MAM
Audi India appoints BBH as integrated agency
MUMBAI: Audi India has announced the appointment of BBH as its lead agency in India, handling mainline and digital work. The appointment follows a multi-agency pitch which took place towards the end of 2018.
BBH and Audi’s global partnership goes back 37 years with the brand being BBH London’s founding client in 1982. The alliance has birthed the iconic ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’, a line and ethos that is still used today and sits at the heart of every piece of communication from the brand. In 2018, BBH London won the Grand Prix at IPA Effectiveness Awards for its work on the brand.
The appointment comes as Audi looks to its next phase of growth in India and is looking to their communications strategy to help fuel that growth. With its breadth of integrated capabilities, BBH India will lead Audi’s brand communications across mainline, experiential, activations, digital and social media. A multi-channel, multi-faceted, fully integrated mandate in its truest sense that will evolve in line with Audi’s India business.
Commenting on this occasion, Audi India head Rahil Ansari said, “Audi is geared for an exciting year with a fantastic line-up of products and activities. While finding a partner, we were looking for someone that understands modern India and brings energy and disruptive thinking to the table. Audi and BBH have had a great partnership globally and the India team demonstrated a deep understanding of the local market and was able to translate that into exciting work across the consumer journey."
BBH India chief creative officer Russell Barrett added, “Audi is one of the founding clients of BBH. And the opportunity to create extraordinary stories, from the tiniest interaction to the final decision was something that genuinely excited us. We hope, along with Audi India, our bespoke, cross-functional, integrated team will help in crafting work throughout the customer journey. We look forward to a great partnership and the opportunity to bring to life the idea of progress through insightful stories and surprising technology.”
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.
