MAM
LAFFAZ launches its agency arm ‘Digital Mafias’ in UAE
MUMBAI: Digital Mafias, the agency arm of LAFFAZ Media which is a Delhi-based news-hailing startup that covers the startup news, stories related to Middle East & North Africa (MENA) and Indian startup ecosystem, today announced the launch of their services in UAE. The launch took place during the 5th #BrandFusion Entrepreneurship Series of Venture Central (VentureCentral.ae), under the name ‘Market Intelligence Congress’, held at Rose Rayhaan Rotana, Dubai.
A subsidiary of LAFFAZ, a news platform featuring startups, Digital Mafias started their operations in January 2019 in India to offer cost-effective digital marketing and web-development services to startups, entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes, regardless of the business objective, sector or domain. In a short period of 8 months the company has witnessed an astonishing growth, and is now entering the UAE market.
With its #BrandFusion series, Venture Central features top brands, supporting partners, market buyers and sellers, business leaders, industry experts and SMEs. The series is a convergence of prominent and key drivers of Dubai’s business hub, and this makes it an effective avenue for building networks and forging strategic alliances. LAFFAZ being the strategic media partner for Venture Central, got the chance to launch their agency model at the 5th #BrandFusion B2B Entrepreneurship Series.
“We are immensely delighted to be acknowledged by Venture Central. While we are already working with a number of Indian brands and startups, getting represented at the Market Intelligence Congress will unlock business opportunities for us in the UAE, and that’s a milestone for us.” – Mohammed Haseeb – CEO, LAFFAZ
“The tech era has brought huge disruption and competition. Most of the traditional digital marketing practices have lost impact. Our ideation and purpose is aligned with today’s marketing ecosystem. That’s why we have come up with personalized services, flexible support and new methodologies to help our clients position themselves in the market. We are confident that we could serve our foreign clients in the same manner and vigor like we do in India” – Pradeep Singh – CTO, LAFFAZ Media
“We value the partnerships forged through the curation of our monthly #BrandFusion Entrepreneurial Series with highlights on Mentorship Talks, Brand Open Mic Presentations, Masterclasses & Business Meet-Ups. Our partnership with LAFFAZ Media & Digital Mafias marked a new milestone in our journey reinforcing Venture Central’s value as an Entrepreneurial Event Hub in the UAE & Beyond proving that digital age knows no boundaries bringing entrepreneurs together from all corners of the globe.” – Jan Bangayan – Managing Partner, Venture Central
Having worked with a number of startups, the founders of Digital Mafias, Pradeep and Haseeb observed the rigidity that most of the businesses undergo while seeking services from digital marketing agencies, thus come up with Digital Mafias to provide top-notch services with flexible support and maintenance.
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.
