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Tag: Abhishek Karnani

  • Announced by President Avinash Pandey, Chief Executive officer, ABP Network

    IAA India Chapter unveils mancom for FY23-24

    By Our Staff

     

    The members co-opted and invited to the Managing Committee of the India Chapter of IAA for the financial year 2023-24, were announced at the first meeting of the managing committee chaired by the re-elected President, Avinash Pandey, Chief Executive officer, ABP Network

     

    Says Pandey: “IAA India Chapter is uniquely positioned with such diverse group of industry leaders from ad-agencies, media, mediatech and advertisers. I am lucky that I enjoy support of such accomplished individuals in fulfilling the motto of IAA that advertising is a force for good. IAA India would be coming out with fresh new initiatives enabling social changes for good.”

     

    Added Abhishek Karnani, Vice President, IAA India Chapter: “I am very glad to be a part of a well-diversified team of marcom leaders who will be leading the India chapter in the year ahead. We are committed to promoting an ecosystem of excellence in every area we are involved in. Sustainability, Tech, Marketing, Creative Excellence and more. Look out for new initiatives and a drive to showcase communication as a force for good”

     

    The Mancom members are:

    • Rahul Johri, President -Business South Asia, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd.

    • Neeraj Roy, Founder, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.

    • Pradeep Dwivedi, Group CEO, EROS Media World PLC

    • Kranti Gada, Founder, neOwn

    • Nina Elavia Jaipuria , Head – Hindi Mass Entertainment & Kids TV Network, Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd.

    • I Venkat, Director, Eenadu

    • Ramesh Narayan, Founder, Canco Advertising Pvt. Ltd.

    • Neena Dasgupta, CEO & Founder, The Salt Inc Consulting & CEO, Aidem Ventures

    • Rana Barua, Chief Executive Officer, Havas Group India

    • Partha Sinha, President , The Times of India Group

    • Dr Bhaskar Das, Chairperson, IdeateLabs,

    • Mitrajit Bhattacharya, Founder & President, The Horologists

    • Sam Balsara, Chairman & Managing Director, Madison Communications Pvt. Ltd.

    • Alok Jalan, Managing Director, Laqshya Media Group

    • Rajeev Beotra, Executive Director, HT Media Ltd

    • Rani Reddy, Director, Indira Television Ltd.

    • Monica Nayyar Patnaik, Managing Director, Sambad Group

    • Neha Barjatya, Marketing Director for Platforms and Devices, Google India

    • P N Mahadevan, Corporate Advisor, Netcon Technologies

    • Arun Srinivas, Head – Ads Business, Meta India

    • Gauravjeet Singh, Head- Agency Business, Meta India

    • Ashok Venkatramani, Founder, Intelligent Insights Pvt Ltd

    • Rajiv Dubey, Head of Media, Dabur India

    • Jai Krishnan, CEO, Samsonite

    • Kunal Lalani, MD, Crayons Advertising. Ltd.

     

    As reported earlier, at the AGM held on September 27, 2023, the following officebearers were elected:

    • Abhishek Karnani (President, Free Press Journal Group)- Vice President

    • Nandini Dias (Independent Advisor)- Hon. Secretary

    • Jaideep Gandhi (Founder, Another Idea) – Hon. Treasurer

     

    Megha Tata, CEO, Cosmos-Maya will continue as an ex-officio officebearer as Immediate Past President

    The other elected members of the Managing Committee were:

    • Srinivasan K Swamy (Chairman & Managing Director, R K Swamy Ltd),

    • M.V. Shreyams Kumar (Managing Director, Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing Co Ltd)

    • Prasanth Kumar (CEO-South Asia, GroupM)

    • Anant Goenka (Executive Director, The Indian Express Pvt Ltd)

    • Janak Sarda (Director, Blue Logic Systems)

     

  • Abhishek Karnani, President, Free Press Journal Group, will be Vice President, Nandini Dias, now an independent advisor will be Secretary and Jaideep Gandhi, Founder, Another Idea, will be Treasurer

    Avinash Pandey re-elected IAA India President

    By Our Staff

     

    At its Annual General Meeting held on September 27, 2023, Avinash Pandey, CEO, ABP Network, was unanimously re-elected President. Abhishek Karnani, President, Free Press Journal Group, will be Vice President, Nandini Dias, now an independent advisor will be Secretary and Jaideep Gandhi, Founder, Another Idea, will be Treasurer.

     

    The following five members were elected as voting members: Srinivasan K Swamy (Chairman & Managing Director, R K Swamy Ltd), MV Shreyams Kumar (Managing Director, Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing Co Ltd)

     

    Prasanth Kumar (CEO-South Asia, GroupM)

    Anant Goenka (Executive Director, The Indian Express Pvt Ltd)

    Janak Sarda (Director, Blue Logic Systems)

    Megha Tata, CEO, Cosmos-Maya will continue as an ex-officio office bearer as Immediate Past President

     

    Apart from this, five more members will be co-opted in the upcoming managing committee meeting along with other special invited members.

     

    Avinash Pandey
    Avinash Pandey

    Said Avinash Pandey: “The India Chapter of the IAA is arguably the most active industry Association of its kind in the country. Its initiatives cover a wide spectrum of areas including saluting excellence in Marketing, Creativity and communicating Sustainability. In the year gone by, we also started Tech Pulse to cater to the growing digital market. The IAA has always maintained that what is good, is good for business and in that spirit it has converted its Voice of Change initiative into a nation-wide movement aimed at breaking the gender bias in advertising and the entertainment industry. In the year ahead we will also be spearheading two initiatives where we walk the talk that Communication is a Force for Good, and will also once again lead a group of CEOs to the US to study the latest developments in communication. I look forward to a very meaningful term ahead.”

     

  • Abhishek Karnani, Director, Free Press Journal Group

    Avinash Pandey is IAA India President

    By Our Staff

     

    Avinash Pandey, CEO, ABP News Network

    ABP Network CEO Avinash Pandey was elected President of the India Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA) for the year 2022-23. Abhishek Karnani, Director, Free Press Journal Group, was elected Vice President, Nandini Dias, former CEO of Lodestar UM, is. Secretary and Jaideep Gandhi, Chairman, Another Idea, is Treasurer. Immediate Past President Megha Tata will also be on the Managing Committee.

     

    Other members of the mancom are Srinivasan K Swamy (Chairman & Managing Director, R K Swamy Pvt Ltd), Shreyams Kumar (Managing Director, Mathrubhumi Group), Prasanth Kumar (CEO-South Asia, GroupM), Anant Goenka (Executive Director, The Indian Express Group) and Janak Sarda (Managing Director, Deshdoot Media Group).

     

    The members co-opted at the first Managing Committee meeting were Nina Elavia Jaipuria (Head – Hindi and Kids TV Network, Viacom18), Neeraj Roy, (Founder, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment), Pradeep Dwivedi (Group CEO, Eros Media World PLC), Kranti Gada (President – New Business Opportunities Shemaroo Entertainment) and I.Venkat (Director, Eenadu Group.)

     

    The invitees to the Managing Committee include

    Ramesh Narayan, Founder Canco Advertising Pvt. Ltd.

    Neena Dasgupta, CEO & Director Zirca Digital Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

    Rana Barua, Chief Executive Officer, Havas Group India

    Partha Sinha, President, The Times of India Group

    Dr Bhaskar Das, Veteran mediaperson

    Mitrajit Bhattacharya, Founder & President, The Horologists

    Sam Balsara, Chairman & Managing Director, Madison Communications Pvt. Ltd.

    Alok Jalan, Managing Director, Laqshya Media Group

    Rahul Johri, President -Business South Asia, ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd

    Rajeev Beotra, Executive Director, HT Media Ltd

    Kevin Vaz, Head – Network Entertainment Channels ,Disney Star

    Kunal Lalani, Managing Director, Crayons Advertising Pvt Ltd

    Ashok Venkatramani, Founder, Intelligent Insights Pvt Ltd

    Rani Reddy, Director, Indira Television Ltd.

    Monica Nayyar Patnaik, Managing Director, Sambad Group

     

  • To present awards on August 23

    IAA IndIAA Awards to salute 75 years of Independence

    By Our Staff

     

    The IAA India Chapter will conduct its annual IndIAA Awards in Mumbai on August 23.

     

    Megha Tata

    Said IAA India Chapter President Megha Tata: “As the country celebrates 75 years of its independence, we will be structuring our awards event around the meaningful role communication has played in fostering the idea that is India. I am very happy that in its 7th year the IndIAA Awards has carved out a special prestigious niche in the minds of the communication industry.”

     

    Abhishek Karnani
    Abhishek Karnani

    Added IndIAA Awards Committee Chairperson Abhishek Karnani: “These are unique awards that salute real hardworking advertising. The short list is compiled by a set of senior journalists and these are judged by an eminent jury comprising of advertisers who own and invest in brands. The awards are presented to the co-creators of the winning work”

     

    This year the jury chair was Suresh Narayanan, Chairman & Managing Director, Nestle India and included Charulata Ravikumar, Managing Director-Accenture; Karan Shroff, Partner & Chief Marketing Officer, Unacademy; Vineeta Singh, CEO & Co-Founder, Sugar Cosmetics & Vivek Khanna, COO, Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Limited.

     

  • Will commence with cartoons from FPJ archives

    Free Press Journal to enter the world of NFTs

    By Our Staff

     

    As part of the 75th year of Indian independence, The Free Press Journal (FPJ) will launch a special series of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) later this year. The NFTs will be made available on leading NFT marketplaces closer to Independence Day.

     

    The special offering of NFTs will commence with cartoons from FPJ archives, which includes the creations of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray, who worked at FPJ for many years.

     

    Said Abhishek Karnani, Director of FPJ, who is leading the NFT initiative at the publishing group: “There are some really wonderful pieces of creativity which today have historical value for those who have closely followed India’s journey of progress over the past 75 years. Unlike digital copies that are freely available, and can be duplicated ad nauseum, NFTs remain tightly bound to the rules of ownership. They are thus exclusive, even though they may be made available universally. FPJ is committed to many interesting innovations in this domain in the times to come.””

     

    The NFT project of FPJ is being operationalised and taken to market by Rediffusion FutureTech, the digital arm of Rediffusion. “We are delighted to assist FPJ in this very laudable and innovative project,” said Dr Sandeep Goyal, Managing Director of Rediffusion.

     

  • CVL Srinivas, Bhupal Ramnathkar and Raj Nair were felicitated as Covid Humanitarian Heroes

    Ogilvy, Lintas & Tilt share honours at IndIAA Awards

    Caption: L to R: Abhishek Karnani, Chairperson, IAA IndIAA Awards, CVL Srinivas, Country Manager WPP India, Sonu Sood and Megha Tata, President- IAA India Chapter

     

    The India Chapter of International Advertising Association (IAA) conducted the sixth edition of the IndIAA Awards on Wednesday October at a physical ceremony in Mumbai amidst a cross-section of the fraternity.

     

    Said Suresh Narayanan, Jury Chairman and Chairman & Managing Director, Nestle India: “It’s been a privilege and honor to be the Jury Chair for three years in a row. These awards are the most prestigious in the advertising and communications. This year IndIAA Awards received 200 plus nominations across all the 31 categories. I want to congratulate every award winner for their outstanding work, you need to be truly proud of your yourselves, your agency, partners, teams, customers, consumers stakeholders and of everyone who has been involved in the success of the campaign”

     

    Added Megha Tata, President IAA “A great jury, wonderful winning work, fantastic attendance of the who’s who of advertising media and marketing. The IndIAA Awards have truly set a new benchmark in the industry.

     

    Said IAA IndIAA Awards Chairman, Abhishek Karnani: “Any award is only as good as the people who endorse it. I view the presence of such a high powered audience here today, and the presence of repeat sponsors, as a great endorsement for the IndIAA awards. Keeping in mind the phase we are hopefully emerging from, we have sculpted our awards event around a theme – that acknowledges and inspires the need to show – that there is good in everything around us. It just needs to be tapped into by us”

     

    IAA felicitated three industry leaders as Covid Humanitarian Heroes: CVL Srinivas, Country Manager WPP India; Bhupal Ramnathkar and Raj Nair, CEO Madison BMB for “being industry leaders with a heart, being the silent hands behind several initiatives for good, showcasing the power of design, for the many communication campaigns that sought to make a difference and for the ever-willing attitude to help a good cause.”

     

    (L-R) – Abhishek Karnani, Chairperson, IAA IndIAA Awards, Raj Nair, CEO Madison BMB, Sonu Sood & Megha Tata, President- IAA India Chapter

     

    The Guest of Honor at the event were Actors Sonu Sood & Bhumi Pednekar

     

    (L-R) – Mayura Shreyams Kumar,Director – Digital Business, Mathrubhumi, Sonu Sood & Immediate Past President IAA Global, and current Vice Chairman Asian federation of Advertising Associations

     

    (L-R) – Avinash Pandey, IAA Mancom Member & Chief Executive officer, ABP Network, Bhumi Pednekar, Megha Tata, President- IAA India Chapter & Abhishek Karnani, Chairperson, IAA IndIAA Awards

     

    This year a new category – ‘Voice of Change’: campaigns that challenge the gender stereotype in the industry was instituted. The winner of the category was Unacademy for their campaign #TeachThemYoung | Know When She Needs You.

     

    Caption- Team Unacademy winners of VOICE OF CHANGE category

     

    Caption- Ogilvy Team winners in the category – Online Commerce, Ticketing and Services for Amazon Karigar Hunar Hai

     

    Caption- MullenLowe Lintas Team (winners in the category Consumer Durables and Utilities for their campaign Havells – Feeling Fans)

     

    Caption- Tilt Brand Solutions Team (winners in the category Home Décor and Infra for their campaign LivSpace-– Don’t Try This At Home)

     

    Caption-Team Population First & UNFPA (Joint Winners in this category GOVERNMENT & NGOs)

     

  • To decode ‘Brands and Consumers: 2021 and Beyond’

    ISA to host second in webinar series

    By Our Staff

     

    The Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA), in association with the Free Press Journal and ABP Network, will host the second of the two-part webinar ‘Brands and Consumers: 2021 and Beyond’ on March 3. The knowledge partner for the webinar is Mogae Media and Laqshya is the outdoor partner.

    Said Sunil Kataria, ISA Chairman, said, “The Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) is an apex body, successfully representing the interests of the advertising fraternity for nearly 70 years. The world has gone through a very difficult COVID period during 2020. This sad event has significantly impacted all brands and consumer behavior. It’s time to review and, more importantly, understand the learnings and the way forward for the industry both in the short term as well as the long term. Over the years, ISA has been organizing knowledge seminars/webinars for the benefit of the ecosystem of advertisers and marketers. Continuing the same, our two-part webinar series focuses on the issue most of us are facing: Brands & Consumers-2021 and Beyond. We bring you leadership views and strategies from across the Manufacturing and the Services sectors.”

    Added Abhishek Karnani, Director, The Free Press Journal, “This initiative will be significant to all advertisers and marketers who want to strategize the future course of actions for their brands.”

  • The paper has literally cancelled out words like Corona, Covid-19, pandemic, quarantine, lockdown, death etc across all 16 pages of its June 10 edition

    FPJ launches Mission Cancel Corona with a special edition

    By A Correspondent

     

    For a while now, the Mumbai-based Free Press Journal and Taproot Dentsu have been innovating with the paper and the masthead on special days and occasions.

     

    Today, the creative agency has used the entire paper as a canvas to send the message that the “collective fight against Covid-19 will be successful only when we cancel out each and every Covid-19 case from India.” Hence, the paper has literally cancelled out words like Corona, Covid-19, pandemic, quarantine, lockdown, death etc across all 16 pages of its June 10 edition.

     

    Abhishek Karnani

    Said Abhishek Karnani, Director, Free Press Journal: “We began extensively covering Covid crisis through the epaper when the physical paper could not be delivered. Now that physical copies are welcomed back in homes, we felt it was important for us to reconnect with our readers by not just providing information but also making sure it impacts their behaviour positively. We believed the idea will be received well, and even though it seemed simple enough, it was a challenge to pull it off in real time on the printing press table”

     

    Santosh Padhi

    Added Santosh ‘Paddy’ Padhi, CCO and Co-founder, Taproot Dentsu: “Since the last year or so, Taproot has partnered with FPJ and created some impactful creative work and we are quite thrilled about the simplicity of this idea and how seamlessly it has allowed us to weave the message, which happens to be an important warning, into the product itself. It is an apt example of how print has the potential for innovation, without trying too hard.”

     

     

  • The full-page print ads were featured prominently either on the jacket or a full page of the newspaper

    8 creative agencies partner FPJ & Mogae on social communication initiative

    By A Correspondent

     

    Over the last month, the pages of the Mumbai-based Free Press Journal (FPJ) have featured social communication messages produced by leading creative agencies.

     

    This was the outcome of Mogae Media collaborating with FPJ to get leading agencies to create ad campaigns on the current coronavirus crisis and related social issues. Each creative was to be in full-page size. Beyond that the agencies were allowed an open brief: choose your own theme related to the pandemic, and create what you would like the world to see.

     

    Agencies such Bang In The Middle, Havas Group, Laqshya, Publicis, Rediffusion, RK Swamy BBDO, Scarecrow M&C Saatchi and Wunderman Thompson delivered a total of 10 campaigns. Each of them focused on different social aspects of this crisis. These print ads were featured prominently either on the jacket or a full page of the newspaper.

     

    Said Abhishek Karnani, Director,The Free Press Journal: “We as a newspaper aspire to engage with our readers in the best possible way. One way of doing so was to run these advertisements from these nine esteemed agencies. Through this we have sought to communicate messages of hope and tenacity – so vital during this lockdown period. Subtle yet strong messages were wonderfully crafted and conveyed by these agencies. We are thankful to them. Special thanks are owed to Mogae Media which conceptualised this entire campaign.”

     

    Added Dr Sandeep Goyal, Chairman, Mogae Media: “Abhishek Karnani and FPJ are really large-hearted, and very generous, to give so willingly of their media space for communicating messages of societal good. The agencies too gave us their talent and time without demur. The creative quality was uniformly high. I noticed also that despite full-page sizes on offer, the copy was minimal. Obviously, faith in long copy has waned! The art direction across campaigns has been 10/10. I am really glad we did this Social Communication Initiative.”

  • “The last five special editions have seen us changing our masthead to draw the nation’s attention to issues that deserve to be addressed, notes a communique

    Free Press changes masthead for Education Day

    By A Correspondent

     

    We didn’t know it was World Education Day today. Thankfully Free Press Journal reminded us of that with Free School, the sixth issue of special editions conceived by Taproot Dentsu. “The last five special editions have seen us changing our masthead to draw the nation’s attention to issues that deserve to be addressed, noted a communique, adding: “We started this movement on August 29, 2019, National Sports Day, by changing our 90-year-old brand name to Free Sports; followed by Free Food on World Food Day (October 16); and Free Child on Children’s Day (November 14); Free Farmers on Farmers’ Day (December 23). And today, we want to shine the spotlight on a fundamental human right – education.”

     

    Said Abhishek Karnani, Chairman Director of the Free Press Journal group: “Though we are in the business of journalism, we want to focus on addressing the issues at hand. Education is a very important factor in the economic development of any country. Since the early days of independence, India has focused on improving the literacy rate. Even today, the government runs many programmes to promote primary and higher education in India. We thought this is our way of shedding light on and starting a conversation around this issue.”

     

    Added Santosh ‘Paddy’ Padhi, Chief Creative Officer and Co-Founder of Taproot Dentsu: “I’m happy that we’re now publishing our 6th special edition. The last five had us tackling five different issues. And this one is no different. I’d like to thank the Free Press Journal team for helping bring this idea to life by reaching out to concerned contributors to address the issues and ensuring that we give space to different points of view.”

     

     

  • This is in line with similar initiatives conceived by Taproot Dentsu and conducted ton August 29, 2019 for National Sports Day and then on October 16 for World Food Day, and last month on November 14 on Children’s Day

    Taproot Dentsu changes Free Press masthead yet again for Human Rights Day

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Free Press Journal has changed its masthead again given it’s World Human Rights Day today (December 10). Hence: Free Rights.

     

    This is in line with similar initiatives conceived by Taproot Dentsu and conducted ton August 29, 2019 for National Sports Day and then on October 16 for World Food Day, and last month on November 14 on Children’s Day.

     

    Said Free Press Journal group Chairman Director, Abhishek Karnani: “Though we are in the business of journalism, we want to focus on addressing the issues at hand. In a world that is increasingly becoming more open-minded, India is being close-minded. Which is why talking about human rights has become the need of the hour. And though it is impossible to speak about every right, our attempt is to highlight some of the key rights that we, as a country, find thwarted.” s

    Added Santosh Padhi, Chief Creative Officer and Co-Founder: “Being from the creative industry I believe in the strength of creativity and its power to move people and change how they think. As a country, we are creatively gifted. But unfortunately, due to many religious and political agendas coming in our way, our creativity has been thwarted. The last few years have seen it taking a backseat. Both Taproot and I have, over the years, faced issues that endangered our basic right of expression – there are a number of political parties and religious groups that exist to exercise their right to thwart ours. So, this particular issue is close to my heart.”

     

     

  • The idea was brought to the 90-year-old FPJ by Taprot

    Taproot gets Free Press Journal to change its masthead again on World Food Day

    By A Correspondent

     

    In August, on National Sports Day, the Free Press Journal changes its masthead to Free Sports Journal. And today (October 16), it is calling itself the “Free Food” Journal.

     

    Said Abhishek Karnani, Director, Free Press Journal: “This is one of the most pressing issues that India is facing. A number of NGOs and organisations, including government bodies, have been working on finding solutions to this issue for the last 4-5 years. We want to do our bit to contribute and to raise awareness about the issue. By changing our masthead to reflect it, we are reflecting upon and dedicating two full pages to amplify this it. We will be taking this idea forward through the year, shining the spotlight on multiple issues – like access to education, healthcare, safety, etc., on relevant national and international days. The idea was brought to us by Taproot Dentsu, one of India’s leading advertising agencies.”

     

    Added Santosh Padhi, Chief Creative Officer and Co-Founder, Santosh Padhi (Paddy): “I’m glad that we have the platform to give this issue the importance it deserves. And I’m even happier to say that we have managed to get quite a few NGOs to partner with us and accept donations, who are also just a phone call away in case you want to donate leftovers from a party, wedding or gathering. So, we have a strong call to action well integrated.”