TRUSTED BY BRANDS ACROSS INDIA
TRUSTED BY BRANDS ACROSS INDIA
The Cannes Film Festival is the most photographed, most covered, most culturally consequential red carpet on the planet. Every year, the world watches. And every year, India sends its biggest names — Bollywood royalty, international stars, celebrated filmmakers.
UMB Pageants dared to ask a different question: what if the women standing on that red carpet weren't just celebrities — but everyday Indian women who earned their place there? Doctors. Mothers. Entrepreneurs. Dieticians. Women from Kanpur, Noida, Gujarat, Assam — women who had never been told the world's most famous red carpet was for them.
That question became the Queen's Tour — UMB's flagship global activation where titleholders walk the Cannes red carpet, Paris Fashion Week, Milan Fashion Week, London, New York, and Dubai as India's cultural ambassadors. Not as attendees. As icons.
UMB made it happen. Marktini Media's mandate was to make sure 750 million people saw it.
Taking 25+ queens to Cannes is a logistical and creative feat. But getting the world to pay attention to 25+ individual stories — simultaneously, across multiple platforms, in one of the noisiest media moments of the year — is an entirely different challenge.
Every major brand, celebrity, and designer fights for Cannes coverage. Standing out requires more than presence. It requires a strategy. That's where Marktini came in.
While UMB coordinated the delegation, the travel, the couture, and the red carpet appearances, Marktini Media operated as the complete digital command centre — managing every aspect of how the world consumed the Cannes activation online. Four pillars drove the strategy:
Every queen's Cannes content was elevated with premium graphics, branded templates, and a consistent visual language — ensuring that across 25+ individual accounts and the UMB brand page, every post looked like it belonged on an international stage. Announcement graphics, red carpet reveal posts, behind-the-scenes carousels — Marktini designed every pixel.
Raw red carpet moments, couture reveals, and behind-the-scenes footage were transformed into scroll-stopping reels, carousels, and stories — edited and optimised for maximum algorithmic performance across Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and beyond.
A coordinated posting calendar managed across 25+ accounts simultaneously — ensuring content hit feeds in a sequence that built viral traction rather than cannibalising each other's reach. One unified strategy. Zero content collisions. Maximum algorithmic momentum.
Press releases, media pitches, and publication placements timed to each red carpet moment — turning every queen's visual content into national and international news coverage simultaneously. Every story pitched to the right publication with the right angle at the right moment.
Every queen carried a city, a story, and a reason she had earned her place. These are the names that made headlines — each one designed, edited, posted, and pitched into the press by Marktini.
The Biggest Story in Indian Pageant History
Sherry Singh didn't just walk the Cannes red carpet. She made history getting there. Crowned Mrs India 2025 by UMB Pageants, Sherry went on to become India's first-ever Mrs Universe 2025 — defeating 120 contestants from across the world at the 48th Mrs Universe pageant in Manila, Philippines. After 48 years, an Indian Mrs Universe titleholder finally returned to the Cannes red carpet — and it was a UMB queen who did it.
For her Cannes 2026 debut, Sherry wore a custom ensemble by Rimple & Harpreet — India's premier luxury bridal couture house — featuring intricate real zari craftsmanship, a centuries-old Indian textile art, paired with handcrafted jewellery by Kavya Potluri. The look blended Indian heritage with a powerful message of modern womanhood that ignited a global conversation. Sherry is also a TEDx Speaker and has previously walked the Lakme Fashion Week runway as Mrs Universe 2025 — one of India's most prestigious fashion platforms.
"For me, this Cannes 2026 debut is a reminder that dreams evolve with you. It's not just about the red carpet, but about owning your journey, celebrating where you come from, and showing up fearlessly on the world stage."
Coverage: ANI, Business Standard, ETV Bharat (exclusive interview), Gulf News, Wikipedia (dedicated page as Mrs Universe 2025)
From Kanpur's Streets to the Palais Steps
Born and raised in Kanpur, trained as a dietician, Kalpana Shukla had a life far removed from international red carpets. Then she built her way there — regional events, pageant victories, Mrs Universe 2023 First Runner-Up — and finally, a headline-making appearance at Cannes 2026 that turned heads worldwide.
Kalpana arrived with not one but two standout couture looks — a shimmering golden ensemble by Manish Malhotra, India's most iconic luxury fashion designer, featuring hand-embroidered zardozi and mirror work — and a dramatic pink and purple statement gown by internationally acclaimed Vietnamese designer Joli Poli. Two looks. Two world-class designers. One woman from Kanpur who willed herself onto the world's most famous red carpet.
"Walking the Cannes red carpet was an unforgettable experience. Through both looks, I wanted to celebrate elegance, individuality, and the growing global presence of Indian fashion and beauty on international platforms."
Coverage: ANI, Oneindia, SpotboyE, India CSR, Business Upturn, Eastern Herald, MyNation
The Transformation That Conquered the World's Biggest Runways
Priya Munjal's story is one of the most extraordinary in UMB's history — and Marktini made sure the world knew every chapter of it. A devoted mother of two, Priya transformed her body and her life through discipline, nutrition, and an unbreakable mindset. Crowned Mrs India 1st Runner-Up by UMB Pageants, she was then sent to Paris Fashion Week and Milan Fashion Week 2026 dressed in Charu Parashar couture — an FDCI-recognised designer whose collections have shown in New York, Dubai, Paris, Milan, and Toronto.
From a post-pregnancy body she once struggled with, to walking the world's most prestigious fashion runways in India's finest couture. This is what UMB's inclusive vision looks like in practice — and what Marktini's digital storytelling amplified to millions.
Coverage: ANI, PTI, The Wire, Filmibeat, The Daily Guardian, NewsX
The Architects of UMB's Vision
The architects of UMB's vision attended both Cannes 2025 and Cannes 2026 — making them a consistent, growing Indian presence across consecutive years on the world's most prestigious red carpet.
At Cannes 2026, in custom Manish Malhotra couture reinterpreting Assamese cultural heritage — Snigdha in blush silk with a traditional veil motif detailed with hand-strung pearls and a ruby-and-diamond necklace, Urmimala in a commanding midnight-violet gown transforming the veil into an architectural statement — their appearance sparked a national conversation about Northeast India's representation on the global stage. The red carpet became a runway for regional narratives, Assamese identity, and cultural pride on the world's biggest stage.
Coverage: Filmibeat, India CSR, Business Upturn, Cinemapluz
India's First Ophthalmologist on the Cannes Red Carpet
Dr. Reshma made history as one of the first Indian doctors to walk the Cannes red carpet — presenting UMB's Elite Queen segment in couture by Modo Caldo. A practising ophthalmologist stepping onto the world's most photographed stage in designer couture — her appearance was a powerful statement that UMB's queens are not defined by conventional beauty, but by achievement, purpose, and the courage to claim every stage they've earned.
Coverage: The Tribune, The Daily Guardian, NewsX
The Modern Indian Woman Who Refuses to Be Just One Thing
Entrepreneur, scholar, and UMB titleholder Shweta Chopra walked the 79th Cannes Film Festival red carpet in a bold black gown — representing both UMB and her luxury gifting brand INDULGENCE on the international stage. An MBA in Marketing & HR with professional training in artisan chocolate and confectionery craft from the United Kingdom, Shweta is the modern Indian woman who refuses to be just one thing.
Coverage: The Tribune, PTI syndicated
A Modern Tale of Heritage
UMB Mrs. India Elite 2025 (2nd Runner-Up) Bhumika Shajwani walked the Cannes red carpet on May 15, 2026 in couture by 91Threads — a collection titled "A Modern Tale of Heritage" paying homage to Gujarat's artisanal craftsmanship and textile traditions on the world stage.
Coverage: Business Upturn
Every City. Every Heritage. Every Story.
Beyond the featured names, UMB took 25+ queens from across India to the Cannes red carpet and global fashion weeks across both editions. Each woman carried her city, her heritage, and her story onto the world's most photographed stage. Marktini managed the social media strategy, graphics, content editing, posting, and digital PR for every single one of them.
| Metric | Result |
|---|---|
| Total Combined Views — All Platforms, All Queens | 750,000,000+ |
| Total Queens on Global Stage | 25+ |
| Cannes Editions Covered | 2 (2025 & 2026) |
| Fashion Weeks Covered | Paris, Milan, London, New York, Dubai |
| Platforms Managed | Instagram, YouTube, Facebook + More |
| Accounts Managed Simultaneously | 25+ |
Running one coordinated posting calendar across 25+ accounts meant content built on itself instead of cannibalising reach. One unified strategy, zero content collisions, maximum algorithmic momentum — this is the engine behind 750M+ combined views.
Press releases and pitches were synced to every couture reveal and red carpet appearance — so each queen's content broke as coverage across India's biggest publications simultaneously, not days later when the moment had passed.
Doctors, mothers, dieticians, and entrepreneurs from Kanpur, Gujarat, and Assam gave audiences something a celebrity arrival never could — a story they could see themselves in. That relatability is what made the content travel.
India's first Mrs Universe at Cannes in 48 years — Sherry Singh — gave the whole activation a headline the world couldn't ignore, and Marktini built the surrounding coverage so every other queen rose with it.
25+ stories, structured and sequenced across platforms, produced 750M+ combined views — proof that a well-orchestrated group of authentic voices can dominate one of the noisiest media moments of the year.
"UMB made it happen. Our mandate was to make sure 750 million people saw it. Every graphic, every edit, every post, and every press placement was built around one idea — that everyday Indian women, told the right way, belong on the world's biggest stage."
— Marktini Media
The Cannes activation worked because Marktini operated as a single digital command centre — not 25+ separate accounts running in parallel, but one coordinated system where graphics, editing, posting, and PR moved in lockstep with every red carpet moment. UMB built the icons. Marktini made sure the world watched.
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