MAM
BBC secures sponsorship success in the tourism sector
MUMBAI: After the Australian tourism board promoting its business through Balaji Telefilms’ soaps likeKyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Kasutii Zindagi Kay, it is BBC World’s turn to focus on sponsorship in the travel and tourism sector.
According to an official release, the 24-hour news channel is planning to concentrate more on its travel and tourism segments, and already has a list of sponsors lined up. Amongst the list is Emirates, which will be promoting their global tour packages from January to March on BBC World. The channel will be airing a specially produced series of 50-second films, Keep Discovering with Emirates.
The tailored campaign is targeted to rope in the channel’s international audience. It will profile a range of unusual tourist attractions within 15 popular holiday destinations including London, Sydney, Dubai, Johannesburg, Singapore and Osaka. In addition to sponsoring these short features, the airlines will also sponsor the Voyager Season every weekend on BBC World.
UBS, a global financial firm based in Switzerland, will also organise a spot campaign on BBC World to be aired during the first quarter of the year. The channel will air a sailing theme commercial to promote UBS’ sponsored Team Alinghi, the Swiss syndicate challenging for the 2003 Americas Cup.
Meanwhile, the sponsors on the home front will be promoting the Kerala Tourism on the channel. The tourism board from ‘God’s own country’ are the 2003 official sponsors of BBC World’s Holiday Programme in India. The campaign is a high frequency spot currently telecast in Europe and Asia Pacific. It will soon be screened on United Airlines’ news stream from BBC World, says an official release.
The Indian tourist board’s Incredible India, the first globally launched advertising campaign is currently telecast on the channel in Europe, Asia and Australia throughout the first quarter of 2003.
The BBC World sponsor list also comprises KLM, which sponsors the hourly weather forecasts in Europe for the January and February.
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.
