MAM
Puma India elevates Shreya Sachdev as head of marketing & strategic Initiatives
NEW DELHI – Global sports brand Puma has elevated Shreya Sachdev as the head of marketing & strategic Initiatives. In addition to her current role of heading strategic initiatives, she will now be responsible for leading creative, brand marketing, and managing brand personalities. Shreya will continue to report to general manager Puma India, and Southeast Asia general manager Abhishek Ganguly and will be a part of the company’s leadership team.
Commenting on the appointment, Ganguly said, “Puma’s brand differentiation in the Indian market stems from our unconventional approach to marketing. We have always believed in telling the right stories, with the right content, and in the most compelling manner to build consumer connect. Shreya’s analytical skills coupled with her penchant for creativity will further help build local relevance for our marketing excellence in the years to come.”
Sachdev joined Puma in 2019 to lead strategic initiatives. Her rich and diverse experience saw her successfully lead numerous key projects. Prior to joining Puma, Shreya worked as a consultant with McKinsey & Company. She holds an MBA in marketing from IIM Lucknow and an undergraduate degree in Literature from Lady Shri Ram College.
Talking about her new role, Sachdev said, “Even before joining the team, I was enthralled by the success of Puma brand in the Indian market. For me, having an opportunity to connect the brand and consumers is very empowering. Puma is known for creating unique and impactful brand campaigns with a focus on consumer engagement. I am looking forward to working with some of the best minds to further build our marketing excellence in India.”
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.
