AD Agencies
Dentsu International merges The Story Lab with C’Lab in India
NEW DELHI: Dentsu International has announced the merger of its celebrity, influencer, and sports marketing division C’Lab with its global branded content division The Story Lab (TSL) in India. Deepak Kumar, erstwhile director C’Lab, will now lead the business in India as country head TSL.
The unification of these two agencies is aimed at simplifying clients’ needs in the content space and leverage TSL’s footprint and IPs across the globe. The merged entity will operate under the TSL brand and further strengthen its foundation in the country.
For the record, TSL is a global content specialist that inspires and delivers innovative content solutions. These solutions, in-turn, help in creating connect with audiences and thus, deliver value to clients and partners. Some of its popular IPs are Game of Clones, Ninja Warrior, No Sleep No FOMO, and a host of other exclusive IPs and branded content properties. C'Lab, meanwhile, specialises in creating tactical content in the space of sports and entertainment. In its last three years of operations in India, C’Lab has created some very effective campaigns with celebrities and influencers.
With the merger of these two entities, TSL will work with brands to innovate the art of storytelling. It will also introduce global learnings into the local market, infused with local understanding. The merged capability will help enhance the current offering and provide access to global IPs with local flavor.
Kumar said, “‘Content is king’ is an old adage but the relevance continues. Its significance, in fact, has increased manifold during the lockdown and further fueled with the advent of newer platforms. It’s an exciting and challenging time to be in this business wherein harnessing a brand’s interest and relevance to the consumer will be the key guiding force for us.”
dentsu COO India – media brands Haresh Nayak added, “As we enter an era of simplification, this move will only help clients achieve single-window content solutions. TSL will redefine content across multi-platforms and multi-devices, offering brands immersive experiences. Our global and local experiences will only help brands to get the best of both worlds.”
AD Agencies
Publicis Brazil’s creative chief Mauro Ramalho lands the jury chair at Abby Awards 2026
Mauro Ramalho brings 25 years of global advertising firepower to the new creative commerce, use of data and B2B category at Goafest
GOA: The Abby Awards 2026, powered by The One Club and The One Show, has appointed Mauro Ramalho, chief creative officer of Publicis Brazil, as jury chair for its newly launched creative commerce, use of data and B2B category. The announcement, made on 18 March, signals the awards’ intent to bring serious international muscle to a category that sits squarely at the intersection of creativity and commercial performance.
Ramalho is not a name that needs much introduction in global advertising circles. Over 25 years spanning three countries, he has worked at some of the industry’s most creatively restless addresses. At AKQA in San Francisco, he worked across McDonald’s, Nike, Fox, Target, Kraft Foods and GAP, and helped lead “The Lost Ring” for McDonald’s, one of the first alternate reality campaigns and among the most awarded projects of its era. He later moved to Organic in Toronto, bridging the Detroit and Toronto offices on Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler, before spending over a decade building CUBOCC into one of Brazil’s most iconic and innovative independent agencies, which subsequently joined the IPG network.
A stint at FCB followed, where Ramalho led integrated work bridging online and offline, before he joined R/GA São Paulo as vice-president and executive creative director, stitching together the São Paulo office with New York, London, Portland and California on global clients including Verizon, Google, Meta, Samsung, American Express and Heineken. He now heads Publicis Brazil as its chief creative officer.
His trophy cabinet includes Clios, Effies, TikTok awards and MMA Smarties, and he has served on juries at the Andys, TikTok and the Lisbon Awards.
The Abby Awards 2026 is scheduled to take place at Goafest 2026 on 20, 21 and 22 May in Goa.
For Indian advertising, landing a jury chair of Ramalho’s calibre for a category built around data-driven creativity and commerce is a statement of ambition. Goafest just raised its own bar.
