MAM
Ambience D’Arcy now Ambience Publicis
MUMBAI: From today Ambience D’Arcy Advertising has changed its name to Ambience Publicis Advertising.
This name change formalises the earlier announcement made by Publicis Worldwide Asia Pacific chairman Guillaume Levy-Lambert. He had said that following the decision to dissolve the D’Arcy network globally, Ambience D’Arcy would become part of Publicis Worldwide – the flagship network of the Publicis Groupe SA.
According to an official release, Publicis Worldwide, which claims to be the fastest growing agency network in the world, now has two agencies in India – Ambience Publicis and Publicis India.
The two-agency strategy is bearing in mind the potential for growth in the Indian market and the emphasis that Publicis Worldwide would like to place on that potential.
While the two agencies share a common top management – they are separate and distinct agencies that will not hesitate to compete with one another, the release states. While they may share back room resources such as Finance and IT – they are completely separate in all front-end resources such as account management, account planning and creative – and hence there is no potential of conflict between the two agencies, the release adds.
The common chairman and vice chairman for both agencies are Ashok Kurien and Elsie Nanji respectively, and group president for both agencies is Nakul Chopra. Subhash Kamath is Ambience Publicis’ COO while Param Saikia is Publicis India’s.
Lambert adds, “In the course of the past nine months Ambience Publicis has already become a jewel in the crown for Publicis Worldwide – in fact we have already earmarked India as one of the global centers for excellence. Also Nanji is today the only representative from Asia on David Droga’s Global Creative Council for Publicis Worldwide.”
Lambert says that he is of the firm opinion that Asia is going to be the key market for growth in the coming years – and China and India will be pivotal within Asia. “The two-agency strategy will ideally position us to capitalize the growth we envisage for India. I expect Ambience Publicis will play a leading role in realising our potential in this market,” he said.
Kurien says, “For Ambience this spells the start of yet another chapter of growth and improvement. Over the past nine months, I have had occasion to personally interact with the top management of Publicis Worldwide. I am truly impressed with how driven Publicis Worldwide is to make their clients’ brands succeed and in the process grow.” He explains, “With the help of their global processes that we are adopting we hope to substantially improve the value we bring to our clients in India.”
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.
