MAM
Incred backs kabaddi with Jaipur Pink Panthers and Gujarat Giants tie-up
MUMBAI: Credit where it’s due, kabaddi just got a fresh financial backer. Incred Financial Services Limited (Incred Finance), the tech-led NBFC known for its risk-analytics edge, has partnered with Jaipur Pink Panthers and Gujarat Giants as Associate Partner for the 2025 Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), starting 29 August.
The move marks Incred’s push beyond cricket where cricketer Shreyas Iyer is already its brand face and into a sport that’s as desi as it gets. With kabaddi boasting more than 3 crore viewers and popularity stretching from metros to Tier 2, Tier 3 and rural markets, the partnership aligns neatly with Incred’s mission to extend credit access to aspirational India.
The NBFC, with 140 plus branches and 2,500 plus employees, serves individuals and MSMEs with products spanning personal, education, MSME business, loan against property, and digital merchant loans. By associating with kabaddi, Incred hopes to amplify its reach in the underserved segments it champions.
“InCred has always stood for resilience and ambition qualities that kabaddi reflects beautifully,” said Incred Finance founder & CEO Bhupinder Singh noting the sport’s deep grassroots connect. Incred Finance group head of marketing Radhika Zingade added that kabaddi’s energy and ethos mirror the brand’s own, calling the association with two powerhouse teams “a natural step.”
And powerhouse is no exaggeration. Jaipur Pink Panthers, owned by Abhishek Bachchan, are two-time PKL champions with a consistent record of title runs. Meanwhile, Gujarat Giants made headlines this season by signing Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh for Rs 2.23 crore, the highest-ever bid in PKL history.
With 12 teams battling it out across Vizag, Jaipur, Chennai, and Delhi, PKL Season 12 promises fierce tackles and fresh storylines. For Incred, it’s not just a game of sport, it’s a high-stakes play to connect with India’s heartland, where both credit and kabaddi matter most.
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.
