MAM
FMCGs were top TV advertisers in week 9
BENGALURU: 10 FMCG players were top television advertisers in week 9 of 2017 (Saturday, 25 February to Friday, March 3, 2017) Top 10 Advertisers *Across Genre : All India (U+R) : 2+ Individuals as per . Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) data. FMCG major Hindustan Lever Limited (Lever) was the top advertiser with 1,25,370 television ad insertions or spots during the week under consideration.
In terms of brands, six FMCG brands, one each from politics, mobile banking, mobile apps and jewellery genres were advertised on television the most in week 9 of 2017 as per BARC data for Top 10 Brands *Across Genre : All India (U+R) : 2+ Individuals.
This paper must be read with a caveat: It deals only with the players present in BARC’s top 10 lists of advertisers and brandsper week. The sums/percentages of other advertisers/brands other than those indicated in BARC’s top 10 lists of have not been considered/mentioned in this paper during the period under consideration and those numbers could be more/higher.
During the first 8 weeks of 2017, 17 advertisers (a maximum possible of 80 for 8 weeks) were present in the top 10 list of advertisers and 42 brands (a maximum possible of 80 for 8 weeks) were present in the list at least once during the 8 weeks. In week 9, one new advertiser–Coca Cola India Limited was added to the top 10 advertisers list to take the count to of top TV advertisers in weeks 1 to 9 of 2017 to 18 advertisers. Also, one new brand – Pears entered the top 10 brands in terms of TV ad spots list in week 9 to take the total number of most advertised brands in the first nine weeks of 2017to 43.
Though the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dropped to the third position in week 9 in terms of television ad insertions of brands in a week in week 9 with 7,920 spots, overall, it topped the list during the first nine weeks of 2017 with 71,450 insertions.
Mobile Banking brand Airtel Payments Bank was the most advertised brand on television in week 9 of 2017 with 10,673 insertions, followed by FMCG Oral care brand Close Up Ever Fresh with 8,430 insertions in week 9. As mentioned above, the BJP was the third most advertised brand in week 9. Please refer to the charts below for the top 10 brands in week 9 of 2017. Three brands entered top 10 brands list in week 9 as compared to week 8 – They were – GoodKnight Active Plus, Pears and Dr Ortho Oil & Capsule. The brands that exited the list from week 8 were Jio Fi, Vivo V5 Plus and Dettol Liquid Soap. Among the 43 brands in the lists over 9 weeks’ Surf Excel Easy Wash was present in 6 lists in the first nine weeks of 2017, including week 9. In terms of frequency, the BJP was next with a presence in 5 weeks of the nine during the first nine weeks of 2017.
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.
