Tyre manufacturer CEAT Ltd has launched its new TVC for its four-wheeler SUV tyre range. The TVC features Rohit Sharma, captain of the Indian Men’s Cricket team, and two exciting young players, Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill - with all three of them featuring in somewhat different roles in the new advert.  With the forthcoming cricket season, the three cricketers are all set to spread the message and highlight the importance of having good SUV tyres that can handle speed as well as offer a superior grip.

The new TVC conceptualised by Ogilvy, features an SUV with Rohit Sharma as a busy politician riding in the back seat and sharing nuggets of political wisdom. A bespectacled Shubman Gill, as a typically harried-looking politician’s secretary busy on his cell phone, is quickly alerted to his master’s latest pontification by the chauffeur, played by Shreyas Iyer in the video. As the secretary frantically searches for a pen to record the advice, just at that instant, around a sharp bend, a group of protestors suddenly appear in the middle of the road. The driver has to brake hard and swerve fast to prevent an accident. Once done, he is quick to repeat their master’s advice - the importance of ‘speed and grip’ in the context of both driving as also in politics. This analogy echoes the same attributes as exemplified by CEAT Tyres - and is demonstrated by Shreyas Iyer in adroitly avoiding an accident because of the superior grip of CEAT’s new SUV tyres at high speed. “You should definitely write it down”, reiterates Rohit Sharma to Shubman Gill to reinforce the message. The gospel for success in politics and that of safety on the roads is the same, as the TVC playfully tries to show.

The campaign once again leads back to CEAT’s purpose of ‘Making Mobility Safer & Smarter. Everyday’.

Speaking on the campaign, Lakshmi Narayanan B, Chief Marketing Officer - CEAT Limited said, "It’s the cricket season and CEAT is thrilled to get 3 of India’s top cricketers - Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill in  ‘never seen before’ avatars. CEAT’s wide range of SUV tyres have a unique capability to provide both speed and control while delivering on its promise of safety and comfort. Our range of offerings, which include SportDrive SUV, CrossDrive SUV and SecuraDrive SUV address a wide range of on-road and off-road requirements.”

Rohit Joseph, Senior Creative Director, Ogilvy adds “In general, creatives are a little vary of sportsmen, when it comes to performing in front of camera. Scripts are watered down, roles are pruned, lines shortened or a ‘propah’ actor is built in for heavy lifting. But this time around, with CEAT’s conviction, the team got the confidence to go beyond the norm. We had three star players, acting out of their skin (and such a commendable job), in a duration strait-jacket of 20 seconds, segueing into tyre story, effortlessly. We are quite thrilled with the result, and awaiting all the brand love this one will garner in coming days.”

Games24x7 is bringing a new mystery to this IPL season with an exciting new campaign for its fantasy sports platform, My11Circle. The leading fantasy cricket platform and official title sponsor of IPL franchise Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) has unveiled an exciting lineup of fan engagement campaigns for the upcoming cricket season.

With campaigns like ‘Bade Se Bada’, ‘Locker Room Stories’, and ‘Out of the Park’, My11Circle aims to provide fans with a unique and entertaining experience throughout the season.

Commenting on the campaign, Saroj Panigrahi, Senior Vice-President, My11Circle, said, “At My11Circle, we have always kept the user at the centre. Our campaigns are based on the insights which we draw from our users and that’s the reason they resonate extremely well with our audience. We are positive that the new campaigns will strike a chord with our players and elevate their engagement on the platform.”

The campaign features a series of films with My11Circle’s brand ambassadors Sourav Ganguly, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Shubman Gill donning the roles of larger-than-life figures that symbolize My11Circle offering for this season and promises a visual treat. In a unique twist, while the campaign announces the second prize worth INR 1 crore, it leaves fans guessing on what will be the first prize.

The campaign has been created by The Script Room. Commenting on the association, Ayyappan Raj, Co-Founder, The Script Room live said, “It was great working with the My11Circle team in creating another exciting IPL campaign. The collaboration resulted in an interesting concept - promote the second prize, thereby creating intrigue and excitement towards the first prize. We’ve built upon our very successful campaign “The Giants” and taken it a step further with the idea of “bade se bada” for a creative visualization.”

Whistling Woods International (WWI) has endeavoured a social initiative by launching a new 360-degree women-centric campaign. The campaign #IWasTold, features successful alumnae over the past 16 years, which aims to break the stereotypes regarding women due to cultural conditioning. Breaking biases around women's career choices is the fundamental thought of the campaign.

“Whistling Woods has always encouraged equal opportunities for men and women. The #The IWasTold campaign recognises the various challenges women have to face in the journey of achieving their dreams. Women’s Day, this year, has reconciled with our annual event, Alumni Engagement Month, where we celebrate our alumni and their achievements, hence we felt it’s the best time to celebrate our alumnae, who we are ever so proud of,” said Meghna Ghai Puri, President, Whistling Woods International. 

Sharing her thoughts about the IWD2023 campaign, Riddhi Bhogi, Head - Marketing & Brand Communication, WWI said, "At Whistling Woods International, we have always encouraged our female students, staff and faculty to break the glass ceiling and pursue their passion. With the #IWasTold campaign, we would like to encourage women, at large, to break away from the gender-based biases and prejudices that have been part of our everyday life, both in terms of personal and professional aspects, over the years. The campaign seeks to raise awareness and enable women to achieve her dreams and fulfill her aspirations."

The campaign is garnering a huge response on social media, where students are sharing stories of what they were told not to do or pursue. Few posts such as “#IwasTold that Women Are Meant To Build Homes Not Brands”, “#IwasTold that Passion For Sports Is Better Left As A Spectator”, “#IwasTold that only fair skinned women get cast in films” are spreading an awareness about the struggles women face in their everyday lives. This campaign is in a pursuit to celebrate women who are powerful, independent, limitless, and willing to define and live life by their own rules. The campaign has also been featured in the Highlighted section of Ads of the World.

Navratna Active Deo Talc brings back Varun to play a double role in its new commercial. Brought to life by the popular film director, Vasan Bala, the film is a fun take on the Bollywood trope of a brothers’ reunion. 

Conceptualised by What’s Your Problem, a Wondrlab company, the campaign showcases the benefits of Navratna Active Deo Talc in the summer season. With the double role of Arun and Varun, two long-lost brothers running towards each other, the film beautifully depicts what happens when one of the brothers doesn’t use the product, sweating profusely and trying unsuccessfully to keep himself cool. 

V Kaushik Vedula, AVP-Marketing, Emami Limited, said, “We wanted to leverage Varun’s signature fun style of acting. And what better way to do it than with such a filmy script. Bichede Bhaiyon ka mela main milan, but with a twist. So far, the audience reception has been extremely positive and of course, even the internal teams are very pleased with it. I think we have proved this film a worthy sequel to Judwaa 2.” 

Amit Akali, CCO & Co-founder, WYP Wondrlab India, and Gauri Gokarn, the Content Director, said, “Navratna Talc has had a legacy of creating iconic ads, including with Shah Rukh and Varun as well. So, it was a challenge making it different and yet keeping the essence of it intact. Given that Varun also starred in Judwaa 2, we found the perfect opportunity to recreate the filmy reunion. We even roped in Vasan Bala who did a fantastic job of making this a proper Bollywood act. And obviously, Varun’s spontaneity added a lot of fun to the film as well. This simply goes to show that people still love the good old Bollywood masala, there’s no need to always do something different, sometimes all it takes is a bit of fun.” 

The campaign has gone live on all media channels and is making quite an impact on social media, digital and outdoor media platforms.

The Advertising Club revs up to announce the 54^th edition of ABBYs, South Asia’s Gold standard, which has been recognizing creative excellence in advertising for over five decades. Held over three days, The ABBY Awards, are scheduled to take place on the 24^th, 25^th, and 26^th of May during Goafest at Grand Hyatt, Bambolim, Goa.

The preeminent awards for Creativity, Media, and Communication have once again partnered with The One Show, the world’s most prestigious award program, to upheave the global standards of judging, jury selection, and transparency to the already revered and celebrated ABBY Awards.

With a promise to bring global recognition to outstanding achievements in creative advertising, the ABBYs make for a highly coveted award property. Undoubtedly, the biggest and the most prestigious ad award show in the country, wins at the ABBYs, over the years, have further gone on to win international recognitions at Cannes and One Show, setting new benchmarks on scale and innovation.

With preparations in full momentum, The Advertising Club also announces the Awards Governing Committee for the 54^th edition of ABBYs which includes:

1. Partha Sinha, President Times of India Group and President of The Advertising Club
2. Rana Barua, Group CEO, Havas Group India & Chairman, The ABBYs Award Governing Council
3. Ajay Kakar, Managing Committee Member, The Advertising Club & Co-chair, The ABBYs Award Governing Council
4. Ajay Chandwani, Managing Committee Member, The Advertising Club
5. Shashi Sinha, CEO-India, IPG Mediabrands
6. Malcolm Raphael, Senior Vice-President, The Times of India Group
7. Prasanth Kumar, CEO, Group M South Asia
8. Jaideep Gandhi, Founder, Another Idea
9. Mohit Joshi, Managing Director, Havas Media
10. Anupriya Acharya, CEO South Asia, Publicis Groupe
11. Sam Balsara, Chairman & Managing Director, Madison Communications
12. Rohit Ohri, Group Chairman & CEO, FCB Ulka Advertising

The list of international judges will be announced by The One Show after the process of selection of both Indian and international juries. The Abby Awards will represent the South Asia region that includes India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan and has been doing so since 2004. 

Providing in-depth recognition and increasing participation opportunity, the ABBY Awards has witnessed the introduction of new sub-categories in Digital Technology, Mobile, Design, and Audio Technology based on valuable feedback from the creative professionals of the industry in the annual town hall conducted by The Advertising Club.

The Radio category has now evolved into the Audio category with the introduction of Content, the new sub-categories are in Use of Music, Sound Design, Script, Casting, Performance, Audio Technology, Voice Activation, Branded Content, Podcasts, and Content placement.

Speaking on the initiative, Partha Sinha, President Times of India Group and President of The Advertising Club, said, “With ABBYs, we at The Advertising Club, owe it to the industry and colleagues to present an award show that is authentic, transparent, and of global standards. For 54 years, ABBYs have been pivotal in recognizing creativity and innovation in India's communication industry. To elevate its presence on the global stage, we continue to augment its significance, and therefore associating with 'The One Show' once again provides the necessary impetus. We look forward to witnessing a lot of innovative work this year that will go on to live up to the repute of being the most coveted award property in South Asia.”

Rana Barua, Group CEO, Havas Group India & Chairman, The ABBYs Award Governing Council, and Ajay Kakar, Managing Committee Member, The Advertising Club & Co-chair, The ABBYs Award Governing Council said, “In addition to being a significant platform for young creative professionals in the industry to exhibit their ground-breaking work accomplished throughout the year, the ABBY Awards have consistently been the most anticipated event at Goafest. We look forward to seeing outstanding creative work being recognized and appreciated at ABBYs this year.”

Speaking on the association, Kevin Swanepoel, CEO of The One Club for Creativity, said, “Our association with the ABBY Awards, last year, helped in pushing the creative envelope much further. As the world’s premier non-profit advertising and design awards program, The One Show takes pride in continuing the partnership with The Advertising Club. The Ad Club’s vision to make ABBYs the gold standard in recognizing creative excellence is in alignment with The One Show and we look forward to awarding the most deserving campaigns. I am excited to attend the awards this year and look forward to witnessing the most deserving campaigns make it big with an ABBY.”

Prasanth Kumar – President, Advertising Agencies Association of India, added, “Over the years, the Advertising Club’s ABBYs has recognized creative work that has had the potential to become global successes. The Abby Awards at Goafest are the biggest and the most sought-after recognition in the advertising, media, and marketing industry. We are delighted to co-host the ABBY Awards and look forward to some thrilling wins.”

The Abby Awards will be a part of the Goafest 2023 and will mark the fourteenth Abby Awards at Goafest.

Star Health and Allied Insurance Co. Ltd. has launched the ‘Secure your Savings’ campaign, encouraging people to invest in their own health to safe guard their ‘Total Life Savings’ (TLS). The campaign is aimed at reminding viewers that investing in health insurance will enable them to protect their life savings and financial investments from the threat of adverse health costs.

The central theme of the campaign is based on the fact that health issues can wipe out one’s savings through high treatment costs. The video campaign uses humour to convey this serious message.

The film opens to a financially knowledgeable middle-aged man, loudly advising someone on the phone, recommending investing in various instruments such as FDs, PPFs and Mutual Funds to reap good Return-On-Investment (ROI). The protagonist listens in on this conversation and hears the man dismissing insurance as a viable investment option as it has no ROI. The man goes on to ask the person on the phone to check if the NAV and ER are high for a mutual fund investment. Seeing the protagonist still overhearing his conversation, the man, irritated, asks him “Kya hai?”

Our protagonist then baffles the man by responding in made up investment jargon: “Aap BP check kijiye. High hoga. HBP se CKD ho sakta hai, jise aapka TLS minus me jayega!” He then goes on to explain how investing in health insurance will protect the man’s Total Life Savings and advises him to invest in Star Health Insurance (SHI) to protect his savings from adverse medical costs.

Commenting on the brand film, Kotha Kartheek, VP and Head Digital Marketing & Transformation, Star Health and Allied Insurance Co. Ltd., said “With medical inflation flaring up in the country, it is very important for people to invest in health insurance. If people do not have health insurance, medical bills and hospitalisation can take a toll on their entire savings. With this campaign, primarily using digital platforms, we intend to reach out to a larger set of audience and create awareness around Health Insurance as one of the important investments that one should take up”

Kashyap G, Head of Brand and Communications, Star Health and Allied Insurance Co. Ltd.., said, “We came up with this campaign after a thorough PAN India market research, where we understood that in our nation, people are so focused on getting an ROI on all their investments and see Health Insurance as an investment with no benefit. The campaign is built on the premise that HEALTH INSURANCE is important as it protects your hard-earned money from being spent on unforeseen medical emergencies and a necessary investment that helps you to “SAVE YOUR SAVINGS”.

The film was launched on March 16, 2023 across all social handles of Star Health.

Star Sports has roped in actor and sports aficionado Ranveer Singh as its brand ambassador.

This association makes the pop culture icon the first actor to be associated with Star Sports, a development that reflects the growing synergy between sports and entertainment in India. Ranveer, in his role as 'sutradhaar' for the upcoming season of the "Incredible League", will be involved in creating a stream of immersive and entertaining content which brings alive compelling narratives from the past, present, and future of the league. The journey of the ‘sutradhaar’ starts with the opening weekend (Fri, Mar 31 – Sun, Apr 2) as Ranveer introduces the key narratives for the 16th edition of the tournament, its biggest till date.

Singh's collaboration with Star Sports is a significant move for the brand. Star Sports aims to leverage Singh's massive popularity and his deep love for sports to connect with diverse audience cohorts which haven't yet formed a deep relationship with Sport. It is in line with Star Sports' stated mission of making India a sporting nation by fueling fandom and passion for sports.

Singh, on the other hand, sees this association as a perfect opportunity to showcase his love for sports and share his passion with his fans. His vast and impressive knowledge and understanding of sports combined with his standing of being one of the most popular actors in the entertainment industry make him an ideal choice to take the power of sports wider and deeper across the country.

Talking about the association, Ranveer Singh said, "Star Sports is a brand that is synonymous with sports in India. As a sports enthusiast, being associated with a brand that has redefined the way sports are viewed and consumed in India is truly special. I have grown up watching some of the most iconic moments in World sports on Star Sports, and it's an honour for me to be a part of this incredible journey.”

Sanjog Gupta, Head- Sports, Disney Star said, “We believe that sports in India is on the move but needs a continuous injection of fandom to turn into a full-fledged movement. In Ranveer Singh, we see a die-hard sports fan, a committed storyteller, and an entertainer par excellence, who is keen to use his popularity to grow sports. Working with him, we want to reach new audiences, who still haven't discovered their passion for the sport. This also includes millions of viewers, who haven't been watching Cricket or don't watch Cricket regularly. We want to use, in conjunction, the power of storytelling and Ranveer's popularity, to create a compelling invitation for them."

Star Sports and Ranveer Singh’s journey as partners starts with the Opening Weekend of Tata IPL 2023 (Mar 31 – Apr 2), continues through the tournament as heroes emerge and stories develop. It also entails major sporting events coming up on the network including World Test Championship Final, Premier League, Pro Kabaddi, Asia Cup and ICC Cricket World Cup.