MAM
Paytm Insider & Qyuki digital media host ‘Epic Fam Jam 2020’
MUMBAI: Paytm Insider & Qyuki hosted 'Epic Fam Jam', India's biggest fan festival with popular Instagrammers and Tik Tok creators at JioWorld Garden, BKC, Mumbai. The one-of-a-kind event was aimed at bringing together India’s biggest internet sensations in one place for the first time in India.
Popular Tik Tok & Instagram celebrities such as Jannat Zubair, #Team07’s Mr. Faisu, Adnaan Shaikh, Hasnain Khan, Faiz Baloch, and Shadaan Farooqui, #Teentigada’s Sameeksha Sud, Vishal Pandey, and Bhavin Bhanushali, choreographer Awez Darbar with Nagma Mirajkar, Siddharth Nigam and Avneet Kaur, were present at the blockbuster event. The evening started with an engaging performance by Indian Television actor and singer, Suyyash Rai and the fans got to groove to the tune of Gajendra Verma, the recent ‘Tera Ghata’ fame singer. By organizing Epic Fam Jam, Paytm Insider reaffirms its commitment to empower the promising artists hailing from new-age internet platforms and their fans to meet & greet and collaborate to create memorable and long-lasting experiences for everyone involved.
Paytm Insider CEO Shreyas Srinivasan said, "Being big believers in the transformational power of shared experiences, we hosted 'Epic Fam Jam 2020'. We wanted to do something unique for this growing community of short-format content creators and enable them to have a truly-deserving festival they aspired for. Going forward, we will continue to organize more such events to engage stars and fans under one umbrella and give them unique reasons to bank on collaboration opportunities."
The event provided fans the chance to meet their favorite celebrities, exclusively and get a chance to make collab videos followed up by a concert featuring the creators, Mr. Faisu, Jannat Zubair, along with other artists like Kings United, among others. The attendees also had a chance to engage with micro content creators like Shanayaa & Masroor, Sameer Mark, Arhan Ansari and Aamir Arab.
The evening was about getting familiar with the personalities that the fans are used to watching only on their favorite social media apps. From selfies to personal chat, follow backs and much more was on offer at the Epic Fam Jam 2020 that concluded with #EpicAfterParty leaving everyone present at it, mesmerized.
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.
