MAM
toothsi names Vishwanath Shetty as VP of brand partnerships
Mumbai: toothsi, a D2C start-up recognised for its smile makeover products and services has named Vishwanath Shetty as its new vice-president of brand partnerships.
With more than 15 years of experience in IP/branded content sales across media, advertising and martech, Shetty will lead the newly-formed partnership development team. The team was created to optimise the information flow and develop new initiatives with partners across the marketing and advertising ecosystem.
“At toothsi, we are proud of the long-term value exchange we have developed with our partners. Nurturing these partnerships and integrating new ones is a significant concept of our mission in a fast-evolving technology, said toothsi co-founder and CEO Dr Arpi Mehta. “Shetty’s strong cross-functional expertise and dynamic leadership style will guide our new partnership development team to even higher levels of excellence in serving our clients.”
Before joining toothsi, Shetty was associated with Pocket Aces as vice president, head of sales and brand solutions, where he was instrumental in building and growing its business and advertising partnerships team. He has also served at The Walt Disney Company as regional head – brand content (W&S), where he was instrumental in strategising high-profit revenue model for youth cluster in media networks by creating marquee intellectual properties such as “Girl in the City” season 1-3 and “The Trip” season 1-2.
“I am thrilled to join the toothsi team at this pertinent juncture in their development and to collaborate with a brilliant set of people across the company,” said Vishwanath Shetty. “Our efforts to build partnerships will strengthen our position, allowing us to integrate strategic objectives that create mutual value for brand marketing strategies that involve our partners.”
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.
