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Tag: Ajay Kakar

  • Vikram Sakhuja re-elected as President of The Advertising Club for the second term

    Vikram Sakhuja re-elected as President of The Advertising Club for the second term

    MUMBAI: The Advertising Club, India’s premier industry body for the advertising, marketing, research and communication fraternity, today announced the list of its Managing Committee members for the year 2018-19. Vikram Sakhuja, Group Chief Executive Officer, Media and OOH, Madison Communications was re-elected as the President of the Ad Club. The other leadership positions remained unchanged from the previous year with Ajay Kakar, CMO-Financial Services, Aditya Birla Group as Vice President; Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Media Brands as Secretary; Mitrajit Bhattacharya, Founder & President, The Horologists, Former President & Publisher, Chitralekha Groupas Jt. Secretary and Dr. Bhaskar Das, Executive President, Dainik Bhaskar Groupas Treasurer.

    Speaking on his re-election as the President of The Advertising Club, Vikram Sakhuja said: “Leading an industry body with such rich legacy as that of the Ad Club has been an enriching experience. Over the past one year, we have focused all our initiatives towards recognizing excellence, driving thought leadership, being a repository for marketing & advertising and attracting young talent into the industry.” 

    In the past year, the Ad Club has taken considerable measures to ensure actionable impact in its four identified areas. Elaborating further Sakhuja adds, “In the area of excellence, we have ensured gold standards in effectiveness with Effies, creativity with Abbys, media with EMVIES and marketing with Marquees. Driving the agenda of thought leadership, we introduced Digital Review- D-CODE, to attract young talent we are about to unfold a communication focused Hackathon, and encourage knowledge repository though case study sharing and Knowledge Series events. I am thankful to the excellent member committee who have consistently supported every initiative of the Ad Club and helped us drive the narrative of excellence for the industry.”

    This year’s list of managing committee members include leaders from the media and marketing industry. The elaborate list is mentioned as below:

  • ABBY Awards 2018 shortlists announced

    ABBY Awards 2018 shortlists announced

    MUMBAI: The coveted ABBY Awards that recognizes and rewards excellence across Advertising, Marketing and Media has now announced that the shortlists for the 2018 edition have started being posted, by category. The Abby Awards 2018 have been adjudged by eminent industry leaders and category stalwarts, making winning the ABBY’s a momentous occasion and a category benchmark. The shortlists for the 2018 edition are now live on www.abbyshortlists.com. As part of the inclusive process of ABBY’s the category shortlists are available for review on the website  for a period of 7 days, ensuring complete transparency in the judging process, during which time specific feedback and comments are welcome.

    Speaking about the shortlists for the iconic ABBY Awards 2018, Ajay Kakar, Chairman of the Awards Governing Council said “This year the ABBYs boasts of a Jury of Masters, each of who has been a game changer and innovator. The jury has deliberated and identified the short lists. And these are now being put up in the public domain, by category. May the best of best win.”

    ABBY Award 2018  is the the gold standard in advertising awards. Presented by the Advertising Club and AAAI the  awards will once again see the entire advertising and marketing fraternity come together in Goa from 5th April, 2018 to  8th April 2018  at the The Grand Hyatt, Bambolim, North Goa.  

  • ABBY Awards 2018 announces jury chairs

    ABBY Awards 2018 announces jury chairs

    MUMBAI:  After announcing the master jury for the creative category, the eminent ABBY Awards that recognises and rewards excellence across advertising, marketing and media has now announced the illustrious jury chairs for the media, broadcaster, publisher, branded content & entertainment, specialist and craft categories. Chairing the jury for each of these categories are stalwarts and veterans who have played an instrumental role in leading the respective categories towards new echelons of growth.  

    Presented by the Advertising Club and AAAI, the ABBYs 2018 will be a highlight at the leading advertising convention, Goafest, where once again the entire advertising and marketing fraternity is expected to come together in Goa, between 5-7 April 2018, at The Grand Hyatt, Bambolim, North Goa.

    ABBY awards governing council chairman Ajay Kakar says, “The guiding principle of ABBYs 2018 is that an award is as good as the jury that judges it. Having identified and announced the master jury for the creative ABBYs, we have extended the ‘Jury of Masters’ principle to all the other categories of ABBYs 2018. Each of them is a celebrated and iconic veteran of their crafts.”

    The  eminent Jury Chairs  include stalwarts as below:

    JURY  CHAIR “ABBY AWARDS 2018”

    Media

    Sam Balsara, Chairman, Madison World

    Public Relations

    Madan Bahal, Managing Director, Adfactors PR

    Direct

    Raj Nair, CEO and Chief Creative Officer, Madison BMB 

    Design & Still Craft

    Viral Pandya, Co-Founder, Chief Creative Officer, Out of the Box

    Radio Craft

    Ramanuj Shastry, Co-Founder & Director, Infectious 

    Broadcaster

    Rohit Gupta, President, Network Sales And International Business, Sony Pictures Networks, India

    Publisher

    Pradeep Dwivedi, CEO, Sakal Media Group

    Branded Content & Entertainment

    Tarun Katial, CEO, BIG FM 

    Digital & Mobile and Digital Craft

    Sidharth Rao, CEO & Co-Founder, Webchutney

    Video Craft

    Vinil Mathew, Director, Breathless Films
  • ABBY Awards announces master jury for 2018

    ABBY Awards announces master jury for 2018

    MUMBAI: The highly coveted ABBY Awards that recognises and rewards creative excellence is poised to set new benchmarks on scale and innovation with the upcoming 2018 edition. The apex industry award has for the first time announced the formation of a master jury. 

    It boasts of 15 illustrious, award winning creative giants who have consented to be the filter for the creative standards of the creative ABBYs.

    The master jury is entrusted with the task of screening all the entries received, across all the categories and verticals, to identify those worthy of being short listed. It will then deliberate on which of the short lists is worthy of winning an ABBY. This jury will help ensure that the ABBYs 2018 will be the most sought-after creative awards in the industry. 

    ABBY 2018 chair of the awards governing council Ajay Kakar says, “We want the ABBYs to be the gold standard, recognising creative excellence for brands. It is a fact that an award is as good or reputed as the jury that judges it. So recognising this, we created a master jury for 2018. Adjudged by such a versatile and visionary jury means that only the most creative campaigns will emerge victorious, making the winning of an ABBY a career defining moment.”

    The 2018 edition will also see the number of categories and sub categories being rationalised, to ensure relevance and effectiveness. Ajay Kakar elaborated, “We recognise that digital is not a medium, but a technology that supports communication. Keeping this and such realities at the core, as against the past years, the categories and verticals have been brought down from 15 categories and eight verticals i.e. 120, to eight categories and eight verticals i.e. 64. 

    Another highlight will be the reinstatement of the Agency of the Year award. This year will see the announcement of the creative agency of the year, design specialist agency of the year, digital specialist agency of the year, direct specialist agency of the year, PR specialist agency of the year, branded content and entertainment specialist agency of the year and media agency of the year.

  • Dentsu Webchutney bags digital mandate for Aditya Birla Capital

    Dentsu Webchutney bags digital mandate for Aditya Birla Capital

    MUMBAI: Digital agency Dentsu Webchutney has won the digital mandate for two of Aditya Birla Capital’s businesses, namely Aditya Birla Health Insurance and Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund.

    The agency has been entrusted with the task of providing strategic and creative inputs across various platforms within the digital ecosystem.

    Aditya Birla Capital chief marketing officer Ajay Kakar says, “We are launching a new category – Money, and are committed to creating new benchmarks in a way customers engage with our category. The digital platform will play a key role in this journey and innovation will be the cornerstone.”

    Dentsu Webchutney executive vice president growth Gaurav Soi adds, “Financial planning and financial services are extremely significant today and the digital ecosystem is the most efficient medium to cater to diverse age and need bands. We are looking forward to helping Aditya Birla Capital establish their brand philosophy with respect to the health insurance and mutual funds businesses, through innovative positioning and properties across the digital landscape.”

    Denstu Webchutney Mumbai EVP and branch head Nishi Kant mentions, “We are confident of a long-lasting and impactful partnership with Aditya Birla Capital. We look forward to working together to create engaging and result-oriented campaigns that significantly and positively impact their health insurance and mutual fund businesses.”

  • Birla Insurance #JumpForHealth to donate a prosthetic limb for every 10k jumps

    MUMBAI: Aditya Birla Health Insurance Company Ltd. (ABHICL), the Health Insurance arm of Aditya Birla Financial Services Group Limited, launched a unique campaign – ‘#JumpForHealth’ on the occasion of World Health Day to reinforce its belief in empowering people to live a healthy lifestyle.

    The month long campaign, starting from April 07, 2017 aims to donate one prosthetic leg to a person in need for every 10,000 jumps in association with the Sadhu Vaswani Foundation. A total of 100 prosthetic legs will be donated to people in need on achieving one million jumps.

    The American Journal of Health Promotion research demonstrates that jumping 20 times a day may have a significant impact on your risk of osteoporosis. After just eight weeks, researchers found a demonstrable change in bone mineral density in their subjects that jumping everyday provides greater bone-building benefits than running or jogging. Jumping also has cardiovascular benefits, leads to an increased strength in your legs and core and also improves your mental health. Activity pumps oxygen-rich blood to your brain that helps improve mental outlook on life and improves creativity. This increases your resistance to fatigue and improves your health.

    “Today’s generation leads a sedentary lifestyle which increases their chances of suffering from innumerous lifestyle diseases. The #JumpForHealth campaign aims to educate people on the importance of living an active life by making exercise a part of their daily routine,” Aditya Birla Group CMO Financial Services Ajay Kakar.

    ABHICL CEO Mayank Bathwal said, “We at Aditya Birla Health go beyond just providing health insurance policies to our customers. We are committed to ensure that people live a healthy lifestyle.”

    One can follow the below steps to participate in the campaign:

    1 . Take a video of yourself or your friends, family or colleagues jumping together
    2. Upload the video on your own or your company Facebook or Instagram, tagging @AdityaBirlaHealth with the hashtag #JumpForHealth
    3. Mention the number of jumps you are contributing towards this goal. i.e. #JumpForHealth 10,000 jumps

    campaign

  • Ad Club new committee appointed

    Ad Club new committee appointed

    MUMBAI: At the recently concluded annual general meeting, The Advertising Club unanimously elected Colors CEO Raj Nayak as its President for the second consecutive term.

    The new managing committee is as follows:

    • President| Raj Nayak, CEO, Colors, Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd.

    • Vice President| Vikram Sakhuja, Group CEO, Media and OOH, Madison Communications Pvt. Ltd.

    • Secretary | Ajay Kakar, Chief Marketing Officer, Financial Services, Aditya Birla Group

    • Jt. Secretary | Bhaskar Das, Group CEO, Zee Media Corporation Ltd.

    • Treasurer| Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Mediabrands

    • Office Bearer | Ashish Sehgal, COO, Zee Unimedia Ltd.

    • Member |Mitrajit Bhattacharya, President and Publisher, Chitralekha Group

    • Member | Partha Sinha, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, McCann

    Worldgroup

    • Member | Pradeep Dwivedi, Chief Corporate Sales & Marketing Officer, Dainik Bhaskar Group | DB Corp Ltd.

    • Member | Ramesh Narayan, Managing Director, Canco Advertising Pvt. Ltd.

    • Member | Vikas Khanchandani, Chief Business Officer, Reliance Broadcast Network Limited

    • Member | Viral Jani, Head TV Partnerships, Twitter India

    • Co-opted Member | Partho Dasgupta, CEO, Broadcast Audience Research Council

    • Co-opted Member | Punitha Arumugam, Director, Agency Business, India and South East Asia, Google India Pvt. Ltd.

    • Co-opted Member | Ajay Chandwani, Director, Percept Limited

    • Immediate Past President | Pratap Bose, Founder, Social Street

    Expressing his pleasure at his re-election, Nayak said, “I am extremely honored & humbled at the love bestowed upon me by the industry. I hope to continue working even more vigorously to realize The Ad Club’s agenda of acting as a catalyst in developing our vibrant and dynamic industry.”

    Publicis Worldwide CEO South Asia and AAAI president Nakul Chopra welcomed the announcement saying, “I am delighted that Raj has been elected President Ad Club for another term. A dear friend, a respected colleague – Raj has always worked for the good of the industry via various forums. I look forward to working closely with him to further the already strong relationship between The Ad Club and AAAI.”

    Zee MD and CEO and IBF president Punit Goenka added, “I am most certain that with his rich experience, acumen and industry knowledge, Raj will continue to take ‘The Advertising Club’ to greater heights. The very fact that he is re-elected, speaks abundantly about his contribution made to the club and to the industry. Over the last year, the club has certainly been a catalyst in developing the industry and with its interactive platforms and properties, it has served as a brilliant platform for industry professionals to interact and exchange thoughts. I wish Raj all the success in this role.”

    Showing his excitement about the announcement, K Swamy BBDO Chairman,MD and IAA president India chapter, IAA Global Senior Vice President Srinivasan Swamy said, “I was delighted to hear that Raj was reelected to lead The Advertising Club. His passion and energy levels are infective. He has brought in many senior names‎ to join the committee and I eagerly look forward to next phase of accelerated growth for the Club under his stewardship.”

    Industry stalwart Madison world chairman Sam Balsara also expressed his pleasure by saying, “I am delighted that Raj has agreed to continue as The Ad Club President. This augurs well for the members of the advertising, media and marketing community in general and members of The Ad Club in particular. Raj is everybody’s favorite person and is uniquely positioned to discharge this onerous responsibility which he has kindly agreed to, despite his hectic and I am sure taxing work schedule”.

    Industry veteran GroupM South Asia CEO CVL Srinivas commented, “Its great news for the industry that Raj Nayak has been re-elected President of The Advertising Club. Raj brings a lot of style and substance to whatever he does. His boundless energy, passion and commitment is so amazing. I wish him the very best and look forward to another great year with him at the helm”.

  • Ad Club new committee appointed

    Ad Club new committee appointed

    MUMBAI: At the recently concluded annual general meeting, The Advertising Club unanimously elected Colors CEO Raj Nayak as its President for the second consecutive term.

    The new managing committee is as follows:

    • President| Raj Nayak, CEO, Colors, Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd.

    • Vice President| Vikram Sakhuja, Group CEO, Media and OOH, Madison Communications Pvt. Ltd.

    • Secretary | Ajay Kakar, Chief Marketing Officer, Financial Services, Aditya Birla Group

    • Jt. Secretary | Bhaskar Das, Group CEO, Zee Media Corporation Ltd.

    • Treasurer| Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Mediabrands

    • Office Bearer | Ashish Sehgal, COO, Zee Unimedia Ltd.

    • Member |Mitrajit Bhattacharya, President and Publisher, Chitralekha Group

    • Member | Partha Sinha, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, McCann

    Worldgroup

    • Member | Pradeep Dwivedi, Chief Corporate Sales & Marketing Officer, Dainik Bhaskar Group | DB Corp Ltd.

    • Member | Ramesh Narayan, Managing Director, Canco Advertising Pvt. Ltd.

    • Member | Vikas Khanchandani, Chief Business Officer, Reliance Broadcast Network Limited

    • Member | Viral Jani, Head TV Partnerships, Twitter India

    • Co-opted Member | Partho Dasgupta, CEO, Broadcast Audience Research Council

    • Co-opted Member | Punitha Arumugam, Director, Agency Business, India and South East Asia, Google India Pvt. Ltd.

    • Co-opted Member | Ajay Chandwani, Director, Percept Limited

    • Immediate Past President | Pratap Bose, Founder, Social Street

    Expressing his pleasure at his re-election, Nayak said, “I am extremely honored & humbled at the love bestowed upon me by the industry. I hope to continue working even more vigorously to realize The Ad Club’s agenda of acting as a catalyst in developing our vibrant and dynamic industry.”

    Publicis Worldwide CEO South Asia and AAAI president Nakul Chopra welcomed the announcement saying, “I am delighted that Raj has been elected President Ad Club for another term. A dear friend, a respected colleague – Raj has always worked for the good of the industry via various forums. I look forward to working closely with him to further the already strong relationship between The Ad Club and AAAI.”

    Zee MD and CEO and IBF president Punit Goenka added, “I am most certain that with his rich experience, acumen and industry knowledge, Raj will continue to take ‘The Advertising Club’ to greater heights. The very fact that he is re-elected, speaks abundantly about his contribution made to the club and to the industry. Over the last year, the club has certainly been a catalyst in developing the industry and with its interactive platforms and properties, it has served as a brilliant platform for industry professionals to interact and exchange thoughts. I wish Raj all the success in this role.”

    Showing his excitement about the announcement, K Swamy BBDO Chairman,MD and IAA president India chapter, IAA Global Senior Vice President Srinivasan Swamy said, “I was delighted to hear that Raj was reelected to lead The Advertising Club. His passion and energy levels are infective. He has brought in many senior names‎ to join the committee and I eagerly look forward to next phase of accelerated growth for the Club under his stewardship.”

    Industry stalwart Madison world chairman Sam Balsara also expressed his pleasure by saying, “I am delighted that Raj has agreed to continue as The Ad Club President. This augurs well for the members of the advertising, media and marketing community in general and members of The Ad Club in particular. Raj is everybody’s favorite person and is uniquely positioned to discharge this onerous responsibility which he has kindly agreed to, despite his hectic and I am sure taxing work schedule”.

    Industry veteran GroupM South Asia CEO CVL Srinivas commented, “Its great news for the industry that Raj Nayak has been re-elected President of The Advertising Club. Raj brings a lot of style and substance to whatever he does. His boundless energy, passion and commitment is so amazing. I wish him the very best and look forward to another great year with him at the helm”.

  • Ad Club modifies Effie 2015 Awards format

    Ad Club modifies Effie 2015 Awards format

    MUMBAI: The Advertising Club, which will be holding the Effie 2015 Awards on 27 January, 2016, has drawn up a slew of changes to the same keeping in tune with the changing times.

     

    For the first time, entries can now be submitted online. As an acknowledgement to the increasing importance of the startup ecosystem in India, a new category called ‘New Product or Service – Best Campaign for a Start-up’ has been introduced.

     

    The Digital Campaign category too has been redefined into the Integrated Marketing Category – a tacit nod to the evolution of the digital platform as an inclusion rather than extension of an ad campaign.

     

    The growing economic influence of small town India came to the fore as the erstwhile Rural Marketing category has been rechristened as Small Town and Rural Marketing Category. Though not renamed, the Healthcare Category also underwent a redefining exercise, to account for the increasing diversity of the segment. Barring the Best Ongoing Campaign, all other categories will now be eligible to compete for the Grand Effie.

     

    Commenting on these improvements, The Advertising Club president Raj Nayak said, “The Effies is the award that recognizes advertising effectiveness. To be able to do justice to its purpose, it is imperative that we recognize and integrate the changing landscape of advertising in India with the rules of the award. I am confident that the modifications that we’ve introduced this year will further streamline the purpose of Effies with the ground realities of advertising in India.”

     

    2015 Awards chairman Ajay Kakar added, “The advertising industry has grown from strength to strength since its inception in India. Not only has our industry grown in volume but also in terms of geographical spread. It is in recognition of this reality that, for the first time, Effie India will be organizing the first round of judging at Bangalore besides Mumbai & Delhi.”

     

    2015 Awards co-chairman Vikram Sakhuja opined, “What’s new in Effies is your work. Celebrate the fact that you did something creative, analytical, but always accountable. We love madness but love the method underlying even more. If you’ve done something that made you proud chances are we would love to see it. Let it rip.”

     

    The Effie 2015 Awards will be held at the Seaside Lawns, Hotel Taj Lands End in Mumbai. Campaigns that ran in India from 1 October, 2014 to 30 September, 2015 (12 months) are eligible for entry.