MAM
CommsCredible elevates Priyanka Wadhwa & Neena Biswal as co-founders
Mumbai: On its 2nd anniversary, India-headquartered PR tech start-up, CommsCredible has announced the addition of two women co-founders in its leadership team. The bootstrapped start-up has elevated Priyanka Wadhwa, from head of strategy & operations, to co-founder and chief strategy officer and Neena Biswal, from head of South office, to co-founder & director.
Born during the covid pandemic, the company has won numerous prestigious awards in a very short span of time, which include ETBrandEquity’s ‘Emerging Agency of the Year’, Agency Reporter’s ‘Fastest Growing Agency of the Year’, and Inskpell Media’s ‘Best Consulting Start-up of the Year’, apart from winning many other for its partner clients at forums such a Mint-TechCircle, Campaign India, IDC etc.
Commenting on her elevation, Wadhwa said, “The collective vision and future of CommsCredible is very exciting to me. The opportunities are endless when it comes to the play of technology in PR, as well as its business and community impact. I look forward to taking our business strategy to the next level as we head towards a global scale up in the next phase.”
Added Biswal, “I am happy to be part of this growth journey of CommsCredible. Since inception, I have been privy to how we have grown incredibly through word of mouth and good storytelling, without having to focus on business development. It’s a very interesting time for us as a company, as we add technology to grow asset-lite, expand our client portfolio, and strengthen our offerings to become a preferred partner for brands from diverse industries.”
In her previous role, Wadhwa was heading the company’s business strategy and operations, while Biswal’s prior role included responsibilities such as strengthening media relations and taking an integrated communications approach for partner brands.
Talking about CommsCredible’s success story, founder Aman Dhall said, “Our client and media community have helped us build a strong backbone and led our growth journey. We have been focused on improving collaboration with the media, and enhancing client experience from day zero. That will stay our focus going forward as well. We are very proud of our team having diverse industry experience, as well as great business and media understanding for effective storytelling.”
CommsCredible is currently working with 20+ partner brands across diverse sectors. Its partner clients include early-stage consumer internet startups such as BASIC Home Loan, Onsurity, Sugmya Finance, global VC firms, technology brands such as Picus Capital, PTC Inc., CAST Software and prominent Indian brands such as Grant Thornton Bharat, In-Solutions Global (ISG) and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance.
Currently, it has presence across key geographies in India, including Chennai, Mumbai, Bangalore & Delhi, and overseas in Europe and the US. The company’s vision is to build a credible community, which thrives on factual information and authentic storytelling that builds trust within the media and communication ecosystem.
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.
