AD Agencies
Janmat’s ‘Commercial Break’ features Nirvik Singh in mellow gear
President South East Asia and Chairman, South Asia of Grey Worldwide, Nirvik Singh is captured in a mellow mood on ‘Commercial Break’, aired at 7.30 p.m. on Saturday, 28 January on Janmant, India’s first 24 hour views channel. ‘Commercial Break’ focuses on the creative process, the highs and lows of the advertising world and the people who mould words and images to make us laugh, cry and think.
This half hourly show covers one leading Ad Agency every week. The discussion veers to the agency’s memorable works, awards won and ad creatives that made the grade or fell by the wayside. Shot on location, Commercial Break captures the human angle behind the women and men who lead advertising agencies in India.
Nirvik Singh, who has seen the giddy highs and abject lows of the business, reveals how Founder Ravi Gupta’s demise spelt disaster for Grey. The lean phase saw Grey give up on many clients. “We had to start from scratch,” says Singh.
Grey now has rebuilt its reputation and manages Proctor and Gamble, Incredible India for the Government of India, Ambuja Cement, Kinetic Velocity among many other clients. But when asked about the India Shining campaign, which turned out to spark the debacle for BJP, Nirvik Singh said, “Powerful advertising can make or break a client, and we learnt that from the India Shining campaign.” Grey’s inimitable Thums Up campaign, considered by many to be inspired advertising, has helped Thums Up to maintain its dominant status in the Indian cola market.
Commercial Break departs from the current industry norms of having a very formal or structured interview format. Instead it also introduces segments on old Indian commercials that have entered Indian marketing lore – for example the 40-year old Hamam ad campaign was recently showcased. There are segments on international ad campaigns, a Vox Pop for the common man to react on current campaigns and a section on the top three ads of the week.
Positioned as India’s first Views Channel, Janmat has brought a fresh breeze in the country’s TV viewing landscape. Janmat is a 24-hour current affairs channel targeted towards the discerning Indian audience. Through its innovative positioning and its interactive programming Janmat is breaking old stereotypes.
AD Agencies
Publicis Brazil’s creative chief Mauro Ramalho lands the jury chair at Abby Awards 2026
Mauro Ramalho brings 25 years of global advertising firepower to the new creative commerce, use of data and B2B category at Goafest
GOA: The Abby Awards 2026, powered by The One Club and The One Show, has appointed Mauro Ramalho, chief creative officer of Publicis Brazil, as jury chair for its newly launched creative commerce, use of data and B2B category. The announcement, made on 18 March, signals the awards’ intent to bring serious international muscle to a category that sits squarely at the intersection of creativity and commercial performance.
Ramalho is not a name that needs much introduction in global advertising circles. Over 25 years spanning three countries, he has worked at some of the industry’s most creatively restless addresses. At AKQA in San Francisco, he worked across McDonald’s, Nike, Fox, Target, Kraft Foods and GAP, and helped lead “The Lost Ring” for McDonald’s, one of the first alternate reality campaigns and among the most awarded projects of its era. He later moved to Organic in Toronto, bridging the Detroit and Toronto offices on Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler, before spending over a decade building CUBOCC into one of Brazil’s most iconic and innovative independent agencies, which subsequently joined the IPG network.
A stint at FCB followed, where Ramalho led integrated work bridging online and offline, before he joined R/GA São Paulo as vice-president and executive creative director, stitching together the São Paulo office with New York, London, Portland and California on global clients including Verizon, Google, Meta, Samsung, American Express and Heineken. He now heads Publicis Brazil as its chief creative officer.
His trophy cabinet includes Clios, Effies, TikTok awards and MMA Smarties, and he has served on juries at the Andys, TikTok and the Lisbon Awards.
The Abby Awards 2026 is scheduled to take place at Goafest 2026 on 20, 21 and 22 May in Goa.
For Indian advertising, landing a jury chair of Ramalho’s calibre for a category built around data-driven creativity and commerce is a statement of ambition. Goafest just raised its own bar.
