MAM
Outbrain expands its network in the south with Oneindia to Drive New Growth For Publishers
MUMBAI: Outbrain, the world’s leading discovery and native advertising feed for the open web, announced today a new long term partnership with Oneindia publishing group. The deal will include installing Outbrain across all their online sites as well as their Daily Hunt Platform. Through this integration, Oneindia will utilize Outbrain’s Engage solution to further escalate its digital strategy, drive monetisation and power customized and personalised content journeys across its network.
“We are committed to building long term, strategic relationships with our publishers, and enable them through our technology and expertise to build sustainable business models that will future-proof their businesses,” said Sandeep Balani, the head of India at Outbrain. He added, “Our vision is to enable Oneindia to create and monetize the best online experiences for their audiences while giving brands a platform to connect with their customers and create meaningful engagements through best in class storytelling.”
Outbrain’spersonalised content recommendations will be seamlessly integrated across the desktop and mobile sites of Oneindia and will allow the publisher to fully leverage the Outbrain technology platform to maximise their monetisation opportunities and drive deeper engagement and audience growth.
“Partnership with Outbrain is the right strategic decision for us at this time. Outbrain’s technology platform provides effective tools to help drive revenue for Oneindia. Outbrain has a proven track record of delivering value to publishers amidst a tumultuous media environment,” says Sudhir Sundrani Monetization & Ad-Performance Director.
“We are very excited about this partnership with Oneindia. Our aim at Outbrain is to provide smart and flexible technology that drives personalised content recommendations while optimising revenue. We look forward to building a strong partnership together.” said Anand Makhija, Director of Business Development at Outbrain.
The deal will include Oneindia’s other online properties such as Goodreturns, NativePlanet, FilmiBeat, Boldsky, GizBot, DriveSpark, MyKhel, CareerIndia. The reach of the combined sites gives Outbrain advertisers extensive access to audiences in South India on sites in seven languages including English. The continued expansion of its publisher network across all major verticals in India further extends the content marketing opportunity for brands in this region and significantly increases marketers ability to strengthen their audience relationships and get their content discovered.
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.
