AD Agencies
Himalaya launches campaign for its lip care product
MUMBAI: Winters are here and cosmetic companies are leaving no stone unturned to make the most of the weather.
Himalaya has launched a series of three television commercials for the natural intensive lip balm. With humour as a backdrop, the advertisement campaign highlights the brand message – ‘Healthy lips make great conversations.’
The campaign is conceptualised by KarishmaLintas and directed by Rahul Sengupta. Team KarishmaLintas said, “Humour has been our primary ingredient in this advertisement to connect with the youth and share the message that soft and beautiful lips lead to healthy conversations. The idea came by asking “what do people do with healthy lips?” Is it just a healthy smile or a whole lot of talking! With this idea in mind we came with the message “use a Himalaya lip balm taaki baatein sookh na jaye (don’t let your conversations run dry).”
In all the three commercials, the TVC takes a humorous angle where it shows two friends, one who tends to get into trouble a lot and the other who cannot stop her due to her dry lips. It conveys the product benefit in a witty manner.
On the campaign, Himalaya consumer products division business head Rajesh Krishnamurthy said, “The new lip care TVC uses a humorous situation to bring out the functional benefit of using a lip balm regularly. Dry lips are a common problem and we all have faced it sometime or the other. We wanted to build on the fact that healthy conversions are the key to healthy relationships. The message our TVC conveys is ‘don’t let your conversations run dry because of chapped lips.”
AD Agencies
Microsoft shifts global media account from Dentsu to Publicis Groupe: Reports
Closed review ends decade-long tie-up; Xbox remit may remain with Dentsu
MUMBAI: Microsoft has reassigned its global media planning and buying business to Publicis Groupe, according to media reports, ending Dentsu’s long-standing stewardship of one of the advertising industry’s biggest accounts.
The move follows a closed review and marks a notable shake-up in the global media landscape. Dentsu, which managed the account through Carat, had held the mandate since 2014 and successfully defended it in a 2018 review.
While the broader business is shifting, Dentsu is expected to retain media responsibilities for Xbox, according to media reports, though the exact contours of that arrangement remain unclear. None of the parties involved have publicly outlined the transition timeline or the full structure of the handover.
The scale of the account underscores the significance of the change. Estimates from COMvergence, cited by Ad Age, peg Microsoft’s global media spend at roughly $700 million last year.
For Publicis Groupe, the win deepens an already expanding relationship with the tech giant. Earlier this year, Microsoft Advertising partnered with Publicis Media Exchange and Epsilon to integrate Epsilon’s data into its platform, aiming to sharpen targeting across search, native and display formats.
The decision reflects a broader industry shift, as large advertisers increasingly favour agency partners with strong first-party data capabilities, AI integration and platform-led solutions. Publicis Groupe has been leaning into this model, positioning its data assets and technology stack as a central differentiator.
For Dentsu, the loss is significant. Media remains a core pillar of its global business, and the development comes close on the heels of leadership changes, including the appointment of Takeshi Sano as global chief executive officer.
The shift also carries a touch of irony. Microsoft and Dentsu have worked closely beyond the client-agency relationship, including collaborations around AI tools such as Copilot to support media and creative workflows.
As the dust settles, the message is clear: in today’s data-driven, AI-powered media world, relationships may be long, but they are rarely permanent.
