MUMBAI: Dentsu Creative has appointed John Mescall as its global chief creative partner, a move designed to sharpen the agency’s creative edge and align standards across markets.
Based in New York, Mescall will work closely with Yasu Sasaki, Dentsu’s global chief creative officer, to strengthen creative craft, foster collaboration and integrate emerging technologies like AI into workflows. He will also focus on talent development across the network.
“What drew me to Dentsu Creative is its deep belief in the power of creativity to drive meaningful impact,” said Mescall. “It’s rare to find a global organisation so aligned in purpose yet so attuned to the strengths of its local teams.”
Mescall is one of advertising’s most decorated creative leaders. At Mccann Worldgroup, where he served as global executive creative director and president of its global creative council, he helped steer the network to Cannes Lions and Effie global network of the year titles. His career haul includes more than 100 Cannes Lions, eight of them Grand Prix, along with top honours at D&AD, One Show, Clio and beyond. Adweek has named him to its creativity 50, while Business Insider ranked him among the world’s top 10 most creative people in advertising.
Dentsu Creative, global president, Abbey Klaassen said Mescall’s “ability to unite teams around a shared vision” will be key to scaling the agency’s creative impact. Sasaki added that his appointment reflects the network’s “commitment to transformative creativity that delivers cultural and business impact.”
MUMBAI: Formula 1 has uncorked a new kind of partnership, naming French Bloom its first official non-alcoholic sparkling wine partner. The collaboration brings bubbles without the buzz to Grand Prix weekends, offering an inclusive and elevated way to toast every lap, podium and party.
From the 2025 season, French Bloom’s award-winning cuvées will be served across Paddock clubs, the F1 Garage and hospitality spaces, marking a milestone in the sport’s partnership with LVMH. The maison, co-founded by Maggie Frerejean-Taittinger and model Constance Jablonski, is the first alcohol-free brand backed by Moët Hennessy, which acquired a minority stake last year.
“Our sparkling cuvées unite centuries of French winemaking savoir-faire with cutting-edge innovation,” said Frerejean-Taittinger. “This partnership celebrates intention, sophistication and the future of how we raise a glass.”
With Netflix’s Drive to Survive fuelling global fandom and a surge of younger, more diverse audiences, the move reflects changing tastes. Millennials, gen z and female fans are driving demand for luxury choices that balance indulgence with moderation. French Bloom, crafted from organic Chardonnay and refined through an innovative dealcoholisation process, answers that call with style.
Formula 1’s chief commercial officer, Emily Prazer, added, “The addition of French Bloom brings variety to our hospitality portfolio and ensures every guest experiences true luxury at our races.”
Beyond bubbles, the tie-up carries a green note. French Bloom’s commitment to organic ingredients and reduced production impact dovetails with F1’s net zero carbon by 2030 goal.
MUMBAI: Full throttle, no pit stops! Formula 1’s 2025 season hasn’t just been about roaring engines and tight overtakes, it’s been a spectacle both on and off the track. From Brad Pitt’s F1: The Movie smashing box office records to sold-out Grands Prix pulling in millions of fans, the sport has hit top gear in its 75th anniversary year.
The season opened with F1 75 Live at London’s O2, where 16,000 fans watched all ten teams unveil their new cars alongside live music from global stars like MGK, Tems and Take That. The livestream drew 7.5 million viewers worldwide, setting Youtube records and proving that F1 knows how to put on a show as much as a race.
Hollywood soon joined the grid. Pitt’s racing blockbuster has already grossed more than 600 million dollars, making it the highest-earning sports film ever and his biggest box-office hit. Premieres in New York and London drew A-listers from Tom Cruise and Naomi Campbell to Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, not to mention Formula 1’s biggest names behind the wheel.
On track, the numbers are just as electrifying. More than 3.9 million fans attended the first 14 races, which is the highest ever mid-season tally, with Australia and Britain each topping 400,000. 11 of the 14 events sold out, while record-breaking crowds turned up in Spain, Canada and Belgium.
Digital reach is also flying. Formula 1’s social media following has surged past 107 million, up 21 percent year-on-year, with Tiktok and YouTube highlights pulling in record views. Younger fans are driving the growth too: 43 percent of F1’s global fanbase is now under 35, and nearly half are women.
Commercially, the grid is just as busy as the paddock. Partnerships with Disney, Pepsico, LEGO, Barilla and luxury powerhouse LVMH have broadened F1’s global appeal, while quirky activations such as LEGO driver parades and gourmet pasta pop-ups, have kept fans talking.
And the best part? There’s still half a season left. With Zandvoort kicking things off this weekend, F1’s second act promises more drama, more speed and, if the first half is anything to go by, more records smashed.
GOA: Day two of Goafest 2025 saw Leo India take the direct route to victory in the direct specialist category, proving that sometimes the shortest distance between two points is a pile of shiny awards.
The agency steamrolled to the ‘direct specialist agency of the year’ title with 40 points, built on three silvers, five bronzes and a merit—a performance so direct it made other agencies wonder if they’d been taking scenic routes all along.
Famous Innovations lived up to its name by famously securing second place with 30 points courtesy of five silver medals, though one suspects they might have preferred trading some of that silver for a bit more gold. FCB India rounded out the podium with 26 points, but not before bagging the coveted Grand Prix for its Lucky Yatra campaign for Central Railways—proving that sometimes the best way to reach your destination is by train. FCB India’s Grand Prix triumph, accompanied by one gold and one silver, demonstrated that railway campaigns can indeed have locomotives rather than just motives.
Enormous managed a solid fourth place with 24 points through one silver, three bronzes and three merits—a performance that was moderately enormous rather than properly massive. Meanwhile, Havas Worldwide India and McCann Worldgroup India found themselves tied at 16 points each, both managing two golds apiece.
The middle order proved that mediocrity comes in many flavours. Grey Group grabbed 12 points with three bronzes, whilst Schbang settled for eight points courtesy of two bronzes. The participation trophy brigade included Mudra Max with four points from two merits, and tgthr. with four points from one bronze.
Those trailing weren’t entirely forgotten. ^a t o m network, BBH Communications India, Digitas, and VML India all managed two points each with a merit apiece.
The Abby Creative Awards 2025, powered by The One Show, continued their systematic conquest of advertising categories, with broadcaster, PR, digital specialist, and design specialist awards ensuring every conceivable niche gets its moment of glory.
Mumbai: The Indian contingent continued its dominant run on day three of Cannes Lions, doubling its tally of 10 metals across 6 categories in one of its best performances at the event.
The latest 10-metal tally includes one Grand Prix, two Gold Lions, five Silver Lions, and two Bronze Lions across Brand Experience & Activation, Creative Business Transformation, Creative Commerce, Innovation, Mobile, and Creative Effectiveness Lions.
Meanwhile, Dentsu Creative created history by winning its second Grand Prix this year in the Brand Experience and Activations category for Vice Media’s ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ campaign.
Additionally, India scored 50 more shortlists, taking its total shortlists tally to a stunning 107.
Here’s the breakdown of the day three’s wins under various categories:
Brand Experience & Activation
The leading campaign of the year from India, ‘The Unfiltered Selfie’ won a Grand Prix (use of mobile devices) and one Silver Lion (new realities & voice activation). The campaign created by Dentsu Creative for Vice Media now has two Grand Prix, one Gold, two Silver, and two Bronze Lions in its kitty and around 24 shortlists thus far.
Dentsu Creative group chief creative officer India Ajay Gahlaut exulted at the agency’s performance, “Today, we have made history with another tremendous victory. A Grand Prix and Silver!! Kudos to the entire team for the massive win. I am enthralled with the mark ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ campaign and everyone behind it has left. My heartiest congratulations to all of them. It’s time to celebrate while we wait to increase the number of our wins.”
Dentsu Creative CEO India Amit Wadhwa said, “It is our third day at Cannes and we are on top of the world to win yet another Grand Prix and Silver Lion. It is indeed blissful to take back two Grand Prix in addition to the many metals. It has been a mind-blowing experience so far. While we party harder for this one, I am in awe of the level of global creativity and innovation displayed at the festival. We are totally looking forward to witnessing more innovation ahead and expecting many more wins, fingers crossed!”
‘The Nominate Me Selfie’ campaign created by FCB for Political Shakti – a non-partisan women’s collective passionate about female leaders in politics, that appeared in The Times of India won a Silver in the category under Use of Mobile & Devices Section.
The second Silver in the category was won by the ‘Shah Rukh Khan – My Ad’ campaign created by Ogilvy for Cadbury Celebrations under Tech-led Brand Experience subcategory.
Creative Business Transformation
The ‘Smart Fill’ initiative of Unilever, conceptualised by VMLY&R Commerce won a Silver Lion under the Brand Purpose & Impact subcategory.
Creative Commerce Winners
‘Smart Fill’ also won a Gold Metal in Creative Commerce Lions under the Sustainable Commerce subcategory.
Reacting to the wins, VMLY&R Commerce executive creative director Arpan Jain said, “There are ideas and there are awards, but there are only a few pieces of work that have a purpose at the heart of consumer experience and actually have the power to change the world. I’m happy to see Smart Fill being recognized as one such piece of amazing work.”
A Gold came for McCann for its ‘Shagun Ka Lifafa’ campaign created for Ujjivan Small Finance Bank under the subcategory of Social Behaviour and Cultural Insight.
Innovation
VMLY&R Mumbai’s winning campaign ‘The Killer Pack’ secured a Silver Lion in Innovation (product innovation) category.
Mobile
The only win in the category came for Vice Media’s ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ created by Dentsu Creative, scoring a Silver Lion under the Mobile-led Creativity subcategory.
Creative Effectiveness
‘Project Free Period’ an initiative by P&G’s Stayfree sanitary pads, conceptualised and executed by DDB Mudra picked a Bronze Lion under the Creative Effectiveness for Good subcategory.
Shortlists
13 shortlists were garnered by ‘Chatpat’, a ten-year-old brand ambassador for SOS Children’s Villages of India NGO and its campaign ‘No Child Alone’. The campaign got three shortlists in Direct (not-for-profit/charity/government, use of social platforms, breakthrough on a budget), three in Media (not-for-profit/charity/government, use of stunts, use of social platforms), three in PR (content creation & production, innovative use of influencers, breakthrough on a budget), and four in Social & Influencer (not-for-profit/charity/government, innovative use of influencers, social film series, breakthrough on a budget).
‘Unbox Me’ campaign for Unaids by FCB India and FCB Chicago got six shortlists, including three in PR (innovative use of influencers, cultural insight, social engagement) and three in Social & Influencers (not-for-profit/charity/government, social purpose, cultural insight).
The Cadbury Celebrations’ ‘Shah Rukh Khan – My Ad’ campaign created by Ogilvy, Political Shakti + The Times of India’s ‘The Nominate Me Selfie’ by FCB, and Vice Media’s ‘The Unfiltered History’ also scored six shortlists each.
Further, the ‘Adeli’ campaign created by VMLY&R for Unipads got three shortlists. The campaign got shortlisted in PR Lions (corporate purpose & social responsibility, use of events & stunts, social behaviour).
BBDO India’s ‘See Equal #ShareTheLoad (Integrated)’ campaign for P&G’s Ariel also got three shortlists – one in Media (corporate purpose & social responsibility) and two in PR (single market campaign, consumer goods).
The agency got another shortlist in Media Lions (use of ambient media: small scale) for the same brand’s ‘Name Change Pack #ShareTheLoad’ campaign.” These special packs were customised with some of the most common Indian male names instead of the brand name.
Ogilvy got two shortlists for the ‘Perk Disclaimers’ campaign that asked people who tend to take offence quickly, to ‘take it light’. The shortlists came in Media Lions (food & drink, use of social platforms).
Another shortlist for Ogivy came for Cadbury 5 Stars ‘NothingCoin’ in PR Lions (use of technology).
McCann’s ‘Shagun Ka Lifafa’ campaign created for Ujjivan Small Finance Bank got another shortlist in Direct Lions (social behaviour).
Mindshare’s ‘Bringing Back Colours In the Lives of Weavers’ created for Sunlight Detergent secured one shortlist in Media (local brands) Lions.
Mumbai: Dentsu Webchutney, a dentsuMB company and digital creative agency from dentsu Creative India has won five gold, five silver, five bronze and four Grand Prix at the recently concluded Spikes Asia 2022 Awards.
While ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ for Vice Media won a total of four Grand Prix, five gold, four silver and five bronze, ‘The Better Half Recipes’ for Swiggy has won a silver. “These wins are a testament to Dentsu Webchutney’s year-after-year brilliant performance on the back of creativity and innovation,” said the agency in a statement.
“This is a huge accomplishment. Dentsu Webchutney is known for the unimaginable creativity it offers with every campaign. The four Grand Prix and the many metals are proof of what a network that nurtures some of India’s best creative minds can attain,” stated dentsu Creative India CEO Amit Wadhwa. “Huge kudos to everyone who worked on these projects and made magic happen! And what makes it even more exciting is that a similar excitement around the end product can be felt across all our creative units/agencies. Watch out for more exciting stuff from dentsu!”
“Time after time I get the opportunity to celebrate the success of my extremely talented colleagues and their fabulous pieces of work. This particular moment however seems like the start of something more special,” commented dentsuMB Group CEO Sidharth Rao. “All our ideas are special to us, but there’s something about our big winner this time – ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ that gives us a sense of being more than just any other normal achievement. I’ve got some very special colleagues, past and present to thank for this.”
“This is a near-miraculous achievement,” remarked dentsu Creative India group chief creative officer Ajay Gahlaut. “The fact that these campaigns were created at the peak of the pandemic amidst a lockdown make them even more special. In the end, it has all been worth it. These are the people who are the real winners today and our success totally belongs to them.”
Mumbai: Wunderman Thompson India bagged a Grand Prix for ‘Good’ for “The Lost Daughters,” in addition to winning a ‘Glass Spike’ for the same campaign at the recently concluded Spikes Asia awards 2022. The agency also won a gold for the film “Hidden Truth” for Vidya India in the category ‘Film Craft’ for ‘Script Writing.’
The Spikes Asia Awards, APAC’s most prestigious creative communications awards, serve as the definitive benchmark for not only creative excellence, but also marketing strategy and effectiveness in Asia-Pacific.
“The Lost Daughters” activation was in collaboration with Sanlaap, a Kolkata-based NGO that rescues and rehabilitates sex trafficking survivors. It makes an attempt to raise awareness about this issue to help more daughters come back home with dignity. “The Hidden Truth” was in collaboration with Vidya India, an NGO that strives for empowering and transforming lives of women and children. The film unmasks the silent struggle waged inside the homes against domestic violence.
“I am immensely proud of our stellar performance at Spikes Asia 2022 and I feel honoured and privileged to be leading a team of extremely talented and passionate people at Wunderman Thompson India,” commented Wunderman Thompson South Asia’s CEO Shams Jasani. “I congratulate our CCO, Senthil Kumar, Regional Creative Director, Tista and Senior NCD, Priya and their teams for producing path-breaking work with powerful social messages. Great way to kick start the year and we look forward to raising the bar and setting new benchmarks with our creative bravery.”
“In the business of ideas it doesn’t get bigger than the Grand Prix at Spikes Asia. Every idea that is ever born to solve a marketing problem dreams of growing up into a Gold Lion and if it’s truly blessed into a Gigantic Grand Prix at Spikes Asia,” remarked Wunderman Thompson India chief creative officer Senthil Kumar. “We are very proud of our Creative Firepower at Wunderman Thompson that is connecting the dots between Creativity and Technology with every new idea every day. Our Senior Creative Leaders Tista and Priya are leading by example and this recognition on the biggest international stage will surely inspire everyone in the team towards greatness.”
Talking about “The Lost Daughters” campaign, Wunderman Thompson South Asia regional creative director Tista Sen said, “What a more befitting tribute to Women’s day than an idea which is fierce, challenges patriarchy and makes you acknowledge the hypocrisy in society. Lost Daughters is for every woman who knows the home she grew up in may not be welcoming anymore. It forces us to look at relationships and question how rescued girls are abandoned by their families because of social stigma and regressive pervasiveness.”
Commenting on her film, “The Hidden Truth,” Wunderman Thompson India senior national creative director Priya Shivakumar said, “This is a special win for a writer and to have won it for a piece that was dedicated to sisterhood is the best kind of feeling. While all media and messaging directed people towards their homes, urging them to stay safe, the realisation that home was not a safe place for a few, while also giving them a safe way to reach out for help, became a small but meaningful way to draw attention to the ‘Shadow Pandemic,’ as it was called by UN Women.”
MUMBAI: The last nine months have been action-packed for Publicis Media India which has added over Rs.1000 crore in billings. Publicis Media India, through its brands — Starcom, Zenith, Performics.Resultrix and Performics.Convonix, will now handle a number of new accounts which includes — Parle Products, Mars, Fiat Chrysler, Citibank, OnePlus, Singapore Tourism Board, Fox Media, amongst other.
Publicis Media also won multi-agency pitches to retain its two key accounts, Micromax and Sun Pharma. Sun Pharma has, in fact, added to the mandate, digital duties.
Publicis Media India group CEO Anupriya Acharya said, “It‘s a great beginning for the Publicis Media proposition in India. Under the new structure, we have a great team of very energetic and highly talented leaders that run very motivated teams. We have been able to also focus our product and services to better serve our clients’ requirements and priorities. Our refreshed narrative on scale and added synergies on best in class data, tools and insights have all been well received by our clients. And I believe that these account wins are also a testimony tothe same. As we move ahead in 2017, our focus will be on scale, and future ready services like Performance marketing, Data and Analytics, Content, that provide business transforming solutions. We are already some of these services to markets like the US and the UK and this international hub helps us to scale up talent in these areas quite quickly.
Publicis Media India has also won many awards in year 2016 such as the Festival of Media Asia Pacific (FOMA) Gold for Tata AIG, Grand Prix at Campaign India Digital Crest Awards for work on Nestle India,Gold at Asia Pacific Customer Engagement Forum Awards for McVitie’s (United Biscuits), Innovative Agency of the Year at the Media Ace Awardsfor Performics and Radio Advertiser of The Year at Golden Mikes.
MUMBAI: The last nine months have been action-packed for Publicis Media India which has added over Rs.1000 crore in billings. Publicis Media India, through its brands — Starcom, Zenith, Performics.Resultrix and Performics.Convonix, will now handle a number of new accounts which includes — Parle Products, Mars, Fiat Chrysler, Citibank, OnePlus, Singapore Tourism Board, Fox Media, amongst other.
Publicis Media also won multi-agency pitches to retain its two key accounts, Micromax and Sun Pharma. Sun Pharma has, in fact, added to the mandate, digital duties.
Publicis Media India group CEO Anupriya Acharya said, “It‘s a great beginning for the Publicis Media proposition in India. Under the new structure, we have a great team of very energetic and highly talented leaders that run very motivated teams. We have been able to also focus our product and services to better serve our clients’ requirements and priorities. Our refreshed narrative on scale and added synergies on best in class data, tools and insights have all been well received by our clients. And I believe that these account wins are also a testimony tothe same. As we move ahead in 2017, our focus will be on scale, and future ready services like Performance marketing, Data and Analytics, Content, that provide business transforming solutions. We are already some of these services to markets like the US and the UK and this international hub helps us to scale up talent in these areas quite quickly.
Publicis Media India has also won many awards in year 2016 such as the Festival of Media Asia Pacific (FOMA) Gold for Tata AIG, Grand Prix at Campaign India Digital Crest Awards for work on Nestle India,Gold at Asia Pacific Customer Engagement Forum Awards for McVitie’s (United Biscuits), Innovative Agency of the Year at the Media Ace Awardsfor Performics and Radio Advertiser of The Year at Golden Mikes.
On 16 April, 2000, The Times of India arrived on the doorsteps of millions of Indian households with its front page blank! It carried only the masthead, but no editorial. Blank!! That was the surprise of all surprises. It was our way of telling the world that the dot com revolution had arrived with the launch of indya.com. It took the country by shock! It hit newsreaders right between their disbelieving eyes. You couldn’t help but notice it. Unbelievable, even to us!
When we thought of the idea, we didn’t use fancy words like ‘innovation in print’. All we wanted to do was dominate the news! Take over everything. To shell-shock the world, to be remembered! Nobody had dared mess with the front page of Times of India until then. It took a great client like Sunil Lulla, the then CEO of Indya.com, to inspire, appreciate and see this idea right through.
Today we see a lot of messy stuff on the front pages of most newspapers. These are not innovations, but desperations. If we want to truly break through, we’ll have to do much better than what we currently see. More importantly, we’ll have to have the inventive fire of a madman and the inspired blessing of a visionary client. Else all we’ll get is paper pulp.
It is getting harder for advertising to stand out in print. Because editorial is so much more exciting. And it’s being generated at the speed of life. So forget about creating print ads like we did before. We are competing with gripping news. And the only way to fight news is to make news.
Which explains the work many of us have seen for Benetton a few years ago. The ‘Unhate’ campaign. It dared to create news. A childlike argument for peace and reconciliation, it created huge buzz. The big pictures of world leaders kissing each other in the print ads incited strong reactions. The campaign was withdrawn but the brand’s point was made. The work won worldwide accolades and the Grand Prix at Cannes.
To truly innovate in print advertising, it’s important to remember that we are not competing with other ads, we are competing with news. What’s your news? If you have inspired guts, you’ll find the answer. Innovation in print is not a topic of discussion. It’s not an ad… it’s an act!
(These are purely personal views of BBDO India chairman and chief creative office Josy Paul and Indiantelevision.com does not necessarily subscribe to these views.)
