MAM
Wieden + Kennedy India appoints Anirban Roy to lead strategic planning
Mumbai: Anirban Roy has joined Wieden + Kennedy India’s leadership team to head strategic planning for the Delhi and Mumbai offices. He will be operating out of the Mumbai office.
Anirban’s exposure has been rich, having worked on several brands at various agencies and various cities. In his last role, he was head of strategic planning for McCann Worldgroup in Delhi. Prior to that, he worked at Ogilvy and Saatchi. He has worked in Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Manila, where he steered strategic conversations at Nestle, Yum Foods, BMW, Amazon, Coke, and Unilever, among others. He has also helped script the brand narrative for some of India’s unicorn start-ups like Licious & Flipkart.
Speaking of his appointment, Roy said, “Very few people in their lifetime get to work in a place that’s revered for its irreverence & celebrated for being a ‘cathedral of creativity’. I am grateful to Ayesha and Paddy for this opportunity and feel lucky to be a part of this team that will write a new chapter for W+K India. Looking forward to the dance.”
Commenting on the hire, W+K India president Ayesha Ghosh said, “With Anirban’s valuable perspective, we intend to steer the fundamental brand thinking and look forward to building lasting brand relationships. While we’ll always have room for brands that want to do short-term projects, the real test of an agency lies in building brands over years, like W+K has done with Indigo. Anirban has steered important brand conversations for many big MNC clients, as well as for start-ups, and in doing so, has helped them win Effie, Cannes, AME, Kyoorius, and D&AD awards. I’m really excited to see him at work at W+K.”
W+K India CCO Santosh Padhi added, “Client, creative, account management, and strategic planning are the four key pillars of advertising that build and hold the foundation of a brand and help grow its business. I’m happy that we now have the fourth pillar in order, with Anirban, to help our brands grow stronger, bigger, and bolder.”
MAM
Lego brings Messi, Ronaldo, Mbappé, Vinicius together
Campaign clocks 314 million views ahead of FIFA World Cup 2026 buzz.
MUMBAI: Four legends, one frame and not a single tackle in sight. Lego has pulled off a crossover few thought possible, uniting Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior in a single campaign ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026 only this time, they’re building dreams brick by brick.
Titled “Everyone wants a piece”, the campaign features the quartet assembling a Lego version of the World Cup trophy, before placing miniature versions of themselves atop it, a playful nod to football’s ultimate prize. Shared widely across social media, the ad carries a pointed disclaimer: it is not AI-generated, a subtle but telling signal in an era where even reality is often questioned.
The numbers tell their own story. The campaign has already crossed 314 million views on Instagram across the players’ accounts, with fans hailing it as a rare, almost nostalgic moment particularly for the reunion of Messi and Ronaldo, whose last shared campaign ahead of the 2022 World Cup became one of the platform’s most-liked posts.
Beyond the film, Lego is extending the play with exclusive, player-themed sets tied to each of the four stars, part of a broader football-led programme designed to ride the global momentum building towards 2026. The idea, as echoed by the players themselves, leans into the parallels between football and play experimentation, creativity, failure, and triumph.
Messi described the sets as a way to bring on-pitch moments into an imaginative, hands-on world, while Ronaldo called the transformation into a Lego figure a rare honour, blending sport with storytelling. Vinícius, meanwhile, struck a more personal note, recalling childhood moments of building with Lego and framing creativity as a universal language that transcends borders.
The timing is no accident. With the 2026 World Cup set to run from June 11 to July 19 across the United States, Canada and Mexico, and featuring an expanded 48-team format, global anticipation is already building. Argentina, led by Messi, will enter as defending champions, adding another layer of intrigue.
For Lego, the campaign does more than celebrate football, it taps into its mythology. Because when icons become figurines and rivalries turn into play, the beautiful game finds a new kind of pitch. one built, quite literally, by hand.
