MAM
Victorinox India welcomes the IDCA team to their Gute Reise store in Aerocity, New Delhi
Mumbai: Victorinox, maker of the original Swiss army knife, welcomed the India Deaf Cricket Association Team to their Gute Reise Store in the national capital to wish them luck before they proceeded to Sharjah for the World Cup 2024.
A tour of the store included a stop at the history wall, where all the players were fascinated to discover the 140-year-old legacy of Victorinox, a fourth-generation family-run company. Fun and camaraderie presided over high tea, hearty laughter, and huge smiles.
Victorinox India chief marketing officer – brand & country head – watch Debraj Sengupta, presented the IDCA Team with personalized Swiss Army Knives to be prepared for any circumstance and outfitted the players with suitcases for their journey.
Present on the occasion at the store along with the team were:
- Victorinox India CMO Debraj Sengupta
- Victorinox India VP PR communication Priyanka Sippy
- IDCA president Sumit Jain
- IDCA patron Reena Jain Malhotra
- IDCA CEO & brand custodian Roma Balwani
- IDCA vice chairman Vineet Malhotra
- IDCA secretary Ajay Kumar
Victorinox India chief marketing officer – brand & country head – watch Debraj Sengupta said, “Victorinox is very honoured to welcome the IDCA Team to the Gute Reise Store at Worldmark, Aerocity, New Delhi. We hope our products empower them on their journey and we wish them the absolute best for the World Cup!”
On the occasion, IDCA CEO & brand custodian Roma Balwani said, “IDCA India team is delighted to collaborate with Victorinox India as our support partner for the IDCA India team participating in the DICC T 20 World Cup 2024, UAE in Sharjah. The teams are very thankful for the opportunity to visit to their store at Worldmark, Aerocity. It was a special occasion as the leadership team felicitated our national team with their signature Swiss knife engraved with their names & also gifted all players suitcases which they will all carry during their travel to Sharjah.”
She added, “We hope to have a long-term collaboration with the brand, which will motivate our teams and help promote diversity and inclusion for disability sport specially cricket.”
The Indian Deaf Cricket team will participate in the Deaf International Cricket Council (DICC) T20 Champions Trophy 2024 to be held in Sharjah (UAE) from 6 to 12 March 2024. Teams from six countries — India, Australia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka — will compete at Vision Cricket Center, Sharjah, UAE to win the title of world champion.
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.
