MAM
WPP merges Meridian with Soho Square
MUMBAI: Indian born agency Meridian Communication, which operates under Ogilvy and Mather, has merged with WPP‘s Soho Square.
The aim of the merger is to take Meridian international and grow Soho Square‘s business in India. Soho Square has a growing international network in Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America.
Soho Square, has three boutique agencies operating independently in Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi.
Soho Square will deliver cross-disciplinary work spanning a full spectrum of marketing communications including brand development, brand identity, strategic planning and integrated creative solutions.
Given the complex nature of the Indian market and its geography, the Soho Square approach in India will be to establish itself as a standalone in each city rather than a nationally integrated network. The India plans attempt to have Soho Square in many more cities in the near future.
While the individual operations will share the same philosophy and principles as the international network in India, for the purpose of business the three city agencies will operate independent of each other.
“Integrated solutions are central to our structure and philosophy. At Soho Square we can select and customize learning by drawing upon Ogilvy & Mather and other WPP resources in Asia Pacific,” Soho Square said.
In Mumbai Soho Square‘s core team comprises Soho Square Mumbai head of office Samrat Bedi, executive creative directors and creative heads Anuraag Khandelwal and Satish deSa, VP account management Mohit Ahuja and SVP planning Shashank Lanjekar.
Clients in Soho Square Mumbai include ITC‘s personal care products, Perfetti‘s Stop Not, Piaggio‘s Vespa, Bisleri, Pidilite‘s Raincoat, Hungama.com, Oberoi Realty, Nutrela Soya, H&R Johnson and Hockey India.
In Bangalore, Soho Square‘s core team comprises head of office Shenaz Bapooji and creative directors C Ravikumar and Manoj.
Clients in Soho Square Bangalore are Himalaya Healthcare‘s Consumer Products Division (Purifying Neem Face Wash, Clarifying Fairness Face Wash, Toothpastes, Face packs, Shampoos), Himalaya Asia Pac, The Bengaluru International Airport, GKB Opticals and iGate.
In Delhi, the Soho Square clients are Honda Cars India Ltd. (formerly Honda Siel Cars India Ltd.), Godfrey Phillips India Ltd., HTC Ltd, HDFC Ltd and Voltas Ltd.
Brands
Zscaler, Airtel launch India AI Cyber Research Centre
New hub to boost cyber resilience and trusted AI use
NEW DELHI: As India’s digital engine roars ahead, so do the risks riding shotgun. In response, Zscaler, Inc. and Bharti Airtel have joined hands to launch the AI and Cyber Threat Research Center – India, a national initiative aimed at strengthening the country’s cyber defences and accelerating responsible AI adoption.
The centre is designed as a multi stakeholder platform that brings together industry, government and academia. Its mission is clear: protect critical sectors such as telecom, banking and energy, shield everyday digital users, and future proof India’s fast expanding online ecosystem.
India has long been a major innovation hub for Zscaler, with a substantial portion of its cyber research talent based here. With this new centre, that footprint evolves into a national collaboration engine. The idea is simple but ambitious, build in India, for India, and help power the country’s journey towards a secure and digitally self reliant future.
The timing is telling. India is building digital systems at population scale, not just enterprise scale. That scale has widened the attack surface dramatically. At the same time, cyber criminals and nation state actors are deploying AI to scan, probe and exploit vulnerabilities in minutes.
Zscaler’s research arm, ThreatLabz India, reports millions of infiltration attempts every month. These include espionage campaigns linked to regional geopolitical tensions, 1.2 million intrusion attempts from 20,000 sources targeting 58 Indian digital entities, and a rise in zero day exploit attempts across multiple industries.
In such an environment, perimeter based security models are struggling to keep pace. The new centre aims to push a shift towards secure by design systems and Zero Trust architecture.
Its strategy rests on four pillars: protect through real time intelligence, remediate by working directly with government agencies, facilitate adoption of AI driven security and Zero Trust frameworks, and build a stronger cybersecurity talent pipeline through specialised certifications.
As founding members, Zscaler and Airtel will combine global threat intelligence with local network visibility. Zscaler will deploy a dedicated India focused research team and draw insights from its Zero Trust Exchange platform, which processes over 500 billion daily transactions worldwide. Airtel, meanwhile, will contribute deep visibility into IoT and mobile traffic, helping detect suspicious activity faster and coordinate response across the ecosystem.
Bharti Airtel executive vice chairman Gopal Vittal, said the partnership extends Airtel’s commitment to safeguarding customers and the nation’s digital fabric. He added that the collaboration would address challenges unique to the Indian market and encourage secure and confident digital engagement.
Zscaler chief executive, chairman and founder Jay Chaudhry, said India’s digital ambition cannot be secured with legacy firewalls and VPNs. He noted that a modern Zero Trust architecture is essential for a hyper connected world and that the new centre would harness the scale of Zscaler’s global security cloud while empowering a new generation of Indian cyber defenders.
Additional members from critical public and private sectors are expected to join the initiative in the coming months, expanding its scope and deepening collaboration.
In a world where threats travel at machine speed, India’s answer is to think faster, collaborate wider and build smarter.
