MAM
Nikhil Kumar joins Publicis India as VP
MUMBAI: Publicis India has announced the appointment of Nikhil Kumar as vice president. Based out of Mumbai, Nikhil will focus on both organic and inorganic growth for the agency.
Nikhil Kumar will report to Publicis India COO Paritosh Srivastava.
Nikhil joins Publics India from Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd where he was the chief manager for The Economic Times (ET), looking after the brand performance and brand health of ET while heading the Brand Equity product portfolio.
Speaking on his appointment, Srivastava says, “We are happy to have Nikhil Kumar on-board the agency. Nikhil has donned multiple hats and comes with rich experience of both sides across organisations. We’re confident that his vast exposure in the realm of marketing and advertising will play a distinctive role in offering meaningful solutions to clients and further strengthening the agency relations.”
An MBA in International Business Management from University of Maryland, USA, Nikhil has a decade-long experience in building brands. In the past, Nikhil has worked both in a marketing role as well as had a fair share of exposure to the advertising world. His experience across diverse brands & agencies including Jet Airways, MullenLowe Lintas Group, Bosch & Siemens and ET will be key in translating the client’s business needs into distinctive brand strategies. In addition, his exposure within the product development domain and his ability to gauge the profitability of brands will further assist agency partners in creating a sustainable impact for their brands.
Nikhil Kumar adds, “Publicis India has been in the news lately for putting out a plethora of good work and key people appointments. I was impressed by the vision and direction that Paritosh and the team had for the future of the agency and how I would play a key role in shaping it. I’m excited to begin this new chapter and help achieve bigger milestones for the agency.”
MAM
Sleepwell unveils nationwide sleep study on World Sleep Day
79 per cent use screens before bed, 36 per cent of 18–25-year-olds sleep ≤5 hours.
MUMBAI: Sleepwell just dropped the pillow truth bomb because when India’s sleeping less and scrolling more, even the mattress wants to stage an intervention. On World Sleep Day 2026, Sleepwell released its nationwide Sleep Study, painting a stark picture of India’s escalating sleep crisis. The findings show that 79% of Indians use screens right before bed, fuelling restless nights and drowsy days. Alarmingly, 36% of young adults aged 18–25 sleep five hours or less making them the country’s most sleep-deprived group.
The study also busts the myth of “catch-up sleep”, 65% of respondents actually sleep even later on weekends, pointing to increasingly irregular patterns that spill fatigue into the working week. Mattress discomfort emerged as a frequently overlooked culprit behind late-night wake-ups and constant leak-anxiety checks.
To drive the message home, Sleepwell’s CMO Puneet Gulati appeared on Zee Business, stressing that quality sleep isn’t a luxury, it’s foundational health. He highlighted how the right mattress can transform restless nights into restorative ones.
The brand doubled down with clever late-night activations, partnering with a quick-commerce platform to serve contextual ads between 11 pm and 3 am, gently nudging bleary-eyed scrollers to consider mattress discomfort as the reason they’re still awake and pointing them to the nearest Sleepwell store. Digital influencers and creators also shared relatable stories of how poor sleep fuels impulsive late-night behaviour.
In a nation that celebrates hustle but quietly pays for it in lost rest, Sleepwell isn’t just selling mattresses, it’s selling the radical idea that sometimes the bravest thing you can do is close your eyes and actually sleep well.
