Today, on its 16th anniversary, CLAN announced Creativeland Studio's acquisition of London-based Creators Inc – in a total deal value exceeding UK £3 million (three million pounds) to solidify its entry into international long and short content production and the expansion of CLAN's global footprint aligned to its vision of building a global creative super ecosystem.

Further, Creativeland Asia Network (CLAN) has launched Creativeland Studios to focus on the growth of its long and short-format cinema and tv content offering – focussing on creating, producing and distributing high-end films, documentaries, television series and audio content. 

With this acquisition, Creativeland Studios has consolidated ten active slates, including two titles in production and now will have over 50 titles in its pipeline. 

Creators Inc. is a unique long and short format production house with a roster of directors that includes Oscar, Emmy & BAFTA-winning directors such as Guy Ritchie, Cary Joji Fukunaga, Sarah Gavron, Philip Barantini, Colin Tilley, Mark Osborne and many others. 

Creators Inc., founded and led by Jani Guest, brings together award-winning industry specialists from advertising, film and television. Creators Inc. use various synergies across these industries to position themselves worldwide at the top of the production market across all formats. 

On the back of this acquisition – Creativeland Asia Network has begun its successful foray into CLA’s creative, technology, marketing & media services ecosystem to the global market.

Sajan Raj Kurup's vision for Creativeland Studios is to provide a platform for filmmakers and creators to express their vision and bring their ideas and unique stories to viewers. The acquisition of Creators Inc is a significant step in achieving that vision. With this new global acquisition – the possibilities are endless, and CLAN is ready to take on the entertainment world.

Sajan Raj Kurup, Founder & Chairman of CLAN, said, “At Creativeland Asia – we are on a passionate journey to create a formidable creative infrastructure for the new world where media, technology, creativity and humanity will come together to curate a more entertained life. The core strategic insight for this acquisition is to build on our ability to bring brands, content and talent together – through a consolidated platform. Today, more than ever before, we recognise that content plays a pivotal role in keeping us connected, informed and entertained.”

Jani Guest, Founder & CEO of Creators Inc, said, “Creators Inc. places its incredible directorial talent at the heart of the company. The partnership with Raj and CLA allows us to accelerate the development and production of stories - created by our talent - to entertain, move, and impact positive change. I could not have wished for a better partner as we move forward to achieve our shared visions and goals.”

Sociowash has renewed its digital mandate with Viacom18’s Youth, Music, and English Entertainment (YME) cluster.

They have been associated with the agency since January 2022 and have continued their partnership to upscale their strategies for the subsequent tenure. Sociowash will manage their social media strategy, campaign management, influencer marketing, and shoot management under this association.

YME cluster includes responsibilities for MTV Beats, Vh1, Colors Infinity, Comedy Central, KaanPhod, and Fully Faltoo. Sociowash, with its competence in digital and creative marketing, will manage its social media strategies, including 23 of its Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube pages. The efficiency of its workforce will also concentrate on Analytics and reporting for its campaigns.

Speaking on the association, Raghav Bagai, Co-Founder of Sociowash, said, “The continuation of our journey speaks volumes of how successful the partnership has been in making them divergent from their competitors. The Sociowash team aspires to accomplish exceptional work and get recognised by winning numerous industry awards to maintain the soaring/high standards set in the past. We look forward to strengthening our association and making it more fruitful by helping the brands achieve their goals.”

Reckitt has selected Wavemaker as their media agency in India. Wavemaker, part of GroupM, won the business after a competitive global pitch.  

Under this new partnership, Wavemaker will be responsible for handling the media strategy, planning, buying and implementation for all mass and digital media. The media agency will lead the mandate for Reckitt’s brands across health, hygiene, and nutrition portfolios such as Dettol, Durex, Mortein, Harpic, Lizol, Strepsils, among others.

Commenting on the association, Dilen Gandhi, Regional Marketing Director, South Asia – Health & Nutrition, Reckitt, said, “Reckitt is one of the leading consumer products brands in the Indian market with a diverse product portfolio. At Reckitt, we are always looking out to strategically align ourselves to the ever-changing consumer needs and improve our connect with them. As a result of a global decision, we are glad to welcome Wavemaker on board and are confident of their domain knowledge and media buying clout. Their experience will help us enhance saliency across our brands and drive media efficiencies.”

Saurabh Jain, Regional Marketing Director, South Asia - Hygiene, Reckitt said, “We welcome Wavemaker, our newest partner, and believe their comprehensive understanding of the media landscape will position us at the forefront of media innovation, endearing our brands to all stakeholders. The decision to change has been made in alignment with our global processes. We would like to thank the Dentsu team for their unwavering dedication in establishing our power brands over the past years.”

Ajay Gupte, CEO - South Asia, Wavemaker said, “We are absolutely ecstatic to have been selected as Reckitt's esteemed media agency partner. Securing the consolidated media mandate for Reckitt's iconic brands not only recognizes our profound comprehension of the ever-evolving media landscape but also showcases our exceptional proficiency in crafting ground-breaking solutions for our clients. With Reckitt's illustrious heritage, we wholeheartedly dedicate ourselves to delivering unparalleled media and communications strategies that set new benchmarks in the industry.”

mSix&Partners has been chosen to manage the integrated media and social duties for ManipalCigna Health Insurance.

The agency won the account following a rigorous multi-agency pitch and will handle all aspects of media including TV, print, radio, digital, out-of-home, and cinema from its Mumbai office.

In response to the win, Subhamay Mukhopadhyay, Managing Partner, mSix&Partners India, expressed his excitement and said, "We are looking forward to collaborating with ManipalCigna Health Insurance to foster business success through our customized, multi-disciplinary teams at mSix&Partners. This partnership enables us to go further, faster for our clients and provide start-to-end brand solutions that improve customer experiences."

Sapna Desai, Chief Marketing Officer, ManipalCigna Health Insurance said, As a health insurance expert, at ManipalCigna our mission is to provide our customers with easy and lifetime access to quality healthcare by offering innovative and customer-centric health insurance solutions. With mSix&Partners data and tech-driven approach, combined with our expertise in providing the right health insurance product to the right customer segment, will enable us to engage with our target audience more effectively through right media channels, and further build our brand awareness. We are excited to embark on this journey and look forward to delivering outstanding results together.”

Times Prime, India’s most preferred lifestyle app, announced the launch of its first-ever AI-generated omni-channel campaign for its new tagline, “Mighty Membership.” Devised with partner agency BBH India, the campaign is available to all Times Prime members and uses AI to depict the community as larger than life figures, symbolizing the 'mighty' empowerment that comes with the membership.  For the first time ever, AI created images are being extended across billboards, social media, and other channels.

Commenting on the unique campaign, Harshita Singh, Business Head of Times Prime said, “The Mighty Membership, a campaign that showcases the incredible daily benefits that make members' lives truly mighty. Through a creative collaboration with our partner agency BBH India and the talented art photographer Pankaj Arora, we've created a visually captivating AI-generated campaign that perfectly embodies the essence of 'mighty' in every interaction. What's more, we're proud to be the pioneering brand in India to employ AI in out-of-home advertising.”

Commenting on the unique “The Mighty Membership, a campaign that showcases the incredible daily benefits that make members' lives truly mighty. Through a creative collaboration with our partner agency BBH India and the talented art photographer Pankaj Arora, we've created a visually captivating AI-generated campaign that perfectly embodies the essence of 'mighty' in every interaction. What's more, we're proud to be the pioneering brand in India to employ AI in out-of-home advertising.”


The campaign features a variety of AI-generated images that showcase the many benefits of Times Prime membership. Members can enjoy a range of experiences, including subscriptions and benefits across entertainment, lifestyle, news, movie premieres, gourmet dining, and networking events.


On his experience working on the unique campaign, Pankaj Arora, advertising photographer, said, “Harnessing the power of AI to create appealing visual content for ‘Mighty Membership’ campaign has been challenging as well as an absolute delight for me. Times Prime has always been at the forefront of offering its members exceptional experiences, and this will add another feather to its cap.”


The Mighty Membership initiative will encompass an omni-channel approach, including engagement, growth, outdoor, social, and digital channels. The campaign will also feature a master communication change, shifting the tone and style of Times Prime’s messaging to a more targeted format, highlighting the exclusive benefits offered by its top brand partners and the everyday “mighty” experiences they enable.


“This campaign is the first of its kind that leverages AI to generate visually appealing content, and we are thrilled to be creatively associated with it. Times Prime has always pioneered groundbreaking marketing campaigns, and ‘Mighty Membership’ will just take that a notch higher,” said Radhika Burman, Vice President, Head - Delhi, BBH.

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) updated its guidelines for advertising educational institutions, programmes, and platforms after rigorous rounds of public consultation. The exercise was undertaken with the aim of establishing a set of just and equitable principles that concern a critical industry in the country: education. Public consultation for the guidelines started on March 14, 2023, and was concluded on April 15, 2023. 

Education has been among the top violative sectors for the past few years when it comes to advertising. In its Annual Complaints Report 2022–23, classical education ranked second among the top violative categories with 13.8% of total ads that did not adhere to ASCI’s guidelines. 

While ASCI’s existing education guidelines require educational entities to substantiate any claims they make in their advertisements with relevant evidence, this latest update ensures that the advertisers are also mindful that their ads consider the students’ mental and physical well-being. The amendments state that ads by educational institutions, including universities, colleges and schools, coaching classes, EdTech platforms and others that offer education and training programmes should not stereotype students based on their gender, or appearance, nor portray those who score low as unsuccessful or failures. 

Further to complying with the general rules of ASCI’s Code for Self-Regulation in Advertising, and the existing educations sector guidelines, the advertisements of educational institutions, programmes and platforms will now have to comply with the following additional guidelines: 

• An advertisement may not show school students compromising on sleep or meals to study as this normalises unhealthy habits which are detrimental to student health.

• While an advertisement may show disappointment with low scores, it must not portray an average or poor scorer as an unsuccessful student or a failure,  or show him/ her/ them as demotivated, depressed or unhappy, or receiving less love or appreciation from parents, teachers or peers.

• An advertisement must not create a false sense of urgency or fear of missing out that could accentuate anxieties amongst school students, or their parents.

• While an advertisement may feature students of any gender, the advertisement must not suggest that certain subjects are associated with particular genders alone. Advertisements must also not suggest that students with high scores are always associated with stereotypical characteristics such as wearing thick glasses. This does not prevent advertisements from depicting such students so long as they do not suggest that only these students are successful.

Responding to the new guidelines,  Shri Rohit Kumar Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Consumer Affairs said, “Education advertising touches almost every citizen in the country. Ensuring the sanctity of advertising in this sector is an important task. The ASCI guidelines address the various issues that plague the sector and we hope that the industry will follow these in letter and spirit. I would like to reiterate that misleading ads are also a violation of the Consumer Protection Act and all necessary steps will be taken to keep our citizens safe”. 

Talking about the amendment to education guidelines, Manisha Kapoor, CEO and Secretary General, ASCI, said: "In addition to ads not being misleading, the updated guidelines also provide for the physical and mental well-being of students, particularly school students. While fierce pressure in education is a reality, advertising must not perpetuate this problem. normalise it or exploit student and parental vulnerability. Based on our Ed-Next study, such issues were identified, and post extensive consultation with different stakeholders, we are now issuing the updated guidelines. ASCI remains deeply committed to consumer protection, and we will continue to update our Code to reflect contemporary and emerging concerns in advertising content”. 

As the games season continues to engross the world, Cadbury Dairy Milk leveraged this opportunity to bring India together to step beyond the cricket fever and #CheerForAllSports. Launched recently to help athletes in underrepresented sports feel valued and acknowledged, the campaign sought to enable better connections between athletes and fans at the back of a tech-based solution.

All one has to do is scan the QR code on the reimagined iconic INR100 Cadbury Dairy Milk released for the campaign, which will lead to a microsite with a calendar of all sporting events across Hockey, Boxing, Table Tennis, etc., currently running in India during the same period as the upcoming IPL season. To this end, the brand also installed specially made fan screens to create an electric atmosphere in the stadium for the athletes at the back of energized Indian fans cheering their sporting idols.

The campaign has witnessed an impassioned response from across the country with around 7 Lakh registrations on the brand microsite to watch and cheer on Indian athletes as they attain new heights across different tournaments on the World Stage. To date, people have cheered on Nishant Dev, Mohammed Hussamuddin, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Manika Batra, Deepak Punia and Nisha Dahiya as they competed in tournaments such as IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships 2023, World Table Tennis Star Contender 2023 and Senior Asian Wrestling Championship 2023 respectively, to bring sporting glory to India. Many of the competing athletes expressed their gratitude and happiness about seeing their fans supporting them on-screen that motivated them to compete even more fiercely.

With two more international competitions – the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals 2023 and the FIH Pro League 2023 – on the roster this month, Cadbury Dairy Milk expects even more sign-ups from Indians looking to #CheerForAllSports, to witness their sporting heroes battle it out to bring the country recognition on an international arena.