MAM
Honda 2Wheelers digitally spreads road safety education in COVID-19 era
NEW DELHI: Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt Ltd announced that its Digital Road Safety initiative – ‘Honda Road Safety E-Gurukul’ has spread road safety awareness to over 2 lac people across India.
Started in May 2020, Honda Road Safety E-Gurukul initiative is ensuring that India learns how to stay safe on the roads, that too, digitally from the safety of their homes in the New Normal. People across all age groups – be it a 5-year-old child, an 18-year learner license applicant, a homemaker in her 30s, a corporate employee or even an existing two-wheeler rider, are now digitally learning the important aspects of road safety with Honda. Noteworthy, that in just 6 months, Honda’s dedicated safety riding promotion team has reached out to more than 185 towns & cities of India – from Una in North to Vijayawada in South and Muzaffarpur in East to Thane in West.
Speaking on this milestone achievement, Mr. Prabhu Nagaraj, Senior Vice President – Brand & Communications, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. said, “Road safety remains at the focal point of Honda. With this approach to safety, Honda began exploring new & innovative ways to ensure people’s safety on roads in the challenging times of new normal and started digital trainings. We are delighted to digitally reach out to more than 2 Lac kids & adults in just 6 months. Further, we will continue to make the most of these virtual platforms for educating people on essential road safety lessons.”
Key Highlights of Honda Road Safety E-Gurukul’:
· Scientifically designed learning modules: To effectively spread the road safety message to all participants, Honda safety riding team designed the appropriate learning modules in local languages suiting people across different regions and age groups.
· Creating a safe road mind-set from young age: In 6 months, Honda road safety instructors have educated over 76,000 young children of 497 schools. The kids were taught the basic road safety etiquettes like traffic signals, how to cross a road, how to remain safe on bicycles etc.
· Instilling safe road user behavior among future as well as new & existing riders: Over 1.36 lac adults from 402 colleges & 373 corporates became part of Honda’s digital training sessions. They were informed about the safety rules & regulations to be followed while on road (from the basic principles like road signs & markings to the lesser-known ones like steps required while overtaking, turning or at intersections & round-about).
· Exclusive online learning sessions: Empowering women to become safe & independent riders, Honda conducted online sessions exclusively for females. Honda also conducted digital training sessions exclusively for COVID-19 warriors, NCC Cadets and NSS volunteers during the period spanning 6 months.
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.
