MAM
Times Prime partners with premium grooming essentials brand The Man Company to get you started on your Gentleman Journey
MUMBAI: India’s first comprehensive lifestyle membership, Times Prime has partnered with The Man Company, the country’s leading premium men's grooming brand to provide its subscribers exclusive benefits on handpicked, class-leading products that help them feel at their very best. Times Prime subscribers can now get access to 12 vouchers of flat 30% off on all products and additional 12 vouchers worth Rs. 500 each on a minimum cart value of Rs. 1129.
At an introductory price of Rs. 999 only, Times Prime’s premium lifestyle membership now offers exclusive access to 7 premium memberships that include Swiggy Super, Gourmet Passport by Dineout worth Rs. 1499, Gaana+ by Gaana worth Rs. 399, exclusive access to TOI+ worth Rs. 1200 the ad-free online version of the world’s largest circulating newspaper, FreshClub subscription worth Rs. 399 and annual Urbanclap’s premium Beauty & Wellness and Homecare packages worth Rs. 3600.
Vivek Jain, Business Head – Times Prime said, “At Times Prime, we are determined to handpick the finest brands, providing premium benefits and experiences to our subscribers. As more men are taking higher interest in grooming and personal care, we are excited to partner with one of the country’s leading men's grooming brands, The Man Company. Through this partnership, our members get access to premium grooming essentials at incomparable prices.”
“At The Man Company, we believe in helping the quintessential modern Indian man’s continuous evolution of becoming a better version of themselves with all round grooming through premium grooming essentials and knowledge for the soul. Our products truly give gentlemen of today the opportunity to look and feel their very best, while they take the world in their stride. We are confident Times Prime subscribers would love our products in their journey to a more fulfilling life.” Hitesh Dhingra, MD & Co-Founder, The Man Company said.
Times Prime’s exclusive payment partnerships with HDFC Payzapp, HDFC Times Card & Times Points can be used to purchase the Times Prime membership at up to 50% discount. Customers can easily recover their membership fee within the first week and save up to Rs. 60,000 every year, making Times Prime the most comprehensive and cost-effective premium subscription service available 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.
