MAM
BBDO creates BlackBerry’s new ‘Action’ campaign
MUMBAI: BlackBerry has launched a new advertising campaign in Asia Pacific focusing on the spirit that drives the Asian youth – action.
Created by BBDO India, the campaign capitalises on the truth that BlackBerry has always been about making things happen, the company said.
BBDO India chairman and chief creative officer Josy Paul said, “It all started when Sunil Dutt, the new head of India operations for RIM asked us the all important question ‘What does BlackBerry stand for?‘ We developed the idea that every BlackBerry is born for action. There‘s an inherent urgency for action built into it. Look at the red splat that appears every time you get a message. The sign refuses to go away until you take action. The first thing we do when we wake up in the morning is check for the red splat. That‘s how we created the launch ad ‘Action now has a symbol‘ and the brand line ‘Action starts here‘. That‘s what differentiates BlackBerry from other mobile phones.”
Bringing the red splat to the forefront leverages one of the brand‘s properties that consumers connect to.
“It‘s what we call a useful idea. We all have things we talk about doing. We hope the idea will inspire people to stop sitting on the things they‘ve been wanting to do,” BBDO India CEO Ajai Jhala added.
The new red splat that resides in every Blackberry phone will now be the symbol of action. The symbol is an integral part of the ‘action‘ campaign that will run across all touch points including TV, print, OOH and digital.
MAM
Visa appoints Suresh Sethi as India country head
MUMBAI: In India’s fast-moving payments race, Visa has just swiped in a new leader. The company has named Suresh Sethi as its India country head, marking a key leadership shift as it sharpens its focus on digital payments growth in the market. Sethi steps into the role following his recent exit from Protean eGov Technologies, where he served as chief executive officer. He succeeds Sandeep Ghosh, who has moved on after more than four years at Visa to pursue an external opportunity.
The appointment comes at a time when Visa is doubling down on its expansion strategy across India and the wider region, deepening partnerships and accelerating adoption in an increasingly competitive digital payments ecosystem.
Sethi brings with him a broad, cross-market perspective shaped by decades of experience across corporate banking, retail financial services, mobile money and large-scale government technology initiatives. He began his career at Citigroup, where he spent 14 years working across India, Africa, South America and the United States, focusing on transaction banking services within the corporate bank.
His appointment signals a blend of institutional experience and market familiarity qualities that could prove critical as Visa navigates a landscape where fintech innovation, regulatory evolution and consumer adoption are all accelerating at once.
As digital payments in India continue to scale rapidly, the leadership change underscores a simple reality, in a market where every tap, scan and swipe counts, who leads the charge can matter just as much as the technology itself.







