MAM
WPP strengthens digital foothold with acquisition of Predictys
MUMBAI: Wunderman owned data-driven, insight-based customer engagement provider KBM Group, will be acquiring Predictys, a marketing company specialising in digital data and campaign technology. KBM Group‘s parent company, Wunderman, is part of the Young & Rubicam Group and a member of WPP. The move comes as a step towards strengthening WPP‘s position in the digital marketing space.
Based in France, Predictys was founded in 2007 and has rapidly growing data resources owing to an influx of digital information from other countries. Predictys will not only strengthen KBM Group‘s value to clients in France; the acquisition also strategically fuels KBM Group‘s growth throughout Europe, the US and Latin America.
Predictys‘ database powers its digital automated marketing services for customer acquisition via proprietary automated systems for managing and optimizing email marketing campaigns. The company‘s scalable email campaign technology, offered directly to clients or to e-marketing agencies, provides additional opportunities for KBM Group to build its marketing offerings.
Working closely with its parent company Wunderman, KBM Group acts as the data engine, helping to connect ‘always-on‘ customers with global brands. On a broader agency network level, the value of data and customer intelligence extends as well to WPP, the global advertising and marketing services group, of which they are a part.
KBM Group CEO Gary S Laben said, “The oceans of data generated by always-connected consumers of all ages present both a challenge and an opportunity for global marketers. As companies accelerate their marketing around the world, they need to be able to find and reach consumers on their personal devices efficiently and with informed strategies based on the best possible representations of who their most receptive and profitable customers might be. By adding Predictys‘ data resources to our own, we can better offer our global clients a way to harness data to forge customer engagements that are successful and meaningful. Marketing that is customer intelligent delights consumers and so enables companies to stay competitive.”
Predictys‘ cooperative database includes information from 140 million opted-in consumers from among more than 25 co-op partners. The database powers Predictys‘ automated campaign software serving agencies and clients, including Snapfish, Galeries Lafayette and Swiss Life.
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.
