Tag: Arvind Sharma

Arvind Sharma to be conferred with AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award 2021

Mumbai: The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) announced on Monday that AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award for 2021 will be conferred on advertising veteran Arvind Sharma. This is the highest honour to be given to an individual in India for his/her outstanding contribution to the advertising industry.

Arvind Sharma, an IIM Ahmedabad alumnus, has had a long and successful career in the Indian advertising industry. What made him a true industry leader was the way he managed to make people achieve more than what they thought they were capable of, said the association in a statement.

As a young leader, he was tasked with making a local agency, Chaitra, transition into the Indian arm of Leo Burnett Worldwide. Over two eventful decades, he created an organisation that was both formidable and flexible. In doing this, he turned a safe and conservative agency into a creative power center. Soon, the agency’s work on Thums Up, Bajaj, Heinz, P&G, and many others saw it taking on the big guns in creative pitches as well as award shows, becoming one of India’s early winners at Cannes.

Sharma has also been responsible for several incredible talents that have blossomed under his watch.

Making the announcement, AAAI president Anupriya Acharya stated, “Arvind Sharma has been a true pioneer. Apart from singlehandedly making Leo Burnett a top agency and a force to reckon with he has also groomed some of the finest talents in our industry. But more than that he has made a tremendous contribution to our industry across both the art and science of advertising. He is truly deserving of this honour.”

AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award selection committee chairman Ashish Bhasin said, “Arvind is a deserving winner of this prestigious honor. Not only has he been a successful advertising professional, he has also contributed significantly to the industry in various capacities, including as President of AAAI and a key driver in launching Goafest. I am pleased to say that the entire committee was unanimous in conferring this award upon Arvind.”

The AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award is presented annually to an individual who has been a practitioner of advertising for twenty-five years and had been in the top management position; has been or continues to be an active participant in industry bodies and or made significant contributions in shaping the industry priorities which enabled the advertising industry to grow, prosper and become more professionalised; individual known for his integrity, ethical practice and leadership qualities; contributed to his Company/Companies growth by innovative thinking and taking them in newer directions; involved in projects of social consequence which is seen as a role model for the industry at large and had been an industry veteran.

Some of the past winners of this award include Subhas Ghosal, Alyque Padamsee, Mike Khanna, R K Swamy, Piyush Pandey, Sam Balsara, Prem Mehta, Roda Mehta, Ram Sehgal, Madhukar Kamath, and others.

Formed in 1945, the AAAI is the national organisation of advertising agencies to promote their industry interests. The AAAI today comprises a very large number of small, medium, and large-sized agencies as its members, who together account for almost 80 per cent of the advertising business placed in the country.

November 15, 2021
From advertising to selling saris, Arvind Sharma turns entrepreneur

MUMBAI: The e-commerce sector in India is going through a purple patch and the latest one to enter the bandwagon is none other than Arvind Sharma.

After spending over three decades in the advertising industry, Sharma has been bitten by the entrepreneur bug. He along with one of the founding members of Yepme, Amit Gaur, has launched an online platform for the treasured Indian outfit – sari.

The self-funded, Indiasarihouse.com, aims to enhance and simplify the sari shopping experience along with benefitting the weaver community.

“A sari is more than a piece of commerce. It is the Indian women’s attire for every day and for special occasions. It represents the spinning, dyeing and weaving arts of India, nurtured by kings, queens, and princesses and perfected by India’s craftsmen over centuries. Each sari woven by a weaver’s family represents a piece of Indian history and culture. India Sari House aims to build a self-sustaining long-term channel directly between the weavers and sari consumers around the world. Amit’s wealth of experience in sourcing and e-commerce operations will help us hugely in our ambitions,” says Sharma.

The platform has recruited textile and fashion graduates, who find and verify the weavers across 20 centers in the country. From pure silk offerings like Kanjivarams, Dharmavarams, Banarasis to pure cottons ones like Ikkats, Mangalagiris, Tants and Kerala Cottons, the recently launched website has everything a woman would desire in her wardrobe.

Apart from increasing the number of sari centers in the near future, the sari house plans to get some of India’s famous designers to each adopt a weaving center and help modernise the designs some of these centers produce.

On funding the project, Sharma highlights that after three to four months he will start talking to the investors to raise funds for the platform and take it to the next level.

Gaur says, “We are building a channel with quality and integrity. To deliver these to the consumers, we have deployed a team that visits and identifies weavers that India Sari House will deal with. They hand pick saris from these weavers. We have put together another team of qualified textile and fashion experts to examine each sari and rate it on 4F factors – Fabric authenticity, Fine workmanship, Fashion quotient and Fitness for occasions. Each sari we sell will come with a 4F certificate. Since, India Sari House buys and stocks all the saris it sells, consumers can be sure that all saris will be shipped to them within 24 hours.”

Indiasarihouse.com is accessible to consumers around the world. However, initially it is being promoted in the US, Canada and the UK. Over time, it plans to cover 23 major countries of the world where there is a significant Indian diaspora presence.

Currently, Resultrix is handling the digital promotions of the web store while Underdog is the creative agency for the account.

November 19, 2014
After Pops, exits continue at Leo Burnett

MUMBAI: It was in the month of April this year that the advertising fraternity got a shock with K V Sridhar’s exit news from Leo Burnett. Pops as the industry fondly calls him quit the creative agency after 17 years of association. Looks like with the legend leaving a few others too have decided to follow suit.

Indiantelevision.com has learnt that over a dozen mid-level creative professionals have put in their papers at the agency. Highly placed sources within Leo Burnett confirmed the news.

Leo Burnett chief creative officer RajDeepak Das was not reachable for comments at the time of filing the story.

It can be noted that executive creative director Ashwini Iyer Tiwari who too had put in her papers a few months back is all set to make her debut in filmmaking.

With Pops and Arvind Sharma, who bid adieu to the agency last year, gone the recent exits have definitely raised a few eyebrows. With the new leadership in place will the agency win back the confidence of creative guns? Only time will answer that.

June 10, 2014
An eclectic set of speakers announced for Goafest 2014

MUMBAI: The Goafest Organizing Committee today released the first list of speakers for Goafest 2014 Knowledge Seminars. Unlike in the previous years where the focus was principally on international speakers, this year the Knowledge Seminars will have a good mix of international speakers, inspirational speakers, spiritual speakers and speakers on innovative aspects. This is based on a survey among the last three years’ Goafest delegates. “Based on the findings of this survey, we have put together a very special list of speakers for Goafest delegates to listen to and interact with”, says Arvind Sharma, President of Advertising Agencies Association of India.

For the Knowledge Seminars, the initial set of names include: Preethi Mariappan- Executive Creative Director at Razorfish, Germany; Melanie Varley- Chief Strategy Officer, Global at MEC; Norm Johnson- Chief Digital Officer at Mindshare; Alicia Souza- illustration designer/artist/ e-commerce entrepreneur; Shravan Kumaran and Sanjay Kumaran, the youngest app developers in India and a group known as AIB(All India Bakchod), Devdutt Pattanaik, Mythologist, Author, Leadership, DK Hema & Hema Hari, Founders, BharathGyan. Some more interesting names are being added for which confirmations are awaited soon.

“We are delighted that we have been able to get some very inspiring speakers on a cross section of subjects which delegates are normally not exposed to,” said Goafest Committee Chairman, Srinivasan Swamy.

Brief profiles of the speakers are given below: Preethi Mariappan- Executive Creative Director at Razorfish Germany: One of Preethi’s notable pieces of work is the Red Tomato Pizza Fridge Magnet, which picked up four Cannes Lions in 2012. Additionally she has received global recognition at One Show, Sabre, Dubai Lynx and Effies. Preethi has an industry wide reputation and award-winning expertise across multiple sectors. Preethi’s last role was with Digital ECD TBWA, heading up the Digital Arts Network by bringing together storytelling, people and products.

Melanie Varley- Chief Strategy Officer, Global at MEC: In her role as Chief Strategy officer, Melanie takes responsibility for designing MEC’s future business model and for the global development and integration of MEC’s product and services. Melanie was previously CEO, Europe, Middle East and Africa. She rolled out MEC Interaction and MEC Access across the region. Prior to moving into the CEO role, Melannie led Global Solutions, MEC’s international client service, across Europe. Melanie also led the development and roll out of MEC Navigator, MEC’s global operating system and was responsible for the introduction of communications planning to the overall global MEC offer.

Norm Johnson- Chief Digital Officer at Mindshare: Norm Johnston has been involved in interactive marketing since graduating from Chicago’s Northwestern University in 1988. While at Accenture, Norm led a team that developed one of the earliest interactive shopping destinations for a large U.S. retail client. Norm is a longtime vocal evangelist of the digital industry and is a frequent speaker at interactive conferences, including various IAB events, the Cannes Advertising Festival, the Festival of Media, and Internet World.

D K Hari- Founder of BharathGyan: Hari along with his wife Hema Hari, conceptualized and founded BharathGyan, a research initiative to collate from traditional as well as modern sources, the knowledgebase and cultural ties of India, through the ages. Prior to this, Hari was involved in his family business of Petroleum and FMCG products. He was head of marketing in a corporate environment for 12 years. Hema is a computer engineer from Bombay University and a PMI certified Project Management Professional. She started her career in Tata Consultancy Services in 1989 and after spending the first 10 years of her career there, moved to what is now CSC India, where she spent the next decade of her career, in a senior management capacity. Hari and Hema Hari have written about 10 books and produced a number of films, which would make India proud of her contribution to the world.

Alicia Souza- Illustrator/ designer/ e-commerce entrepreneur: After working as a banker, Alicia took up a full-fledged career in illustration as a designer for Chumbak, India’s trendiest home-grown souvenir company. A year and a half later, she set out on her own as a freelancer, drawing cute and quirky everyday cartoons for a sizeable and loyal online fan-base, and illustrating for some of India’s oldest institutions – like Tinkle magazine.

Shravan & Sanjay Kumaran- India’s Youngest App developers and Founders of Go Dimensions: Two tech savvy brothers Shravan and Sanjay Kumaran, are perhaps the youngest App developers and CEOs from India. Together, they have been successfully running an app developing company called Go Dimensions. Shravan(14 years old) is the Co-Founder and President, while his brother Sanjay(12 years old) is the Co-Founder & CEO of the company. They are the students of Vaels Billabong High international school, Chennai. Floated in 2011, the firm has already made rapid strides. Within two months of its launch, the first product – Catch me Cop, a mobile app was on display at Apple’s App Store. And in the next two weeks, there were some 2,000 downloads! This drew the attention of cnet.com, the popular website that comes out with lists of popular apps. In the past two years the two have developed eleven apps that are available on the Apple App Store and Google’s Android Play Store.

AIB (All India Bakchod): Co-founded by comedians Gursimran Khamba and Tanmay Bhat, along with Rohan Joshi and Ashish Shakya, AIB presents edgy, candid and tongue-in-cheek humor without mincing any words. Gursimran Khamba (also known only as Khamba) is a stand-up comic, political satirist, and a writer from New Delhi, India. Tanmay Bhat, who hails from Mumbai, is a well-known scriptwriter who has also worked for Weirdass Comedy (an Indian comedy company started by Vir Das). AIB crew is the one that actually started the trend of comedy podcast shows in India, which nowadays seems to be making waves. Besides having a cult following in online circuits, AIB is also gradually developing a loyal fan-base for their live comedy shows and their brainchild Royal Turds (a parody on the decadent Bollywood award shows) was an instant hit the year it commenced. AIB tasted instant fame with some video chartering an astounding number of YouTube hits. A few of their videos have also mingled social message with humor. In September 2013, a video “It’s Your Fault” starring actress Kalki Koechlin and VJ Juhi Pandey was released. Within a week, it crossed 1 million views on YouTube, creating massive hysteria.

Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik- Chief Belief Officer of The Future Group: Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik writes and lectures extensively on the relevance of mythology in matters related to leadership, entrepreneurship, branding, management and governance. He serves as Culture Consultant to Reliance Industries, Chief Belief Officer of the Future Group and is storytelling advisor to Star TV and Epic TV. Trained in medicine, he spent 15 years in healthcare and pharmaceutical industries including Apollo Health Street and Sanofi Aventis, before joining Ernst & Young as Business Advisor. Devdutt Patanaik is inspirational speaker at many conferences where he ‘opens the minds’ to a very Indian approach to business.

April 2, 2014
Leo Burnett’s Arvind Sharma grills Group M south Asia CEO CVL Srinivas

It was in early 2012 that CVL Srinivas (fondly called Srini) succeeded Vikram Sakhuja as GroupM South Asia CEO. At the time, GroupM AP CEO Mark Patterson and Srini’s boss had said that he was their first choice for the role, and that he had the skills, personality, relationships and attitude to build the business on strategy, and with his own style and ideas as well.

For Srini, it was an opportunity to go back to an organization where he had learnt the ropes and mastered the rules of the game. Since Srinivas took charge, a lot of changes were made in the agency to up the ante in the competitive market scenario. Indiantelevision.com’s Guest Editor of the day, outgoing chairman of Leo Burnett, Arvind Sharma spoke to his old friend, Srini, to see how the agency has done so far…

Srini, it has been just over a year since you took over as CEO of Group M in the country. What was the strategy and what were the priorities you set as the new CEO?

Clearly, our agency brands are the real heroes in the market. GroupM is only the support structure that leverages the overall scale of the business. The first priority was to help our agency brands to leverage the knowledge and expertise of GroupM, support them with best practices, and help push their business further.

The next priority was and still continues to be our focus on the New Core, that is, Digital, Content, Trading, Analytics and Experiential Marketing, with a greater focus on Digital. Digital is no longer a ‘nice to have’ but is an integral part of a brand’s communication strategy, content and plans. We started our digital practice 12 years ago, and have the early mover advantage. However, in 2013, we really scaled it up to a much higher level with the ‘New Me’ initiative, beginning with a change in mindsets. We laid out a three-year plan, and we have made incredible progress in year one. It is a continuous effort that integrates traditional core media practices with the new core like digital and social media, content, search, analytics, etc.

Our third focus area has been our younger employees, who really are the future of the industry. We introduced the YCO (Youth Committee) last year that works very closely with the EXCO (senior leadership) at GroupM. This project was in fact piloted in India. The YCO has made a significant contribution in the very first year. These bright young minds from our agencies and specialist practices are now part of the decision-making process. They are really our feet on the street, bringing in a slew of fresh ideas and insights.

Did execution of this strategy involve structural changes at the agency? What were they?

Keeping in mind our ‘New Me’ vision in 2013, there was greater organizational focus on the New Core- Digital, Content, Trading, Analytics and Experiential Marketing. We began embedding New Core talent within our agency brands and will continue the effort in 2014 as well.

We also looked at a more simplified structure to ensure focus on new core areas. For example, as our business evolved, we realized that certain units need to be restructured to create a lean and agile team. We merged two of our units, Dialogue Factory and Dialect, to build a single activations powerhouse – Dialogue Factory. Today, Dialogue Factory has the expertise to plan and execute any and every aspect of experiential marketing, ranging from high-end luxury events to focussed rural outreach programs.

Would you share the progress Group M has made in terms of the strategic priorities set by you?

Our agencies and specialist units have had a significant year. We won over 80 new businesses in 2013 and managed to retain some key clients. We dominated the domestic and international industry awards last year, with our agencies and specialist units winning an award every other day. All our agencies rank high as per the recent 2013 RECMA ratings. To cap this performance, last year, we were awarded the Porter Prize, making us the ‘only’ media and advertising agency to win the Award.

Keeping in mind our focus on digital and the new core via ‘New Me’, our digital contribution grew by 50 per cent last year.

We have rolled out several unique initiatives in the talent space. Over the years, GroupM Aspire has established itself as a best-in-class training and development programme. We have introduced several interesting programmes in Aspire and have linked it to our new vision. Basis the inputs we got from our Y-Co, we brought in several new welfare measures. We were recently crowned the “Dream Company to Work for” in the Media & Entertainment sector at the World HRD Congress.

One and a half years later, do you see the need for any tweaks in your strategy?

In today’s market, GroupM’s agility, coupled with our deep understanding of the market is what is keeping us ahead. Having said that, evolution is the only constant, and as the media landscape changes, bringing us new opportunities and challenges, we will need to evolve ourselves and some of our practices.

2013 was generally a tough year for the industry. How do you see 2014 panning out?

While 2013 was a challenging year, it did bring in a lot of opportunities. The slowdown of the economy and uncertainties surrounding policy put a lot of pressure on our clients and their media budgets, and we did take a lot of course corrective action in the middle of 2013. The year also gave us the opportunity to see some great innovation across planning and buying, developing new proprietary tools, diversifying our talent and building some interesting partnerships.

We are cautiously optimistic about the media industry in 2014. The GroupM TYNY 2014 forecasts the AdEx to grow at 11.6 per cent with the highest growth percentage for Digital at 35 per cent followed by Television at 12 per cent. Sectors like FMCG, Auto and Retail will continue to be stable. We will see an increase in rural spending by several sectors like FMCG and Telecom, and with that, we also plan to expand GroupM’s offerings geographically. The first half of the year will continue to be uncertain, given the general economic and political environment, however, we foresee a stronger second half with an upsurge in ad spends across categories.

We will continue to focus on our New Core offerings including Digital, Content, Trading, Analytics and Experiential Marketing. Our agencies have already done some ground-breaking work in the first quarter with branded content and digital media.

March 20, 2014
There is a Government in my TV

From the days of a single Doordarshan channel where one had to watch Krishidarshan and pretend that one is enjoying it, Indian TV has come a long way. The choice of channels is awesome, sometimes even exhausting. There is music. There are movies. There are soaps. There is news. There is education and there are a host of special interest programmes and channels. TV is no longer just colour. If one is willing to pay for it, it is full HD with Dolby Surround Sound.

Indian Government in general and a succession of Ministers of Information and Broadcasting have played a stellar role in this progress. They have been supported by outstanding bureaucrats – from Secretaries of I&B at the top to Joint Secretaries. They have been friends of the Indian public and accessible to the industry. How much the industry values the caliber and integrity of these people individually is reflected in the fact that a couple of years ago, by popular vote the industry picked Mrs Ambika Soni as the Impact Person of the year.

That said, government actions in the last year or two have raised a question in many minds about the role the Government should be playing in the world of media. Not many will debate that Government has a role to play in setting the policy for media. And that the policy has to cover a number of areas. Content to the extent it can impact law and order or public’s sense of decency for one. Foreign investment for another. These two policy areas are relevant to all media. The third are where TV, Internet and probably radio are unique is the pace of technological advancement. Various components of the industry have to move forward in unison to commercialize technological innovations and make them accessible to all. And to that extent government must be involved in setting these technological standards.

Beyond that, Government’s involvement in issues like adcap and TV audience measurement in truth is hard to justify. In the courts and tribunals, one can advance arguments referring to clauses of acts to justify these ‘policies’. Examples of anything can be found if one looks at government regulations around the world to support a government’s stand.

But let us pause and look at some of these questions dispassionately, honestly. What is not so unique about TV that it has advertising. If the government does not prescribe the max percentage of advertising a newspaper can carry or a website can carry, why should it prescribe a limit in the case of TV?

What is not unique about TV is that advertisers want audiences of each media vehicle measured so that they may rationally decide the price they will pay for it. If the government does not prescribe guidelines for print readership measurement or internet engagement measurement, why should it be involved in setting guidelines for TV ratings measurement?

Fewer regulations in important areas of policy and their strong enforcement make for a healthy, economically vibrant society. Government’s involvement in setting ‘policy’ in dozens of micro-areas makes for a high-cost uncompetitive economy. Perhaps the incoming Government will take heed and pull out of regulating these micro-areas that are best left to the market forces.

(Arvind Sharma, outgoing chairman of Leo Burnett, was the Guest Editor Of the Day at Indiantelevision.com)

March 20, 2014
Close Arvind Sharma steps down from Leo Burnett, Saurabh Varma to take chargea

MUMBAI: Tom Bernardin, Chairman and CEO, Leo Burnett Worldwide announced today the new leadership of the India operations. Chairman and CEO of Indian subcontinent Arvind Sharma will be leaving the agency to pursue other business interests outside the industry after a successful stint of 30 years.

The currently regional chief strategy officer of Leo Burnett Asia Pacific Saurabh Varma has now been appointed as the CEO Leo Burnett Group India.

The appointment will be effective from 1November, 2013. In his new role as CEO for the India operations across Mumbai, New Delhi and Bangalore, Varma will report directly to Leo Burnett Asia Pacific President Jarek Ziebinski.

As chief strategy officer of Leo Burnett Asia Pacific, Varma oversees all heads of strategy and planning directors in the region. His role also sees him playing a key role in the management of regional and global accounts. A post graduate in Communications from Mudra Institute of Communications Ahmedabad (MICA), Varma has 16 years of experience in the business. He has spent seven years with Leo Burnett based at Singapore. Some of the brands he has worked on include Indian Oil, Lakme (Unilever), Vicks (P&G), NIVEA, Fosters, Philips, HP, Blackberry, Samsung, Friesland Campina Asia Pacific (Dutch Lady/ Foremost/ Frisian Flag), MCYS and UOB Bank.

Varma has spent the first nine years of his career in advertising in India. He began his career with DDB India and within four years of being in the business, he was made head of account management at TBWA India. In the last three years, Varma has won more than 50 awards including the Effie Gold, the Appies Gold, the Grand Prix for Direct Marketing, the most effective media campaign at Hall of Fame, 2 Gold Lions at Cannes, the Grand Prix at the ADFEST, the Viewers’ Choice Award (Mediacorp) and many more. In 2010, Varma was awarded the ‘Strategic Planner of the Year’ at the Hall of Fame Awards.

His strength lies in being able to bring life into a strategic process, unearthing societal contexts and creating out of the box briefs.

Commenting on his new role, Varma said, “India is home to me. This new role is coming full circle to where it all began. Over the years, I have always kept a keen eye on the developments in India and in some ways, I felt like I have never left. I look forward to coming back with a fresh perspective gained from my time away and bring the best learnings of Leo Burnett network to India. Being a part of the regional team for Asia Pacific has given me a unique perspective and experience of diverse markets across the region and I look forward to bringing this understanding to my new role. Together with the management team, most of whom I already know and have the privilege of working with, we will be focused on driving a positive change for the agency to take it to the next level.”

Varma’s strength lies in being able to bring life into a strategic process, unearthing societal contexts and creating out of the box briefs

Bernardin, who is in Mumbai today with the regional management team for the announcement said, “We would like to take this opportunity to express our deep gratitude and appreciation to Arvind Sharma. He has worked tirelessly over the past 30 years to build Leo Burnett into one of India’s leading creative agencies and laid down a solid foundation for the agency to progress to the next level. During his tenure, Arvind built a stellar client base that includes blue chip multinational and local clients and nurtured some of the brightest stars within the Indian advertising industry today. Though he remains available for his advice and counsel, we bid farewell to Arvind today, in his official capacity, with our very best wishes and as a dear friend.”

Ziebinski added, “I’d like to thank Arvind for his contribution to our success and close collaboration over the past four years since I arrived in the region. I wish Arvind nothing but the best for his new future.”

While bidding adieu, Sharma had some fond memories, as he said, “I had a very long and fruitful run as the leader of Leo Burnett in India Subcontinent. As I approached the company-defined age of 58, I would like to start something totally new. I look back at my 30 years at the agency and 21 years of leading it with a great deal of satisfaction.”

The agency was awarded Global Agency of the Year by Leo Burnett Worldwide for 2003 and 2008. In partnerships with its clients, the agency has been recognised creatively across leading award shows globally including Cannes, Clios, D&AD, One Show and London International Awards. Work produced by Leo Burnett India has also run in multiple countries worldwide. Last year, the agency successfully completed the acquisition of digital agency, Indigo Consulting and integrated it into the Leo Burnett Group.

Continued Bernardin, “We are fortunate to have a strong management team on ground in India and equally fortunate in having the bench strength in the region in naming Saurabh to this role. Saurabh’s talent and track record is well-recognised within the network. His combined experience and knowledge of having worked across creative, media and digital agencies is invaluable as we look to elevate the agency to its next stage of development in India, a key market for the network globally. He will have the full support of the global and regional management in his new role.”

October 28, 2013

Anil Kapoor to be recognised with the AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award 2013

MUMBAI: The Advertising Agencies Association of India has announced that Draftfcb+Ulka chairman emeritus Anil Kapoor will be the recipient of AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award 2013. This Award is the highest honour given to an individual in India for his/her outstanding contribution to the Advertising industry.

AAAI president Arvind Sharma said, “Anil is a highly respected professional and an acknowledged leader in the industry. With over 25 years of experience in the advertising industry, Anil has set the standard for strong business and managerial skills.”


Anil has been one of the first Indian marketing and advertising professional to be given a leadership role beyond the borders of India and appointed to the global management council of a multinational agency

Anil has been one of the first Indian marketing and advertising professional to be given a leadership role beyond the borders of India and appointed to the global management council of a multinational agency. His contribution to the Indian Advertising industry has been outstanding and his involvement in various industry bodies like AAAI, ABC, NRS, etc., has been admirable.

Anil was responsible for establishing NRS, as an independent readership survey in India by actively counseling, driving and working with other industry bodies.

More recently, Anil has been involved in the field of education and he was invited by the Stern School of Business, NY University, to be a Resident Professor.

“Anil is known for his fair play and when it comes to competing he always upheld the highest standards of professional integrity. By selecting Anil for this honour, AAAI salutes his contribution to the Indian advertising industry”, added Arvind Sharma.


AAAI salutes his contribution to the Indian advertising industry said Arvind Sharma

The AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award recognises an individual’s achievement in the following areas: Leadership of the industry as an individual, contribution towards advancement and professionalism in the industry and exemplary personal integrity, values and ethics consistent with the standards expected.

The AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Anil Kapoor at a glittering ceremony on 27 September at Trident, Nariman Point, Mumbai, in the presence of the veterans of the advertising, marketing and the media world.

September 18, 2013

ASCI launches a new online experience

MUMBAI: The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has launched a newly designed website www.ascionline.org and aims to be more user-friendly.

The website incorporates an Online Complaint and Monitoring Service (OCMS) which hopes to deliver transparency and speedy resolution of complaints.

Commenting on the new ASCI website and OCMS launch, ASCI chairman Arvind Sharma said, “The new website through its attractive yet simple construct makes it easier for consumers, activists, regulators and industry members to actively participate in ASCI‘s advertising self- regulation process. We also hope that the new facility to track their complaints online will further drive all stakeholders’ confidence in ASCI.”

With the introduction of the OCMS, consumers will now be able to lodge complaints via the new ASCI website, the ASCI Facebook page, email, smartphones, toll free telephone or regular post. Irrespective of how consumers complain, they will receive a complaint tracking number which will help them track the exact status of their complaint on the new ASCI website. Additionally, if they so choose, they can receive regular updates on the status of their complaints via email and/or SMS.

ASCI’s members will get significant added advantage from the introduction of the OCMS. They are provided with a unique individual login id and password for their OCMS account on the new ASCI website. This will give them a single window to lodge regular and Fast Track complaints or seek Advertising Advice. They can also track the consolidated details of complaints lodged by them and against them. Irrespective of whether they complain online or offline, they will receive a Complaint Tracking number which will help them track the exact status of their complaint via their OCMS account on the new ASCI website. Additionally, if they so choose, they can receive regular updates on the status of their complaints via email.

Non- members of ASCI can also avail of the benefits of the OCMS on the new ASCI website, although their benefits vis-?-vis ASCI Industry Members are limited to lodging and tracking complaints.

September 4, 2013
Broadcasters delighted; want I&B minister to push through ad cap delay

MUMBAI: With just a little more than two months left for the 12 minute per clock hour advertising cap to be implemented, the broadcast industry is applauding Minister of Information & Broadcasting Manish Tewari’s recommendation. The minister has reportedly stated that the ad cap deadline should be moved ahead to December 2014 from 1 October 2013 as suggested by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

Times Television Network MD and CEO Sunil Lulla feels that the recommendation is in sync with reality. “From a news broadcasters’ point of view, we have put forward similar thoughts many a times with concerned bodies. Considering the difference between cost of production and the revenue generated, it would be better if news broadcasters’ were allowed to self regulate. We hope that the request is heard,” he anticipates.

Similarly, a senior official from the News Broadcasting Association (NBA) agrees and adds, “Look at the cost for each broadcaster; if he has to increase eight minutes of content per hour that is close to three hours of more content a day. Where will a broadcaster get so much money from when his ad revenue is going down? Even producers are going to demand more money as to produce a minute of content takes up a good one hour. There are 10,000 things that need to be done depending on the final decision…”

The NBA official further elaborates, “As broadcasters we don’t know what to do. Everyone is saying different things, so who do we believe? What if a channel actually starts implementing changes and then they extend the date, it’ll be in a mess.”

“We are happy that he’s understood our problem which is a genuine one and we hope that he will be able to convince TRAI. And we need take a decision soon,” say both the broadcasters.

But what about other channels/genres? “One shoe for all is what I believe rather than two which might create confusion,” Lulla clarifies.

To put forward advertisers’ viewpoint on the issue, Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) president Arvind Sharma elucidates, “AAAI has always supported the thought implementing the ad cap after we know what is the full impact of digitisation is known.”

However, when we contacted a senior official from TRAI, he told us that they too haven’t received any official “recommendation” from the ministry about postponing the deadline, but have only read about it in new reports.

In May 2013, TRAI had mandated that general entertainment TV channels (GECs) and news channels should reduce their advertising air time per hour from16 minutes and 20 minutes respectively to 12 minutes by 1 October 2013. The reason given by the authority was that the advertising clutter was resulting in a poor viewing experience for TV watchers.

Industry is hoping the minister follows up his suggestion with a formal appeal to the TRAI. “The bullet has left the gun…,” says an official from the Indian Broadcasting Foundation who was caught in surprise by the minister’s statement that TRAI should posptone the ad cap until cable TV digitsation is completed in September 2014.

“We haven’t received any communication from the ministry regarding this. And if we go by the communication we have received in the past few days, there seems to be a conflict,” he says sounding puzzled.

In the past too, there have been many ups and downs in the broadcasting industry. The whole ratings tamasha which went on for a fortnight was resolved when the three stakeholders – Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) – finally came up with a solution of providing the television viewership in thousands (TVT) to media and public.

We at Indiantelevision.com can only hope that the recommendation doesn’t boil down to another controversy, but has a happy ending. However, one does wonder why the statement was made. Do up-coming elections have anything to do with it? Let’s just wait and watch…

August 17, 2013