Brands
Brands realize value of digital: Liqvd Asia’s new creative head
MUMBAI: Digital driven marketing communications agency Liqvd Asia has appointed Dharmesh Shah as the national creative director. Shah’s last stint was with FCB Ulka, where he spent close to 14 years.
Commenting on the appointment, Liqvd Asia MD Arnab Mitra said, “Shah has an exceptional understanding of the creative process and has a genuine yearning to take on larger responsibilities and challenges”.
Expressing his delight, Shah said, “I am ecstatic to be a part of a team that is so passionate about everything digital. I am looking forward to creating some stimulating work.”
He further added, “The move from traditional to digital has been a natural one for me and now brands too are prioritizing their ad spends and realize the value digital communications adds to their marketing plans.”
During his career, he has worked for brands such as ITC foods (all brands under Sunfeast) and their confectionery business, the entire portfolio of brands under Wipro Consumer Goods, Paragon, Levi’s, Amul, Tata Indicom, Tata Motors, Tata Consultancy Services, Zee, Tata Chemicals, Nerolac Paints, LIC and ICICI Bank among others.
Shah has won several awards including: Best Language (other than English) Film for Minto Fresh(RAPA), Concerned Communicator Award by Rajasthan Patrika 2004- Ad for Literacy published in top 50 journal, CNBC TV 18 Autocar awards for the Best Car Commercial for Tata IndicaV2 Xeta (2007), Mint Wall Street Journal – Campaign of the month for Tata Indicom Unlimited Talktime film in 2007, Amul Probiotic Launch Campaign- Winning the International Dairy Federation best campaign at the World Dairy Summit (London). Some of the other campaigns under his name are Tata Indicom launch, Dark Fantasy and several Santoor TV commercials.
Brands
Kansai Nerolac tests paint in stratosphere for durability proof
Excel Everlast sent to 86,000 ft, survives -64°C and extreme UV exposure
MUMBAI: If walls could talk, this one would say it’s been to space and back. Kansai Nerolac has taken product testing to dizzying new heights quite literally by sending its exterior paint into the stratosphere in a bid to prove durability beyond the lab. In what the company calls a first for the Indian paint industry, a stratospheric balloon carried a payload coated with its Excel Everlast paint to an altitude of 86,000 feet above Earth. Up there, conditions are less “extreme weather” and more “near space”: temperatures drop below -64°C, ultraviolet radiation hits unfiltered, and atmospheric pressure is only a fraction of what it is at sea level.
Most materials struggle to survive such a hostile environment. This one didn’t. According to the campaign, the painted surface returned intact no visible damage, no compromise effectively turning a marketing claim into a high-altitude experiment.
The initiative, conceptualised by ULKA, moves away from simulated lab tests to something far more theatrical and verifiable. The campaign film documents the entire journey, positioning the exercise as proof rather than promise.
The test also doubles as a showcase for the Excel Everlast range, which includes features such as nano-silica-based protection, 30 per cent higher toughness and crack-bridging capability, along with a 20-year warranty claims now dramatised under conditions few buildings will ever face.
For Kansai Nerolac, the stunt is less about spectacle and more about signalling intent: in a category often dominated by functional messaging, it’s an attempt to turn durability into something tangible and memorable.
Because when your paint survives near-space, the neighbourhood monsoon suddenly feels like a very small test.
