AD Agencies
WAT’s Your Big Idea 2.0 gets bigger
MUMBAI: After the success of its inaugural edition last year, digital and social media agency WATConsult has launched WAT’s Your Big Idea (WYBI) 2.0. It is the second season of WYBI, a digital ideation competition for colleges across India that provides a unique platform and opportunities to the next generation in the field of digital advertising and marketing.
This year, besides the cash prize, endorsed certificate, and an assured job offer, the winning team will also get an opportunity to visit Cannes Lions in 2018.
During WYBI,students get an opportunity to work on live projects, understand the nuances of creating digital campaigns for notable brands, and showcase their creative skills to the best brand marketers in the country.
The agency has partnered institutes such as MICA, SIMC, IIM Bangalore, IIM Indore, SP Jain, Jamnalal Bajaj, NMIMS, and Jai Hind along with brands like Swarovski, Madame Tussauds, HE face wash, Savlon (ITC Group), Jack and Jones, and Naturolax (Piramal Healthcare).
WATConsult founder and CEO Rajiv Dingra said, “Considering the overwhelming responses from students last year, we decided to offer them an international platform to meet, be inspired, and interact with the advertising stalwarts of the world. The winning team will have the opportunity to win an all-expenses trip to Cannes Lions 2018.”
Dentsu Aegis Network chairman and CEO South Asia Ashish Bhasin added, “Last year was a benchmark setter. The students came up with some exciting and innovative ideas and I am looking forward to the entries this year. WATConsult’s initiative has helped us find some really good talent and we will continue supporting their efforts.”
AD Agencies
Publicis Brazil’s creative chief Mauro Ramalho lands the jury chair at Abby Awards 2026
Mauro Ramalho brings 25 years of global advertising firepower to the new creative commerce, use of data and B2B category at Goafest
GOA: The Abby Awards 2026, powered by The One Club and The One Show, has appointed Mauro Ramalho, chief creative officer of Publicis Brazil, as jury chair for its newly launched creative commerce, use of data and B2B category. The announcement, made on 18 March, signals the awards’ intent to bring serious international muscle to a category that sits squarely at the intersection of creativity and commercial performance.
Ramalho is not a name that needs much introduction in global advertising circles. Over 25 years spanning three countries, he has worked at some of the industry’s most creatively restless addresses. At AKQA in San Francisco, he worked across McDonald’s, Nike, Fox, Target, Kraft Foods and GAP, and helped lead “The Lost Ring” for McDonald’s, one of the first alternate reality campaigns and among the most awarded projects of its era. He later moved to Organic in Toronto, bridging the Detroit and Toronto offices on Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler, before spending over a decade building CUBOCC into one of Brazil’s most iconic and innovative independent agencies, which subsequently joined the IPG network.
A stint at FCB followed, where Ramalho led integrated work bridging online and offline, before he joined R/GA São Paulo as vice-president and executive creative director, stitching together the São Paulo office with New York, London, Portland and California on global clients including Verizon, Google, Meta, Samsung, American Express and Heineken. He now heads Publicis Brazil as its chief creative officer.
His trophy cabinet includes Clios, Effies, TikTok awards and MMA Smarties, and he has served on juries at the Andys, TikTok and the Lisbon Awards.
The Abby Awards 2026 is scheduled to take place at Goafest 2026 on 20, 21 and 22 May in Goa.
For Indian advertising, landing a jury chair of Ramalho’s calibre for a category built around data-driven creativity and commerce is a statement of ambition. Goafest just raised its own bar.
