MAM
‘Jab Harry’ & ‘Lipstick’ agency WWO forays into in-film branding
MUMBAI: World Wide Open, Reliance Entertainment’s 360-degree digital solutions to build business and brands, has expanded their entertainment division in multi folds in the last one year. The digital and new media advertising agency has added one more feather in their cap as they announced extending their services into in-film branding.
The company has successfully planned and executed many film campaigns in recent times that include ‘Commando 2’, ‘Phillauri’, ‘Raabta’, ‘Half Girlfriend’ and ‘Lipstick Under My Burkha’ and their ongoing campaigns also includes Red Chillies Entertainment’s ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’.
The agency has already cracked multiple deals for the upcoming sequel of Golmaal and has twenty five more films in the pipeline. With the growing importance of digital marketing, filmmakers have started involving the digital marketers right from the pre-production. Grabbing this opportunity, World Wide Open has offered to extend their support in to in-film branding and placements.
Talking about diversifying and extending their array of services, WWO head of the entertainment vertical Saahil Krishnani said, ”The importance to product placements and co-promotional deals is growing and constantly evolving. Producers and brands are gradually understanding the power of this medium and starting to benefit from them commercially and creatively. Being a digital marketing agency, we have access to more than 300 brands across the country. We are glad to have forayed in to in-film branding and to have identified the opportunity to provide our expertise and we look forward to cracking more mutually beneficially associations for both the films and the brands starting with the sequel of Golmaal.”
Set up in 2014, WWO is a digital and new media advertising agency based in India, and is a part of Reliance Digital and Entertainment. It offers services in data, direct, media, search, social, wireless, mobile, content, syndication and activation.
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.
