MxMIndia

Tag: IAA

  • Former petroleum minister and senior BJP leader Ram Naik, veteran editor and political analyst Kumar Ketkar, Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha and Shiv Sena spokesperson Prem Shukla participated in the discussion that was moderated by Anand Rathi, Chairman, Anand Rathi Securities.

    IAA discussion on whether opinion polls and media reports influence voters?

    By A Correspondent

     

    The International Advertising Association (IAA) India Chapter conducted a panel discussion on the topic ‘Do Opinion Polls and Media Reports Influence Voters?’  last Thursday (April 10) at the Nehru Centre, Mumbai.

     

    Former petroleum minister and senior BJP leader Ram Naik, veteran editor and political analyst Kumar Ketkar, Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha and Shiv Sena spokesperson Prem Shukla participated in the discussion that was moderated by Anand Rathi, Chairman, Anand Rathi Securities.

     

    Prem Shukla started the discussion by saying, “Media has ably helped in foreseeing the future in this democratic country and now it is in the position to tear any political parties’ manifesto into pieces unlike earlier times where they would just comment and move on.” He further added that the media does help people in forming an opinion about any party but the party gets accepted only after it proves its capabilities. Media, being the Fourth Estate, has a very important role to play in a democracy and especially at these times when the Lok Sabha Elections are being held, Mr Shukla said.

     

    However, Sanjay Jha, was very disappointed with the Indian electronic media and said: “I want to say that the media has failed India as every day people feel that they are heading towards darkness after watching all the 9 pm news shows. This is because of the fact that nobody talks about the development in the country. Of course, there’s corruption, inequality but you can’t overlook the growth and the change in the country.”

     

    Said Ram Naik: “There are different types of media and various information being hammered on the voters. Media can only provide information but it can’t direct thoughts. Earlier it used to happen through newspapers, but now it doesn’t.”

     

    According to Kumar Ketkar, the role of media is “to inform, entertain, educate, lead and to mislead”. “While entertaining, they create issues which are absolutely not relevant. What Raj Thackeray says about Uddhav Thackeray has no national relevance in the Lok Sabha elections.” However, Mr Ketkar asserted that the media cannot be ignored. “Even if they are misleading, they should be allowed to mislead in the democracy and you should challenge them.”

     

    Raising a question mark on opinion polls, Mr Jha said: “I had raised a question when the sting operations were carried on these agencies who conduct opinion polls. Why don’t channels take responsibility? I think they should as at the end, a commoner trusts a channel.”

     

    Earlier, Srinivasan Swamy, President IAA India Chapter & Vice President, Development Asia Pacific region of IAA welcomed the panellists and the moderator and explained how events like these are keeping in line with the IAA’s objective of discussing and deliberating on issues currently being debated by the industry and the public at large.

     

    According to Dr Bhaskar Das, Group CEO, Zee Media Corp Limited and Chair of the event: “A panel discussion can only serve its objectives if you invite the right people and we took care to get an excellent mix of voices.”

     

  • If there's one person from the AAAI who can organise a worthwhile Goafest, it's Sundar Swamy. The IAA is supremely active thanks to his leadership and I find him exceedingly keen on doing things and he knows the art of getting things done.

    Mediaah!: Why Goafest hasn’t lost the plot and deserves one more chance

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    I write this more in response to Anant Rangaswami’s article on Firstbiz and his Facebook posts. What I like about Anant’s writing is his definite views on issues, many of which I agree with.

     

    But on Goafest, he’s been unduly harsh. His point on Facebook: Goafest has lost the plot. It’s press release offered a programme with just time slots and no mention of speakers and topics.

     

    I received the communique too, and chose to not carry a report on it because it didn’t say anything at all. It was an advance intimation of the programme, but could have been held back for a few days with some names.

     

    I also agree with Anant that Goafest in the summer is a nightmare (my descriptor, not his). Since I sweat a lot, I can say that it’s terrible even in the aircon. So, even though the event is indoors, the walk or buggy ride to your rooms could see you drenched in sweat. Your eyes could be burning all day and even the world’s best coolants wouldn’t work.

     

    Last year’s Goafest could best be described as forgettable. It had loads of negatives. The Creative Abby was a disaster (albeit for a fault that wasn’t of the organising committee). First a controversy about the Ford Figo scam ads saw the exits of some high profile staff at JWT and Ford, then the Tata Chemicals scam ads that were eventually pulled out of the competition and later the controversy around scam ads and plagiarism.

     

    Somewhere along this was the decision by Ogilvy to not participate in the Abby. Ogilvy had huge misgivings about the awards, and Ad Club prez Shashi Sinha tried his damnedest to get them back. But Messrs Piyush Pandey & Co didn’t budge.

     

    When Pratap Bose took charge as Ad Club president last year, he resolved to ensure a buy-in from all towards the Creative Abby. That doesn’t seem to have happened thus far.

     

    To add to the confusion, the AAAI delayed the Goafest announcement and later found the elections as reason to postpone the dates. Then came the news that Nakul Chopra had opted out of the Goafest chair position.

     

    Finally Srinivasan K Swamy, better known in the frat as Sundar, took charge. I’ve interacted with Sundar a fair deal in the recent past, especially as head of the International Advertising Association India Chapter of which he is the head. I believe if there’s one person from the AAAI who can pull it off, it’s him. The IAA is supremely active thanks to Sundar’s leadership. I find him exceedingly keen on doing things and he knows the art of getting things done.

     

    I am not sure how Goafest 2014 will be. I have heard people say that some regular sponsors have declined to be associated this year. But Sundar is confident of a turnaround and I think he ought to be given a chance.

     

    Yes, I do think Rajesh Kejriwal’s Kyoorius Awards with the coveted D&AD partnership, has stolen the thunder from the Abby, but there’s space for multiple awards. We’ve seen how other disciplines – radio, digital, outdoor and PR, for instance – have multiple awards and they are all doing well. So ditto with creative.

     

    I have heard some angry comments amongst industry elders about Anant’s Firstbiz piece and I was told that some pressure may be exerted on Network18 via the media agencies asking him to refrain from writing nasties against Goafest. I hope that doesn’t happen, that wouldn’t be right.

     

    Sadly, Anant’s views are echoed by many in the industry. Before Sundar’s name was announced, even I wasn’t sure whether there was any point in conducting this year’s edition.

     

    Sundar & Co have an uphill task ahead of them. But I think they need to be given a chance.

     

    The industry deserves a good, celebratory Goafest. The format, the timing and the awards are a problem. Perhaps the organising committee and AAAI need some younger blood taking the lead on Goafest. Perhaps it may be a good idea to get a professional body to conduct the show – Kyoorius, e4m, Campaign/Haymarket… whosoever.

     

    I know what I am going to do: have MxM support Goafest until before the event happens. The coverage of the conference (and the awards and the fun element) will then take over. And on that, we’ll be brutally honest about how it is.

     

  • The chief guest at the event was actor Amitabh Bachchan, who was also accorded the Honorary Membership of the IAA India Chapter

    HUL, McCann win big at IAA’s Olive Crown Awards for green advertising

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Holi weekend got off to a green start with the International Advertising Association India Chapter’s Olive Crown Awards on Friday, March 14 in Mumbai. The crème de la crème of the Indian advertising business was in attendance for the fourth edition of what is India’s first and only recognition for creative excellence in communicating sustainability.

     

    Mc Cann Erickson was crowned Green Agency of the Year. The agency also bagged the coveted Campaign of the Year for ‘Wake Up, Clean Up’. Dentsu Creative Impact got the Silver in the Campaign of the Year. Hindustan Unilever was awarded the Corporate Social Crusader of the Year as well as the Green Brand of the Year. Mathrubhumi too received the Corporate Social Crusader of the Year while the DDB Mudra group bagged the Silver in the Green Brand of the Year category.

     

    The Green Advertiser of the Year award went to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Karnataka State Government. The Green Crusader of the Year was awarded to Maneka Gandhi, Member of Parliament. The chief guest at the event was actor Amitabh Bachchan, who was also accorded the Honorary Membership of the IAA India Chapter.

     

    Srinivasan Swamy

    Said Srinivasan K Swamy, Chairman, R K Swamy BBDO and President, India Chapter and VP-Development Asia Pacific, IAA: “These awards have acquired the hue of a ’cause’ and this is one of the reasons for their universal acceptance.”

     

     

  • The Olive Crowns are Asia's first and only awards that salute excellence in communicating sustainability

    Big B goes green, to present IAA’s Olive Crown Awards

    By a correspondent

     

    The fourth edition of the IAA Olive Crown Awards from the India Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA) will be presented at a glittering function on 14th March 2014 at the Palladium Hotel, Parel, Mumbai.

     

    The Olive Crowns are Asia’s first and only awards that salute excellence in communicating sustainability. Endorsed by the Asian Federation of Advertising Associations (AFAA) these awards for “green” advertising have been warmly embraced by the industry and have grown in stature and size over the last four years.

     

    The awards are run like a cause without no fees for creative entries and a non-ticketed, entry-by-invitation-only awards ceremony.

     

    This year the IAA introduced a new special award for the Corporate Social Crusader of the year. This award saluted a corporate for an outstanding CSR initiative.

     

    Srinivasan Swamy

    “The response to this award from top corporates is very heart-warming,” said Srinivasan K Swamy, President India Chapter IAA. “The awards ceremony promises to be as meaningful as it will be entertaining” he added.

     

    Pradeep Guha said “The association of 9XM as presenting sponsor with the Olive Crown awards is in its third year now. We believe that industry associations should work for the general good and are therefore happy supporting such initiatives. I am personally happy with the way these awards have grown and the elite attendance at the awards function only endorses this.”

     

    The Green Partners for the Olive Crown awards are Hungama.Com and the Patrika Group. The Banking Partners are Yes Bank Ltd.

     

  • While the contest is open to all, participants must 30 years of age or less as on March 31, 2014

    Green Hungama Contest back at IAA Olive Crown Awards

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Green Hungama Contest, set up by Hungama Digital with the International Association of Advertisers – India Chapter’s annual Olive Crown Awards will see winners being awarded on March 14.

     

    As per a communiqué: the Olive Crown Green Hungama Award 2013 will be given for eco-sensitive communication that creates awareness for planet Earth’s well-being & sustainability. The entry for ‘Green Hungama Contest’ must be an original piece of work. However, for the sake of budget and other constraints like time, the entry can be a ‘scratch’ film made with borrowed footage or material. What will be judged at this stage is the creative ‘big idea’ and not the execution brilliance.

     

    This contest is open to all. The participant has to be 30 years of age or less as on March 31, 2014. The winning entries are awarded the Olive Crown and cash prizes worth Rs 1 lakh, that will be split between two winners — the Gold will have a cash prize of Rs 60,000, while the Silver is worth Rs 40,000. They will also get to showcase their work at Olive Crown Awards 2013 which will be held in Mumbai on 14th March 2014.

     

    Neeraj Roy

    Said Neeraj Roy, Managing Director and CEO Hungama Digital Media: “This is the fourth year we are partnering the IAA in this unique contest. It not only stokes the creative fires of young people and makes them conscious of a good cause, it also resonates with our audience and what we at Hungama are all about.”

     

    For details of sending in entries, log on to http://www.olivecrowngreenhungama.com/terms.html.

     

  • The awards will be presented for excellence in 21 Categories across 12 verticals including auto, banking, insurance, Telecom and FMCG among others

    IAA unveils 21 categories for leadership awards

    By A Correspondent

     

    The International Advertising Association’s India Chapter has unveiled the 21 categories for which its now-annual leadership awards will be held on March 1 in Mumbai. Presented by general entertainment channel Colors, the following are the 21 categories:

     

    1. Marketer of the Year – Banking

    2. Marketer of the Year – Insurance

    3.Marketer of the Year – Auto: 2 Wheeler

    4. Marketer of the Year – Auto: Passenger Vehicles

    5. Marketer of the Year – Mobile Services

    6. Marketer of the Year – Mobile Devices

    7. Marketer of the Year – FMCG: Personal Care, Laundry and Toiletries

    8. Marketer of the Year – FMCG: Foods & Beverages

    9. Marketer of the Year – FMCG: Consumer Durables

    10. Marketer of the Year – Home Improvement

    11. Marketer of the Year – Household Products

    12. Marketer of the Year – Ecommerce

    13. Media Agency Head of The Year

    14. Creative Agency Head of The Year

    15. CEO of The Year

    16. Media Person of The Year

    17. TV Anchor of The Year

    18. Editor of The Year

    19. Hall Of Fame

    20. Brand Ambassador OF The Year – Male

    21. Brand Ambassador OF The Year – Female

     

    Srinivasan Swamy

    Announcing the categories, Srinivasan Swamy, President IAA India and VP-Development, IAA Asia Pacific, and Chairman, R K Swamy BBDO commented: “After the great response we received for the first edition of the IAA Leadership Awards, we have made some marginal changes in categories this year to take into account some feedback received. The final winners are being determined now on a number of product and service categories and of course some Awards for senior practitioners. The IAA Leadership Awards is our endeavour to recognize and salute these outstanding talent which has made impactful contributions in the market space and the companies and brands they led.” I&B Minister Manish Tewari will be the Chief Guest at the awards event.

     

    Manish Tewari

    Three categories have been removed from last year’s list. These being: Marketer of the Year in Auto Commercial Vehicles, Travel & Hospitality and Media & Entertainment. The Marketer of the Year – Telecom Products category is now broken up into Marketer of the Year – Mobile Services and Mobile Devices. In addition, thee will be a Marketer of the Year for Home Improvement and E-commerce.

     

    The scope of the Marketer of the Year – FMCG: Personal Care category has been expanded to Marketer of the Year – FMCG: Personal Care, Laundry and Toiletries.

     

    To ensure the authenticity and credibility of the awards and maintain the highest level of transparency at all stages, IAA  looked at various performance criteria in every category under consideration, like revenue/market share growth, marketing initiatives undertaken, innovative schemes, launches, advertising spends etc to shortlist the nominees. Nielsen India was engaged thereafter to have the nominees voted upon by senior marketers from the same industry to pick the final winner. Ernst & Young has been commissioned to look at the process to satisfy itself of fairness and to officially tabulate the results.

     

    The IAA Leadership Awards, this year, are scheduled to be held on 1st March 2014 at Grand Hyatt, Mumbai. Honourable Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Sri Manish Tewari will grace the occasion as the Chief Guest. The awards night will be attended by the crème de la crème of the marketing, advertising and media fraternity to see some of their leaders carry home coveted trophies.

     

    The following were the winners of the IAA Leadership Awards 2013:

    Categories

    Winner
    Media Agency Head of the Year Sam Balsara, Madison World
    Creative Agency Head of the Year Piyush Pandey, Ogilvy & Mather India
    Marketer of the Year: Media & Entertainment Gayatri Yadav, Star India
    Marketer of the Year: Banking Sujit Ganguli, ICICI Bank 
    Marketer of the Year: Insurance Rita Bhattacharya, LIC 
    Marketer of the Year: Auto Passenger Vehicles  Mayank Pareek, Maruti Suzuki
    Marketer of the Year: Auto Commercial vehicles  UT Ramprasad , Tata Motors
    Marketer of the Year : Auto Two Wheeler Anil Dua, Hero Motocorp
    Marketer of the Year: Household Products Amit Syngle, Asian Paints
    Marketer of the Year: FMCG – Food & Beverages Chandramouli Venkatesan, Cadbury Kraft India
    Marketer of the Year: FMCG – Personal Care  Arun Srinivas, HUL
    Marketer of the Year: FMCG – Consumer Durables  Rahul Saighal, Samsung Appliances
    Marketer of the Year: Telecom Products  Anuradha Aggarwal, Vodafone
    Marketer of the Year: Travel & Hospitality  Manish Kalra, Make My  trip
    Best CEO  Y C Deveshwar, ITC
    Editor of the year  Jaideep Bose
    News Anchor of the year  Rajdeep Sardesai
    Mediaperson of the year  Shobhana Bhartia
    Brand Endorser of the year – Male  Salman Khan
    Brand Endorser of the year – Female  Katrina Kaif
    IAA Hall of Fame  Pradeep Guha

     

     

  • The last date for entries for the first and only awards for creative excellence in communicating sustainability is January 31, 2014. Entry form can be downloaded from iaaindiachapter.org

    IAA calls for entries to Olive Crown Awards

    By A Correspondent

     

    The India Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA) has issued a call for creative entries for the fourth edition of the IAA Olive Crown Awards. The Olive Crown Awards which are India’s first and only awards for creative excellence in communicating sustainability have been growing in size and stature over the years. The entry form can be downloaded from iaaindiachapter.org. The last date for entries is January 31, 2014.

     

    Last year, the awards were endorsed by the Asian Federation of Advertising Associations (AFAA) and went on to become the first ever pan-Asian event of its kind. AFAA will continue to endorse it this year. Said Srinivasan K Swamy, Chairman, R K SWAMY BBDO and President, India Chapter and VP-Development Asia Pacific, IAA: “These awards have acquired the hue of a ‘cause’ and this is one of the reasons for their universal acceptance.” Ramesh Narayan, Founder Canco Advertising and M G Parameswaran, Executive Director and CEO Draft FCB Ulka, are Co-Chairmen of the IAA Olive Crown Awards.  Mr Parameswaran said, “We cannot put a price on our commitment to Brand Earth and that is why there is no entry fee for this one-of-a-kind award. The quality of entries was very high last year and we are expecting an even better standard this time”.

     

    The awards will be presented in Mumbai in March 2014.  For the third time in succession, leading music channel 9XM will be presenting sponsor of these awards. Hungama and the Patrika Group are the Green partners.

     

  • Population First and Social Access will host the day-long workshop in Mumbai

    Gender sensitivity workshop on ad & media frat on Nov 29

    By A Correspondent

     

    Population First, a communication and advocacy initiative for a balanced, planned and stable population, will conduct a workshop titled ‘Men are from Venus, Women are from Mars’ on tomorrow (November 29) at Mayfair Banquets, Mumbai, addressing the media and advertising fraternity. The workshop aims at exploring gender similarities and appreciates the differences, specifically in the workplace and this workshop is designed and managed by Social Access. Population First has been doing these gender sensitization workshops for the A&M fraternity on a regular basis. Last year, a similar event was held in Mumbai along with the Interntional Association of Advertising (IAA, India Chapter).

     

    The workshop will include two panel discussions – one that will highlight the changing fabric of the Indian workplace, and the other, which will explore the idea of self-regulation in the development of the messaging and the possibility of a mechanism to gauge the neutrality and sensitivity of the messages. (*See Disclosure).

     

    (Disclosure: MxMIndia editor-in-chief Pradyuman Maheshwari is one of the panellists in the second discussion)

     

  • The future appears bright for entrepreneurs running advertising agencies was the consensus at the IAA Knowledge Conclave on Saturday

    Future bright for Emerging Agencies

     

    By Fatema Rajkotwala

     

    Downturns and failures are opportunities to be successful in the future,” said Subhash Chandra, Chairman, Essel Group and Zee Network in his address on entrepreneurship at the Knowledge Conclave of International Association of Advertising India Chapter.  The Conclave on Saturday (October 26) in Mumbai was held with the objective of helping emerging agencies understand how to take their businesses to the next level.

     

    Mr Chandra, who was Chief Guest of the event, shared his mantras for entrepreneurs. “Honour your commitments.  Don’t let fear set in. Listen to your customer. When I hear debates on whether it is better to be independent or enter partnerships, I say you become a multinational. But yes, partnerships help in growth.”

     

    Srinivasan Swamy

    Led by President Srinivasan K Swamy (CMD, RK Swamy BBDO), the IAA India chapter in association with the Free Press Journal invited senior industrypersons to share their knowledge and experience with the fraternity of small and mid-sized agencies. Acknowledging the growth in number of small agencies and the theme chosen for the Conclave, Swamy pointed out that the growth in membership of the various trade bodies from amongst the small and medium-sized agencies indicates that the business is robust for them.

     

     

    CVL Srinivas

    CVL Srinivas, CEO, Group M South Asia spoke on “How to flourish as a mid-sized media agency”.  Putting things in perspective for emerging agencies, he pointed out that in many ways, small and mid-sized agencies have a natural competitive advantage over big corporate and network-owned agencies. “It is easier for emerging companies to go digital. It is no longer a game of the top 4-5 agencies. Fragmentation and specialization is a huge opportunity for emerging agencies. Large agencies are not equipped to deal with local entrepreneurs whereas small agencies can cast the net wider. There is a shift from contextual and demographic targeting to audience planning.”

     

    Mr Srinivas spoke of how agency life tends to get a little superficial at times, leaving you disconnected from consumers. He said, “There is no better time than now to be a part of the media agency business. Today, all of us (big networks, multinationals and small agencies) are in the same boat. Massive disruptive models are coming in and this indicates that our advertising model needs reinvention.”

     

    B S Nagesh, Vice Chairman, Shopper’s Stop engaged the audience with his talk on “Preparing to win in a hyper competitive market” where he urged all entrepreneurs in SMEs to bring in out-of-the-box modes of growing their businesses. Summing up his nuggets of advice, he said,”Creativity has to be coupled with financial training. Many processes within SMEs happen in an informal way. To lessen the gap between Desire and Deserve, organisations need to look at building capability along with building capacity. Trust, transparency and empowerment within the company is important. Create an organization that is more responsive, accountable and measures performance. Create opportunities by creating clients in emerging markets. Celebrate trials, failures and successes.”

     

    Later, Ali Merchant, Director Triton Communications, Harindra Singh, Vice-Chairman & MD, Percept Ltd, that holds specialists agencies in various sectors and Vinod Nair, Managing Director, Network Advertising formed a panel on the topic “Path ahead for an Emerging Agency” that was chaired by Sandip Tarkas, President Strategy, Future Group. The panel debated the pros and cons of commoditizing the advertising product with specialized agencies, the benefits and limitations of being an independent agency versus entering partnerships to grow businesses and the need to position and package in order to be paid for specialized services.

     

    As the Founder and CEO of classifieds portal, Quikr.com, Pranay Chulet spoke on a session titled, “Future of Interactive Media”. Sharing his insights on digital marketing and the growing digital industry, he said, “In this complex world, the client needs not just an ad but conversations that are generated. We have to think multiple channels. The digital medium has also made Call to action easier. It allows Test, Analyze and Scale Fast or Fail Fast model, which is not possible with other media.”

     

    Abhishek Karnani

    According to Abhishek Karnani, Chairman of the IAA Knowledge Conclave, the primary objective of the sessions was to get the top advertising and media minds to come together to reflect on ideas and strategies for emerging agency owners to take their companies to the next level. This, he said, was served in ample from the practical advices served at the Conclave.

     

     

  • Media captains like Subhash Chandra, Srinivasan Swamy, Harindra Singh, CVL Srinivas others to speak at the conclave on Saturday, October 26 in Mumbai

    IAA announces knowledge conclave for ’emerging’ agencies

    By A Correspondent

     

    The International Advertising Association (IAA) India Chapter is organising a Knowledge Conclave with industry stalwarts sharing, interacting and networking with MDs, CEOs of emerging Advertising Agencies.

     

    Titled ‘Emerging Agencies: Taking it to the next level’, the conclave will be held on Oct 26 at Hotel Grand Hyatt in Mumbai. The speakers include Srinivasan K Swamy, Harindra Singh, Ali Merchant, B S Nagesh, CVL Srinivas, Pranay Chulet, Suryanarayana, Vinod Nair and Sandeep Tarkas. The highlight of the event will the Chief Guest Subhash Chandra, Chairman, Zee Group, sharing his experiences on taking one’s business global.

     

    The event (by invitation only) starts at 9.45am and ends at lunch. It has been powered by the Free Press Journal group.

     

  • The co-chairs of the very successful debate series of the IAA India chapter discuss the format and what makes it tick

    Jaldi 5 with Partho Dasgupta & Neville Taraporewalla: No boring panel discussions and screaming on IAA Debates

    The India chapter of the International Association of Advertising has had a superactive calendar over the last year-odd. And one of the events that’s been making waves is the IAA Debates which are held across major cities on issues and themes that are vital to the industry and of course are much debated*.

     

    MxMIndia spoke with the co-chairs of the IAA Debates – Neville Taraporewalla (General Manager, Microsoft India) and Partho Dasgupta (CEO, BARC) on the success of the event series:

     

    01. The IAA debates have been a huge hit. While it would looked like a winner idea even before it started, did you think it would be so much fun when you embarked on them?

    At the outset, we need to thank Mr Srinivasan Swamy,  the IAA ( India Chapter ) President to give us this platform and allowing us blue ocean the opportunity. Yes, at the cost of sounding a bit arrogant, we knew it was a winner of an idea. We have dime a dozen panel discussions happening in Industry events all over but they are all very mushy and goodie-goodie discussions. Television debates have become monotonous and one way where the anchor tends to drive the discussion as to where he wants to. Our objective was to ensure that there was truly a debate! Thoughts and ideas are shared by leaders supported by hard facts and data to make a point rather than shouting and screaming that we see on television being based of as a Debate. Further, we wanted to infuse some energy into this and make them relevant with topics that are being discussed today. Hence we made the format very tight, went with classical debating and had some amazing speakers. It had to be a winner !!!

     

    02. Normally such properties have a fixed element in the form of the moderator. But you’ve gone out and changed them. Any reasons? Also, wouldn’t it be great to have it on a fixed day of every month – like the first or last Friday of a month?

    The fixed element in this is IAA Debates. Nothing or nobody can be bigger than that brand. We try and invite senior people for the debate so a fixed schedule is logistically difficult hence we have to be flexible. I guess this has worked very well for us. Our objective is to ensure that our topics are debaters are relevant to ensure we are able to help the industry actually take a point of view based on the arguments made by the debaters. That has resulted in some interesting results. For example in the first debate, the audience post the arguments continued to support traditional media than digital! We all thought the team speaking on behalf of digital would have a cakewalk but once the arguments were put forth, the audience actually voted for traditional media. Though it was a slender margin, but it was in favour of the underdog creating some excitement for everyone at the event. Similarly, the one in Bengaluru, and then the one at Social Media Week actually gave very different results.

     

    03. Have you had any reservations from industry captains who do not want to be seen on the losing side, at least in pubic?

    Not really, we have on the other hand, been surprised at the way everyone agrees to take part, whatever maybe the outcome. Take for example, Arun Anant, Group CEO of The Hindu who you wouldn’t have heard him in many forums. One call and he was on. We are building momentum. When we invite speakers, they know that to get a invite for this event is special and in most cases we get positive responses. We have been transparent and clear that the topics cannot be changed to suit the speakers and they like the stand. Our topics are carefully selected by the two of us and worded to ensure it appeals to the format that we have designed. Our speakers have loved it and we have got a pat on the back from our sponsor too.

     

    04. Your first edition was on television, why weren’t the others? It would be good for television, na?

    Yes, there are some contractual issues. We will sort out. The format is ideal for packaging for television. In fact, we would be happy to discuss this and take the IAA Debates onto the television platform.

     

    05. You’ve raised the bar on guests already with Subramanian Swamy and Jawhar Sircar… so who’s coming up next?

    Aha!!! You surely don’t want us to give out the surprise elements. Be assured – you will hear and see great names, and many whom you have not heard before. Our effort is to build this property over time and the fact that we have consistently done it is a good runway for many more debates in the coming months

     

    *Disclosure: MxMIndia has been partnering IAA’s Face to Face webinar series

     

  • The veteran media professionals were felicitated at the International Advertising Association's 75th anniversary celebrations in London last week.

    Pheroza Bilimoria and Pradeep Guha receive IAA Champions Award

    By A Correspondent

     

    Veteran media professionals Pheroza Bilimoria and Pradeep Guha were felicitated with the ‘Champions Award’ at the International Advertising Association’s 75th anniversary celebrations in London last week.

     

    To coincide with the occasion, the IAA held a full-day Leadership Forum with the theme – “What’s Coming Next?”.

     

    At the dinner, “IAA Champions” from across member countries were acknowledged for their commitment to industry issues and dedication to the growth and development of the association. Said Faris Abouhamed, Chairman and World President of the IAA: ” It is through the contribution of these Champions who have especially promoted the association over many years, that we have been able to build the IAA into the globally connected force we are in the industry today!”

     

    On the recognition for Ms Bilimoria and Mr Guha, Srinivasan K Swamy, recently re-elected as President of the India Chapter (he is also Vice President Development, Asia Pacific, IAA), said from London: “After a memorable year full of meaningful activities, this is the icing on the cake for the India Chapter. I am very happy that two veterans who have played significant roles in not just building up the IAA but also the industry as a whole, have been rightly honored on a global platform. The India Chapter will continue to play a role of increasing relevance and importance in industry issues.”