Tag: ITC Classmate

  • Maddys 2025 crowns India’s best in creative brilliance

    Maddys 2025 crowns India’s best in creative brilliance

    MUMBAI: When creativity squared off against innovation, India’s ad world took centre stage. The 43rd edition of Maddys, presented by Dinamalar and powered by Peps, celebrated the finest in creative, media, digital, design and strategy excellence under the theme “AI vs AI – Awesome Ideas vs Awesome Ideas.”

    Held in Chennai, Maddys 2025 attracted a record 929 entries across 155 categories from over 106 agencies and clients spanning India and Nepal, making it one of the most competitive editions in its storied history. After a rigorous two-round judging process, 340 entries were shortlisted, culminating in 184 awards, including 4 Grand Prix, 31 Gold, 61 Silver and 76 Bronze.

    The gala also featured a high-profile panel discussion, “Awesome Ideas in the Age of AI”, with industry leaders sharing insights on blending human creativity with technological transformation.

    Key winners at Maddys 2025 spanned a diverse range of creative and strategic categories. In Creative Maddys, Mind Your Language! was named agency of the year, while Way 2 News took the client of the year title. In Digital Maddys, Advertout Ventures secured agency of the year and ITC Classmate was recognised as client of the year. 

    The Sight won agency of the year in Media Maddys, with Lingo India Private Limited as the client honouree. In Film & Audio Craft, Kadhai Films was named producer of the year. For Design & Print Craft, Be positive 24 Innovation Design was awarded agency of the year, with art directors Rakesh Gandla and Velu Radhakrishnan, and copywriter Abhishek D Shah receiving individual accolades. In the Regional Pride (Tamil) category, Mind Your Language! and Way 2 News once again took the top honours as agency and client, respectively.

    The two-stage evaluation system, overseen by 8 Jury Chairs and 27 industry experts, ensured transparency and fairness, awarding points that contributed to the coveted agency and client of the Year titles across categories.

    Advertising Club Madras president S. Balasubramanian said, “Maddys 2025 is about celebrating ideas, celebrating culture, and showcasing how awesome ideas meet awesome ideas. With entries from outside India, this year’s event hints at the global potential of Maddys.”

    The evening combined awards, entertainment, and networking, highlighting the evolving creativity landscape while reinforcing Maddys as a benchmark for excellence in India’s advertising and media sectors.

    From AI-inspired campaigns to timeless creative brilliance, Maddys 2025 reminded everyone that in the world of ideas, there are no boundaries, only imagination.

  • ITC Classmate’s new TVC celebrates ‘uniqueness’ in every child

    ITC Classmate’s new TVC celebrates ‘uniqueness’ in every child

    MUMBAI: It is at a tender age of 9-10 years that children first start interacting with a pen to write. This is also the time when they try to create their unique signature which is as unique as the individual. ITC Classmate‘s new TVC, focuses on this aspect of childhood. ‘Signature‘ which is the central theme of the new ITC Classmate commercial is all set to be aired on 2 July.

    The new campaign is the next logical step in the communication continuum, taking forward the current brand campaign- ‘Because you are one of a kind.‘ The TVC has been conceptualised and created by Rediffusion Y&R and will be launched in two languages – Hindi and Tamil. While the Hindi TVC adorns lyrics penned by the legendary Padma Bhushan Gulzar, the Tamil TVC is embellished with lyrics penned by six times National Award winner Vairamuthu.

    The theme campaign comprises three commercials of 60, 40 and 30-second durations. The TVC creatively amplifies a “Signature/Dastkhat”, which is almost the beginning of a new life stage – where the pen becomes a trusted honest companion, almost like an instrument of empowerment.

    “Classmate has always endeavored to recognise, nurture and celebrate the uniqueness of every child. “We decided to take the concept of ‘uniqueness‘ forward by exploring what is that one thing in every child that is the most obvious manifestation of his/her own uniqueness,” ITC Stationary Business marketing manager Karan Kumar.

    The ad is a simple insight into the way every child writes his/her name. “The ad concentrates on the unique signature that every child always wants to create, almost like a master-piece, developed after many rounds of secret iterations. This stands as an outward representation of every child‘s uniqueness. It is this powerful simplicity of the child‘s endeavor that we wanted to capture,” he informed.

    “We are proud and happy that we have worked with Gulzar and Vairamuthu, both extremely acclaimed writers, to capture the powerful yet innocent emotions of children during this pursuit, in an extremely important life-stage.”

    The film opens on Tara, a young girl who grows up in the hills. Standing on the cusp of childhood and adolescence as she does, Tara is earnestly trying to create her own unique signature – an identity that represents her and her unique individuality. While at it, she‘s very protective, almost zealously guarding her various iterations from everyone around her; it is almost her own very secret which she wants to reveal only once she has masterfully crafted it. She finally finds her inspiration at the local community festival where the swirls of ribbons set against all the festivities, inspire her to her final flourish.

    The national television campaign will be supported extensively by digital and social media marketing; consumer activations and engagements, besides a slew of school connect programmes.

  • Windchimes to handle ITC Classmate’s social media biz

    Windchimes to handle ITC Classmate’s social media biz

    MUMBAI: Windchimes Communications, a social media agency, has won the social media mandate of the notebook brand ITC Classmate.

    With the help of social media, the brand aims to target two sets of audiences – teenagers in the age group of 13 to 19 years, and teachers and young parents. The brand aims at spreading its brand message across all social media platforms.

    ITC marketing manager- ESPB Karan Kumar said, “We are putting in place a dedicated and comprehensive digital marketing strategy for the medium – one that includes brand messages getting both, uniquely crafted and scientifically implemented in the digital marketing space. And through a mix of digital and social media platform, we seek to reach our brand messages to our primary consumers and the key influencers in their lives.”

    The core campaign message is- ‘Because you are one of a kind‘. The campaign aims to encourage exploration and nurturance of individuality among the target group of consumers and encourage them to be unique. The brand urges its audience to create a niche for themselves rather than trying to emulate someone else, in other words advocating becoming ‘first you‘ rather than be ‘another somebody‘. All social media activities planned, would tie in with this thought, the company said.

    Windchimes Communications head maven Nimesh Shah added, “We are proud that ITC chose us as their social media partners. The stationery segment is a very exciting space and we intend to have a lot of action for Classmate in the coming months.”