MAM
Cricket’s first test after IPL amid ad slowdown
MUMBAI: Cricket‘s ability to hold on to advertising rates in the midst of a slowdown comes to its first test in the India-Sri Lanka series after the lucrative IPL failed to match its last year‘s revenues.
Handset manufacturer Micromax continues to be bullish on cricket, coming on board as title sponsor for the bi-lateral series featuring five One Day Internationals and two T20 internationals beginning 22 July.
Zee-owned Ten Sports revealed the main sponsor but was not willing to spell out the revenues it would be able to rake in from the live telecast of the event. The series that concludes on 7 August will air on Ten Cricket and Ten HD.
Sources said Ten Sports was looking at revenue of Rs 900 million from the Micromax Cup series, but media buyers said that that seemed too high a target. A media report pegged the figure at Rs 550-600 million but Indiantelevision.com found the market estimates too varied to come out with its own valuation at this stage.
Ten Sports, which also holds the on-ground sponsorship rights, has roped in Royal Stag as on-ground associate sponsor and is looking to add at least two more sponsors.
The series, which is the first major bi-lateral series post the IPL, will mark the return of Micromax to the cricket bandwagon. The brand has been investing heavily on cricket as it looks to deepen its association with its core target group, the youth.
Said Micromax Informatics marketing head Pratik Seal said, “The idea behind any sponsorship is to connect with our customer beyond our products offerings and drive our saliency amongst them. We hope to reinforce our brand charisma in both the countries. Being a youth brand, we have identified sports, movies and music as three main passion points for our target group.”
Coming first after the IPL that ended on 27 May, Micromax is hoping that the series will grab a lot of viewership. The sponsorship comes in the wake of Micromax‘s aggressive plans to make deep inroads into the Sri Lankan market.
“Micromax has already marked its presence and the customers have widely accepted our products not only in India but in Sri Lanka too and through this sponsorship we expect to further extend our customer engagement in the island country,” said Seal.
The India-Sri Lanka series will have to contest for viewership against the Olympics that kicks off on 27 July. ESPN Star Sports is targeting Rs 550 million from the Olympics.
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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.
