MAM
Tonic Worldwide partners with Stoppress to expand further in south India
NEW DELHI: Digital-first creative agency Tonic Worldwide has joined forces with Chennai-based digital marketing firm Stoppress Communications as part of its expansion plans across the country. Through this collaboration, both agencies will be creating a stronger expanded offering by combining their technological and creative expertise.
This collaboration will allow Tonic to extend its specialised services like their video content division TWIP, research & insights division Gipsi, and creative tech-led services to brands from the southern region of India, and help them strengthen their offering of language-based content to their current national clients. Tonic Worldwide and Stoppress will continue to operate as distinct brands and organisational structures while working together.
Tonic Worldwide CSO and director – India and MENA region said: “Bharat is seeing the maximum surge in growth in digital users and as digital partners to brands, we are looking at bringing deeper cultural insights and understanding of each region for our brands. With Stoppress’s understanding of the southern market and consumers, we are excited to bring the expertise for our clients and help them boost their business across regions. After Bengaluru, we have been eager to cover the rest of south with the diversity that the region holds.”
"The idea of being a part of creating award-winning digital initiatives and scaling up and growing our business spurred us to explore this collaboration. We look forward to work on large national campaigns and enhance our portfolio of offerings,” said Stoppress Communications founder and CEO Krithika Balasubramanian.
MAM
Xiaomi India launches Redmi Note 15 Special Edition campaign
OML film puts phone through chaos to showcase durability and camera
MUMBAI: If phones could sweat, this one would still keep its cool. In a market flooded with spec sheets and sameness, Xiaomi India has decided to turn up the heat quite literally. The brand’s latest campaign for the Redmi Note 15 Special Edition swaps predictable product demos for a full-blown kitchen meltdown, with celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor trading calm composure for controlled chaos.
Conceptualised and produced by OML, the campaign takes a sharply unconventional route. Instead of listing features, it throws the smartphone into a high-pressure dinner service, where Kapoor subjects it to a series of exaggerated, almost absurd stress tests chopping chillies on it, splashing water across its screen, and pushing it through a tense culinary gauntlet.
The message lands without spelling itself out. While the kitchen brigade falters under pressure, the phone does not. By the time a junior chef declares it “cooked”, the device emerges unscathed quietly reinforcing its durability, ultra-slim design, and 50 Master Pixel camera.
The approach reflects a broader shift in how brands are speaking to digital-first audiences. With Gen Z increasingly immune to traditional advertising formats, the campaign leans into storytelling, humour, and cultural familiarity to hold attention mid-scroll. The casting itself does part of the heavy lifting Kapoor, known for his composed persona, appears in an unexpectedly stern avatar, adding an element of surprise that fuels shareability.
For Xiaomi India, the idea was to move away from feature-led communication towards something more experiential. By embedding the product in chaotic, real-world scenarios, the campaign attempts to make performance feel demonstrated rather than declared.
The result is less of an advertisement and more of a content piece, one that understands the algorithm as much as the audience. Because in today’s attention economy, surviving the scroll might just be tougher than surviving a kitchen rush.
