valued clarity and principles as much as creativity.
“Rediffusion’s journey was a dream run,” he once said. His death marks the close of an era in Indian advertising—an era of audacity, pride in home-grown talent, and the rare refusal to compromise.
AD Agencies
Tribes and Omnicom Media win Gold for HSBC Living Hexagon at ET Awards
Kinetic OOH installation turns HSBC’s iconic logo into a living landmark
MUMBAI: Tribes Communication and Omnicom Media have secured a Gold win at the ET Design & Creativity Awards for their innovative out-of-home installation, The Living Hexagon, created for HSBC.
Awarded in the Most Creative Traditional OOH category, the project reimagines one of the world’s most recognisable banking symbols into a dynamic, ever-evolving structure. Designed for HSBC’s International Financial Services Centre presence, the installation was conceived to do more than simply grab attention. It aimed to seamlessly blend into the fast-growing ecosystem of GIFT City.
At the heart of the idea is HSBC’s iconic hexagon, typically associated with precision and consistency. Tribes transformed this static identity into a kinetic structure that responds to natural elements such as wind and light, creating a sense of continuous motion. The result is a visual experience that shifts throughout the day, echoing themes of adaptability and momentum.
Constructed using modular triangular units arranged along a precise geometric axis, the installation moves in synchrony, giving the illusion of a fluid, living form. While the structure evolves with its surroundings, it retains the unmistakable identity of the HSBC brand, striking a balance between innovation and familiarity.
Strategically placed at a key entry point into GIFT City, the installation functions as both a landmark and a statement. It reflects the pace and dynamism of global finance while embedding the brand into the city’s architectural narrative.
With this win, Tribes Communication and Omnicom Media underline the growing role of experiential and design-led thinking in traditional media, proving that even the most established brand assets can find new life when reimagined with creativity and context.
