MAM
Cobra Beer wins Gold Medals at Monde Selection 2005
MUMBAI: Indian-brewed Cobra Beer has won Two Gold Medals at the prestigious Monde Selection Awards 2005. The two Gold Medals were awarded to the Mount Shivalik Group in India, who brews Cobra for India.
At this year’s awards in Brussels it won 11 Gold medals which was more than any other beer company entered in this year’s competition. The 15 year old Cobra Beer took home two Grand Gold Medals and nine Gold Medals and two Silver Medals.
Cobra Beer founder and CEO Karan Bilimoria said, “I am delighted by our tremendous showing at this year’s Monde Selection. It is further proof that through our entrepreneurial spirit and innovative approach we are able to punch above our weight and compete against the giants of the industry. These accolades are due in great part to the dedication of our production director Robert Knox, who oversees Cobra’s brewing operations throughout the world. It is thanks to his hard work, at each brewery and with its brewer, that Cobra has maintained world class standards wherever it is brewed.”
Browar Belgia’s bottled Cobra – in 330 ml and 660 ml sizes – took home two Grand Gold Medals, Monde Selection’s highest medal. Cobra Beer has now won four Grand Gold medals in the last two years and is the only British company to have done so.
Of the medals won, eight were awarded to Cobra brewed by Browar Belgia in Poland, including two Gold Medals for Krait Beer – Cobra’s beer for the American market, and two Gold Medals for Cobra’s brand new premium alcohol-free beer, Cobra 0.0% and its American counterpart Krait Free.
British beer brand Cobra Beer has been exported to over 35 countries worldwide. It is available in the UK in more than 6,000 Indian restaurants, major supermarkets and off-licenses and now to nearly 6,000 mainstream bars, pubs and clubs.
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.
