MAM
Publicis Drugstore to unite start-ups with real estate sector
MUMBAI: Publicis Drugstore has started its India operations with the first of its initiatives targeting the real estate sector. The drugstore is an innovation incubator, which incubates innovation ideas/projects on behalf of the Publicis Groupe clients around the world in collaboration with the startup sector.
These innovation incubation programmes range from supper chats with CXOs, to hackathons and long format innovation projects. Meet the makers is one such format which allows for an evening of intimate interaction between large companies and curated start ups in their respective sector. This experiential event was designed and created in partnership with Zone Startups, an organisation that incubates and accelerates start-ups in the Indian ecosystem.
Key speakers at the event included Anil K Nair who leads the Publicis Drugstore initiative in India and Zone Startups India director Ajay Ramasubramaniam.
Nair is of the opinion that the biggest business disruptor and saviour going into this decade will be an attitude of inside out innovation within large traditional organisations that will need to be encouraged & cultivated. A symbiotic relationship building between these organisations and the start up sector was also necessary. “It’s a win-win for both. And we at Publicis Groupe are determined to make these dialogues happen for the overall good of the market place and the consumer at large”.
He further added: “The start-up space has been responsible for some of the biggest market disruptions across the world. Be it Uber or Air Bnb, they have all gone to redefine the space they were conceived in. We could have gone the traditional way and approached the fin-tech or other sectors which have such interfaces all the time. We however, have focused on real estate as it is one industry that needs the kind of innovations that start ups bring with them.”
Ramasubramaniam added, “The start-up scene is well ahead in terms of infrastructure, support and finance. It is only recently that the Indian scenario has started catching up. There is still some time when crowdsourcing and crowd-funding will become the norm for our nation, until then we are focused on creating the right kind of environment with the assistance of the Publicis Groupe to incubate, accelerate and facilitate the transition of the start-ups to their relevant industrial sector.”
Some of the notable startup pitches that came up were Phynart, a home automation start-up that incorporates Artificial Intelligence and data mining in traditional automation systems and Enso Immersive, a R & D establishment driving research in technologies like Augmented Virtual Reality for developing applications and platforms across industries like real estate.
The real estate industry was represented by leading players like Omkar, Tata Housing, Kalpataru , Godrej properties & Puranik.
MAM
Lego brings Messi, Ronaldo, Mbappé, Vinicius together
Campaign clocks 314 million views ahead of FIFA World Cup 2026 buzz.
MUMBAI: Four legends, one frame and not a single tackle in sight. Lego has pulled off a crossover few thought possible, uniting Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior in a single campaign ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026 only this time, they’re building dreams brick by brick.
Titled “Everyone wants a piece”, the campaign features the quartet assembling a Lego version of the World Cup trophy, before placing miniature versions of themselves atop it, a playful nod to football’s ultimate prize. Shared widely across social media, the ad carries a pointed disclaimer: it is not AI-generated, a subtle but telling signal in an era where even reality is often questioned.
The numbers tell their own story. The campaign has already crossed 314 million views on Instagram across the players’ accounts, with fans hailing it as a rare, almost nostalgic moment particularly for the reunion of Messi and Ronaldo, whose last shared campaign ahead of the 2022 World Cup became one of the platform’s most-liked posts.
Beyond the film, Lego is extending the play with exclusive, player-themed sets tied to each of the four stars, part of a broader football-led programme designed to ride the global momentum building towards 2026. The idea, as echoed by the players themselves, leans into the parallels between football and play experimentation, creativity, failure, and triumph.
Messi described the sets as a way to bring on-pitch moments into an imaginative, hands-on world, while Ronaldo called the transformation into a Lego figure a rare honour, blending sport with storytelling. Vinícius, meanwhile, struck a more personal note, recalling childhood moments of building with Lego and framing creativity as a universal language that transcends borders.
The timing is no accident. With the 2026 World Cup set to run from June 11 to July 19 across the United States, Canada and Mexico, and featuring an expanded 48-team format, global anticipation is already building. Argentina, led by Messi, will enter as defending champions, adding another layer of intrigue.
For Lego, the campaign does more than celebrate football, it taps into its mythology. Because when icons become figurines and rivalries turn into play, the beautiful game finds a new kind of pitch. one built, quite literally, by hand.
