Sambad Group, the largest media house in Odisha, organised the third edition of Sambad CEO Conclave 2024 in Bhubaneswar last week. The theme was ‘Sustainability Practices in Industry’. In attendance: captains from corporates, advertising and media.
The Chief Guest was Odisha’s newly minted Deputy Chief Minister KV Singh Deo who focused on Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) aspects and opined that the corporate sector should maintain a fine balance between these three factors for sustainable development. “Our government is committed that the people of Odisha will take their own decisions regarding issues related to the environment and natural resources. This is one aspect of the Odia Asmita (self-identity),” he said. Cabinet Minister Suresh Pujari also spoke at the event.
Speaking on the occasion, Avinash Pandey, CEO ABP Network; President, News Broadcasters and Digital Association and President IAA (India Chapter) said: “Television viewership is larger than internet viewership in India. If we raise issues related to environment and sustainable development in television, they can reach the common masses,” adding: “We all should focus on 5 Ps—People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnership—to achieve sustainable growth.”
Said Madison World Chairman Sam Balsara: “May people from the lower strata are now moving towards the middleclass bracket. This is the first sign of development. Now, we have better infrastructure including road and airport. More and more job avenues are opening up to our youths. Small players in various sectors are now doing well. Our country has recorded the largest digital transactions in the world. Engineers from India are now managing the day-to-day operations of many corporate giants including the Google,” he pointed out.
Added Srinivasan K. Swamy, CMD, RK Swamy Ltd; Chairman, Asian Federation of Advertising Associations and Chairman Audit Bureau of Circulations: “We all should adhere to the principle of 3 Rs—reuse, repair and recycle—to save our planet. We should conserve water and electricity and use eco-friendly products to protect our environment. The use of plastic should be brought to the minimum level. I hope that the government will introduce chapters on climate change and sustainable growth in the curricula for our students.”
On the occasion, Pradeep Dwivedi, Group CEO-Eros Media World, gave a presentation on ‘Emerging trends in global media business-Technology driving tectonic shifts’. “The media and entertainment sector can develop their contents, editing and marketing aspects by utilizing AI and other advanced tools like Blockchain, Web3 and Tokenization,” he said.
Ashwin Padmanabhan, President-Investments, Trading & Partnerships, Group M India, gave a brief presentation on ‘Leveraging influencers and branded content to drive engagement and consideration’. “Around 46 crore people in India are now using social media. The volume of influencer marketing in India has already reached Rs 1,275 crore and it is likely to go up further to Rs 2,800 crore by 2026,” he stated.
Bharat Avalani, Founder & CEO, Connecting the Dots Consultancy, Malaysia; Secretary General of Asian Federation of Advertising Associations; Global Vice-President, IAA, gave a presentation on ‘Business leaders as storytellers’“Business leaders can give proper orientation to their employees through storytelling. The practice will reduce the mental pressure of the employees and raise overall productivity,” said Avalani.
Abhishek Karnani, President, the Free Press Journal Group; Ramesh Narayan, Director Strategy, Asian Federation of Advertising Associations and Rani Reddy of Sakshi Media Group also spoke at the conclave.
IAA governing body members—Ramesh Narayan, Avinash Pandey, Srinivasan K. Swamy, Sam Balsara, Abhishek Karnani and Pradeep Dwivedi—were felicitated at the event. The Sambad Group felicitated five ‘best’ advertisers—Khimji Jewellers, Lalchnd Jewellers, TPCODL, Chandi Bhandar and Freedom Oil—on the occasion.
Similarly, ‘best’ 11 advertising agencies—Fast Communication, Xpose Advertising, Display Line, Anita Advertisers, Star Advertising, Herald Advertising, Sanket Communications, Annapurna Advertising, NextGen Advertising, P&A Advertising Agency and Tarini Advertising Agency—received felicitations at the conclave.
Earlier Sambad and Kanak News Editor Tanaya Patnaik delivered the inaugural address, and later Sambad Group Managing Director Monica Nayyar Patnaik delivered the concluding address.
“The Sambad Group has been organising the CEO conclave for the last three years to deliberate on various issues. The first conclave in 2022 had deliberated on the post-pandemic scenario. The second conclave in 2023 delved into the emerging challenges before the corporate sector. The third conclave focused on sustainability practices in industry,” Monica Nayyar Patnaik said. Tanaya Patnaik set the context for the Conclave on by talking of climate change and its impact on our daily life. “In this summer, a few places in Odisha including Bhubaneswar and Baripada recorded maximum temperatures above 45 Degree Celsius. They were among the hottest places in the world. This is very alarming,” she said.
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