MAM
JioHotstar taps Vedviyas Sridhar to steer south marketing push
CHENNAI: JioHotstar has handed the marketing reins for southern India to Vedviyas Sridhar, appointing him director – marketing (south) and basing him in Chennai. The move signals a sharper regional push as the streaming platform looks to deepen reach, amplify content visibility and accelerate audience engagement in one of its most competitive markets.
In his new role, Sridhar will lead marketing strategy across the southern states, shaping brand narrative, driving regional campaigns and translating marquee content into sustained subscriber traction for one of India’s most influential digital entertainment platforms.
Sridhar brings more than 14 years of experience spanning product marketing, brand management, content strategy and digital acquisition. He steps into the role from within the organisation, having most recently served as associate director – marketing at Hotstar, where he was closely involved in high-impact platform and content-led campaigns.
Before Hotstar, Sridhar held senior marketing roles at ZEE5, The Hindu Group and Hinduja Tech Limited. Across these stints, he led national and global programmes, oversaw digital product launches and worked on brand transformation initiatives cutting across media, technology, FMCG and SaaS. An alumnus of IMT Ghaziabad, he is widely regarded for blending consumer insight with data-led decision-making and tight execution.
The appointment comes as JioHotstar sharpens its focus on regional storytelling and scale-led growth. With competition intensifying and audiences fragmenting, the south is no longer a market to serve-it is one to win.
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.
