AD Agencies
BMW India hands creative mandate to VML’s Contract Advertising
GURUGRAM: BMW India has handed its creative mandate to VML’s Contract Advertising India, drawing the curtain on Rediffusion’s three-year stint and debuting a new brand platform, Drive your match, as it sharpens its pitch in an increasingly crowded luxury car market. The move follows a review of BMW India’s creative business and signals a recalibration of its marketing strategy to mirror evolving brand and commercial priorities.
Rediffusion had managed BMW India’s strategy, creative, digital and dealer communication since 2022, operating out of its Delhi office. The account has now moved to Contract Advertising India, a WPP agency under the VML network, as BMW looks to refresh its voice and deepen emotional resonance with Indian consumers.
The first work out of the new partnership, Drive your match, pivots the conversation from ownership to identity. The campaign leans on choice and individuality, positioning BMW cars as personalised expressions aligned with customers’ lifestyles and aspirations rather than as mass luxury products.
BMW India director–marketing Vitesh Barar, said the campaign aims to elevate the brand’s emotional connect. He added that in an Indian market where aspirations are becoming increasingly personal, the platform reinforces BMW’s positioning as a companion in individual journeys while staying distinctly premium.
Contract Advertising India is headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in Delhi and Bengaluru, and offers integrated creative services across design, digital, social media and brand consulting. BMW India’s media duties continue with Lodestar, which retained the integrated media account in 2022 after a multi-agency pitch.
The creative rejig comes as competition tightens at the top end of India’s car market. BMW India clocked its highest-ever annual sales of 17,271 units in 2025, up 15.05 per cent year on year, narrowing the gap with market leader Mercedes-Benz India, which sold 19,007 units, down 2.85 per cent. Industry observers see BMW’s renewed focus on brand storytelling as a bid to sustain momentum and close the remaining distance.
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.
