MAM
Karnataka gold festival 2005 to kick off on 4 April
BANGALORE: The World Gold Council (WGC) and The Art of Jewellery magazine are coming together to conduct Karnataka Gold Festival 2005 in Bangalore.
The event is slated over 50-days starting 4 May to 25 May coinciding with the South Indian festivals of Ugadi and Akshaya Tritiya and the wedding season as well.
Buoyed by its success last year, the event is going to be held on a larger scale this year. Last year in Bangalore alone more than 1.6 tons of gold in all forms were sold during the festival, which was held between 4 April and 23 May.
The event is co-sponsored by ICICI Bank, Diviniti, Vijay Times, Airtel and Malaysia Tourism. Popular singer-actress Vasundhara Das has been signed as the Brand Ambassador for the Gold Festival.
More than 500 major jewelers across Karnataka are participating from their respective outlets in the new avatar of the festival. All the jewellery associations of Karnataka are supporting the festival.
The most striking feature of this event is the 5 kilos gold prize for the consumers, spread across 246 lucky draw winners including 1 Kilo gold bumper prize. Three prizes are assured for each participating district. Last year, the prizes totaled 1 kilo of gold. On every purchase of jewellery worth Rs. 2000 and multiples thereof, the consumers are eligible for free lucky draw coupons.
An added feature this year is Malaysia Tourism’s sponsoring a free holiday package for five couples (three among the participating jewelers and two among the customers).
“The response from the jewelers all over Karnataka has been over-whelming and we sincerely believe that the jewelery trade in the State will immensely benefit by this combined initiative,” says WGC VP K. Shivram.
The Art of Jewelery magazine chief editor and executive publisher Sumesh Wadhera, adds, “We are very happy to bring the entire jewelery trade in the State on a common platform to promote and drive the jewelery sales. Karnataka Gold Festival 2005 will be one of the biggest jewelery shopping festivals in India.”
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.
