AD Agencies
Madame Tussauds in India; WATConsult wins media mandate
MUMBAI: WATConsult, one of India’s leading media agency, which is now a part of the Dentsu Aegis Network, has won the digital and social media mandate of the world-renowned wax museum, Madame Tussauds, which is soon to be launched in the capital city of India.
The agency will handle the entire digital marketing duties including social media presence across multiple platforms, digital media buying and planning.
WATConsult founder and CEO Rajiv Dingra said, “I am excited that they are launching in India; further for WATConsult to be associated with a global brand. We look forward to creating some truly innovative campaigns using technology.”
WATConsult AVP Operations (Delhi) Faisal Haq commented, “We are exploring new ideas for their launch in India and have planned effective campaigns for them.”
Merlin Entertainment India General Manager and Director Anshul Jain said, “Merlin Entertainments group, World’s second largest attractions operator is bringing its flagship brand Madame Tussauds, which is also the number 1 wax attraction in the world, with a rich legacy of over 250 years in Connaught place, Delhi. We are thrilled to announce that the attraction will truly encapsulate the vibrancy and colour of India, and dynamism of Delhi.”
Madame Tussauds head marketing & sales Sabia Gulati added “We are here to deliver a brand new experience, an experience beyond wax. With use of modern technology and immense focus on digital marketing, Madame Tussauds has a modern vibe. Looking forward to deliver lots of immersive experiences at every touchpoint”
Wax figures of megastar Amitabh Bachchan and cricketer Sachin Tendulkar will be amoing the first of 50 to be displayed at the Indian branch of Madame Tussauds museum of wax sculptures at the heritage building of Regal Cinema in New Delhi’s Connaught Place. The first and second floor of the heritage building will be occupied by the 23rd branch of what is one of London’s biggest tourist attractions with 22 branches across the world.
Madame Tussauds showcases local and global celebrities in a ratio of 4:6 but this will be reversed in India where there will be more local celebrities than global ones, according to Jain. The British-based company plans to showcase Indian culture via a “different form of entertainment.”
Wax figures of celebrated personalities from the worlds of sport, music, history, film and TV will be seen at the Madame Tussauds in Delhi. The layout of the exhibits follows these areas or themes. The father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi, Hollywood superstar Jackie Chan, and pop icon Lady Gaga are among the host of personalities whose wax figures will be installed. (Media reports from Mumbai had indicated that Bachchan mistook a picture of his wax figure in newspapers to be a photograph of him.)
The museum can accommodate approximately 500 visitors. Preferring to discard the tag of a ‘museum’, Jain said visitors would be allowed to interact with the life-like figures. Every wax figure on display at a Madame Tussauds takes over four months to complete and costs Rs 15 million. Almost 500 precise body measurements are worked upon by a team of 20 artists to create each wax masterpiece. The maintenance of the Delhi branch will be handed to a trained local team.
Live action, seen in some editions of Madame Tussauds, will take a while to arrive in Delhi. “We are trying to give more life to the surroundings of the figures, across all our global editions,” said Madame Tussauds director of new openings-Europe and emerging markets Marcel Kloos,
AD Agencies
AdTrust Summit 2026 to examine trust, AI and Gen Alpha in advertising
Two-day summit in Mumbai to explore ethics, regulation and the future of advertising trust
MUMBAI: At a time when advertising is navigating a delicate trust deficit, the Advertising Standards Council of India is preparing to bring the industry to the table. On 17 and 18 March, the body will host the inaugural AdTrust Summit 2026 in Mumbai, a two-day gathering designed to spark conversation around responsibility, regulation and credibility in modern advertising.
The summit, to be held at the Jio World Convention Centre in Bandra Kurla Complex, will bring together leaders from advertising, media, technology and policy to examine how brands can build trust in a marketplace increasingly shaped by algorithms, influencers and artificial intelligence.
In an age of deepfakes, dark patterns and blurred lines between content and commerce, the question is no longer just how brands capture attention, but whether audiences believe what they see. The AdTrust Summit aims to unpack that challenge.
Day one will turn its attention to the youngest digital natives. Titled Decoding Gen Alpha, the session will unveil ‘What the Sigma?’, a study by ASCI and Futurebrands Consulting that explores how children growing up in a hyper-digital environment encounter advertising and commercial messaging.
The report presentation will be delivered by Santosh Desai, founder and director at Think9 Consumer Technologies and a social commentator known for his insights into consumer behaviour. The discussion that follows will attempt to decode how Gen Alpha consumes media, interacts with brands and navigates the growing overlap between entertainment and marketing.
In a move that mirrors the subject itself, two Gen Alpha students will also join the conversation, offering a rare perspective from the generation advertisers are trying to understand.
The second panel of the day will shift the focus from observation to implication, asking what the report’s findings mean for brands, agencies and society. Speakers include Karthik Srinivasan, communications strategy consultant; Preeti Vyas, president at Mythik; and Abigail Dias, associate president planning at Ogilvy. The session will be moderated by Sonali Krishna, editor at ET Brand Equity.
Day two moves from insight to regulation. Under the theme From Compliance to Trust, ASCI will release its Ad Law Compendium, a comprehensive guide to India’s advertising regulations.
The day will open with a keynote by Sudhanshu Vats, chairman at ASCI and managing director at Pidilite Industries, followed by a chief guest address by Sanjay Jaju, secretary at the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Legal experts from Khaitan & Co., including Haigreve Khaitan, senior partner, and Tanu Banerjee, partner, will present an overview of the current advertising law landscape in India and examine whether existing frameworks are equipped to deal with emerging technologies and formats.
Subsequent panels will explore issues increasingly shaping the industry’s ethical compass. Conversations will range from the limits of persuasive design and the rise of dark patterns, to the growing scrutiny brands face from digital creators and consumer watchdogs.
One session will also feature Revant Himatsingka, widely known online as the Food Pharmer, whose critiques of packaged food brands have sparked debate around transparency and corporate accountability.
Later discussions will turn toward media literacy among Gen Alpha, asking how children can be equipped to navigate a digital world where gaming, content and commerce are becoming indistinguishable.
The summit will conclude with a final panel on the future of advertising, bringing together voices from agencies, legal circles and technology platforms to discuss how innovation, intelligence and integrity can coexist.
For an industry built on persuasion, trust has always been its quiet currency. But as audiences grow more sceptical and digital ecosystems more complex, that currency is under pressure.
Events like the AdTrust Summit suggest the advertising world knows it cannot afford to take credibility for granted. The real challenge now is turning conversation into commitment.
