MAM
Push wins CCL creative account
MUMBAI: Push Integrated Communications has been awarded the creative duties of the Celebrity Cricket League 2013. The mandate includes creative development and execution across multiple media platforms.
The ad spends on the league will be in the range of Rs 100 million.
CCL founder and managing director Vishnu Vardhan Induri said, “CCL is truly larger than life with its popularity challenging even the IPL. Push Integrated has brought alive the Block Buster appeal of the competition. Their creative visualization and ability to dovetail the communication idea into different media platforms is truly noteworthy.”
Push Integrated managing director and CEO V A Shrikumar added, “Push Integrated is truly humbled to be bestowed with this honor. CCL is the next generation entertainment. CCL will bring larger audiences to the field of entertainment and sports. We are charged and ready to package this product in a way that is going to set a new trend in the industry.”
CCL is a 20-20 league cricket property involving superstars from the feature film fraternity. It has teams from Mumbai, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and West Bengal. This year two new teams have been added from the Marathi and Bhojpuri regions. Participants of the league include Mohan Lal, Sunil Shetty, Venkatesh, Vishal, Sudeep, Jeet, Ritesh Deshmukh and Manoj Tiwari. This year CCL will be telecast on eight channels of Star in as many languages. The league stretches from 19 February to 10 March.
About PUSH Integrated Communications Pvt. Ltd.
PUSH Integrated is a true blue integrated communication solution provider with competencies that extend from communication strategy, creative development and execution to media solutions, digital strategy and activation, film production, event management and public relations. Each of the services are independent profit centers with focused capabilities. For PUSH, the idea chooses the medium for resonation, and then the competent partners and associates take over the function seamlessly. PUSH Integrated is the creative partner fro MAXUS in India and has strategic partnerships with MConsult, the Business strategy consultants, a part of Group M. Today PUSH has an impressive list of clients from retail and services to FMCG, education, fashion, healthcare, banking and infrastructure. The clients include Kalyan Jewelers, A.V. Thomas & co. ltd., with AVT Premium, Kalanikethan, Wrangler Jeans, Sobha Restoplus, Manappuram Finance and Shanders Developers to name a few.
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.
