SRINIVASAN SWAMY

Chairman & Managing Director, R K SWAMY Ltd.

Occupation:

Mr Srinivasan K Swamy is the Chairman of the R K SWAMY HANSA Group. The Group Companies include R K SWAMY BBDO, HansaVision, Hansa Research, HANSA Customer Equity and Hansa Estates. These Companies cover business interests in Advertising, Marketing Services, Social and Rural Sector Communication, Health Care Communication, Market Research, Advanced Marketing Analytics, Interactive Design and Search Engine Marketing, Public Relations, Continuing Medical Education and Real Estate Development.

Professional Bodies:

Mr Swamy is Immediate Past Chairman & World President of International Advertising Association (IAA). Earlier he was President/Chairman of IAA India Chapter, Confederation of Asian Advertising Agency Associations, Advertising Agencies Association of India, Advertising Standards Council of India, All India Management Association, The Madras Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Madras Management Association.

Honours:

Lifetime Achievement Awards by The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and Rotary Club of Guindy; admitted to the IAA Hall of Fame; recognized IAA Champion at their inaugural Inspire Awards in London; Distinguished Service Award by Advertising Club Madras; International Honour Award from AD STARS, Korea; Distinguished Alumni Award from AC College of Technology.

Social Service

Mr Swamy is President, Hindu Mission Hospital, Chairman, Valluvar Gurukulam School Society, President, National Boys’ & Girls’ Education Society, Chairman, Vidyadhanam and Annadhanam Trust, Chairman, Consumers Association of India and Vice President of Rasika Ranjini Sabha.

Ramesh Narayan

Founder, Canco Advertising Pvt. Ltd.

Ramesh Narayan is an Execom Member of the Asian Federation of Advertising Associations (AFAA) and a Mancom member of the India chapter of the IAA.

In 2014, he was inducted into the International Advertising Association (India Chapter)Hall of Fame. In the same year, he was honored by the Advertising Agencies Association of India (the apex body of advertising agencies in India) with its Lifetime Achievement Award and a special award from the Public relations Society of India.

In 2015, he was honored as the Global Champion by the IAA at its inaugural Inspire Awards in London. In November 2017, he received the Special Award for his distinguished service to the industry in the Asian region, by the Asian Federation of Advertising Associations at the AdAsia Bali.

He is currently a member of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Committee for Investor Awareness and Protection.and also a member of the Supreme Court (nominated three-person Committee) on Content Regulation in Government Advertising.

Ramesh Narayan founded and oversaw the creative and management functions of Canco Advertising from 1983 to 2006. The agency had an impressive roster of blue-chip clients in the areas of finance, insurance, infrastructure, and media, and earned a name for its professionalism.

Ramesh has been very active in the advertising industry.

President of the Advertising Club (two terms) and was also Chairman of the prestigious ABBY awards committee and editor of their award-winning magazine, SOLUS.

The First Indian to judge the finals of the EFFIE awards (for advertising effectiveness) in New York.

He held two terms as President of the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) the apex body of agencies in the country. It was in his term, that the widely hailed agreement to treat advertising agencies as business partners was signed with the Indian Broadcasters Association.

President of the India chapter of the IAA (2017-18). In the India Chapter of the IAA, he is credited with conceptualizing and rolling out the Olive Crown Awards, Asia's first and only awards that salute excellence in communicating sustainability.

Chairman, Planning Committee of the AdAsia (2003) held in Jaipur, widely accepted as the biggest and most successful advertising convention of its kind.

Part of the core team that put together the mega IAA World Congress 2019.

He was on the Council (Board of Directors) of the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) a tripartite body consisting of advertisers, agencies, and the media.

He was also on the Board of the National Readership Survey Council(NRSC) that carried out the prestigious National Readership Survey all over India.

Past President of the Rotary Club of Bombay (the largest Club of its kind in India), he is credited with conceiving the international award-winning skills -enhancement program Bhavishya Yaan for underprivileged children in Municipal Schools which currently impacts 1600 students in Mumbai and Ananda Yaan an Elder Day Care program which runs out of two locations in Mumbai as well as the Lighthouse Project for tiny tots in a slum in South Mumbai.

Punit Goenka

President, IAA India

MD & CEO, ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd.

Mr. Punit Goenka, a young and dynamic professional with a strong entrepreneurial background, started his career with Essel Group, a vibrant conglomerate with diversified business interests in media & entertainment, infrastructure, and other leading sectors. Being the Managing Director and Chief Executive Office of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd., Punit has been extremely successful in enhancing the company’s performance and in driving the company towards its set goals.

Under his leadership, ZEE has achieved scores of milestones and prestigious awards, elevating the brand to a global cadre. Dun & Bradstreet – Rolta Corporate Award, BusinessworldInfocom ICT Award, IMC Fusion Award for Excellence in Media, are some of the many such awards bagged by ZEEL during Punit’s tenure. His futuristic vision and sharp acumen in the new media domain, has led the company to a global stature today. Punit is also responsible for expanding the company’s international presence across 173 countries, and its reach to over 1.3 billion viewers.

Punit is also listed amongst the top 100 CEOs of India, in a study published by Business Today. He was conferred the ‘Outstanding Contribution to Media’ award at the Managing India Awards hosted by AIMA. He has also received the prestigious Economic Times ’40 Under Forty’ India’s Hottest Business Leaders Award and has bagged the prestigious IAA Leadership Award under the category of “Media Person of the Year Award”. Punit has been awarded the esteemed Medaille d’Honneur Award at MIPTV and has been recognized as the “Entrepreneur of the Year” at the Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards. 

(Official Twitter Handle - @punitgoenka)

Shashi Sinha

CEO – India, IPG Mediabrands.

Shashi Sinha, an Indian Executive who is the current CEO – India, IPG Mediabrands, manages the second largest Media Agency Group that includes Lodestar UM, Initiative Media, Interactive Avenues, Mediabrands, BPN, Reprise, Rapport, Cadreon, Orion,Society &Magna Global in India. The group manages approximately 20% of the overall media spend in the country and is widely recognized for it’s strategic approach to media solutions across a wide portfolio of over 100 blue chip clients such as – Samsung, Amazon, Amul, Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson.

Shashi is also actively involved in various industry bodies such as the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI), Past Chairman of Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC), Past President of The Ad Club, Current Chairman of Readership Studies Council of India (RSCI) and the Technical Committee of the Broadcast Audience Research Council India (BARC). He is also an honorable member of the prestigious Facebook India Client Council.

Shashi is an alumni of IIT Kanpur & IIM Bangalore where he was recently conferred the “Most Distinguished Alumni Award”.

An industry veteran with over 30 years of experience, where he has built a highly awarded team of professionals and organizations that today form the country’s leading media network.

M. V. Shreyams Kumar

Managing Director, Mathrubhumi Group

Mathrubhumi Group, Kerala’s leading media conglomerate has appointed Shri. M. V. Shreyams Kumar as the Joint Managing Director of the Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing Co Ltd. He was earlier the Director-Marketing & Electronic Media since 2000. Shreyams Kumar bolstered continuous improvements and propelled rapid growth by steering the Company through multiple challenges for the last 17 years.

An alumnus of Kings Langley College Of Management, London, Mr. Shreyams Kumar holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration.His contributions since joining in the year 2000, have lent a dynamic orientation to this traditional institution. Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Palakkad and Delhi editions were started in the period from 2001 to 2007. Gulf edition was launched from Dubai in 2013. The latest launch of events ‘n’ exhibitions vertical Red Mic has breathed new life into the sector in Kerala. These initiatives were spurred by his galvanic leadership. He is instrumental in re-orienting the management outlook of the organisation and has revamped the marketing activities, making it more focused and goal-oriented. This has led to substantial increases, both in advertisement revenue and circulation figures. The mail room facility launched in the new plant in Thiruvanthapuram, and across other units subsequently has propelled the group into the league of technology leaders in print industry in India.

Mathrubhumi online edition is a gateway of information. Through Club FM 94.3 he has further forayed into the field of Private FM Radio also.

Another mile-stone has been the launch of television channel titled Mathrubhumi News & youth channel Kappa in 2013, the 90th anniversary year of the media house, thus achieving the long cherished goal of cross-media synergy. The television channel is testimony to his vision of creating a re-invented organisation.

In tune with his commitment to environmental values and out of corporate concern for our imperiled mother planet, he envisioned Mathrubhumi SEED {Student Empowerment for Environmental Development} to impart environmental consciousness to the next generation by sensitising students in nearly 7,000 schools to the green inheritance of our blue planet. This initiative was twice honoured by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers {WAN}.

Born into a family of traditional planters from Kalpetta, Kerala, he is the son of writer-politician & former Union Minister M P Veerendra Kumar and Usha Veerendra Kumar, planter and media owner Shreyams Kumar has travelled widely across the world. His hobbies include photography & travelling. Married to Kavitha he has three daughters and a son. Currently he is also the MLA representing the Kalpetta constituency & the parliamentary party leader and chief whip of Socialist Janatha {Democratic} in the Kerala assembly.

On account of his outstanding contribution to both media as well as entertainment industry, Shreyams Kumar has been conferred with the following awards:
UGMA Award for outstanding performance - 2003 {Media Person of the Year}
Filmfare Award for Best Film Megha Malhar {Producer} 2001
Kerala State Award for the second best film Megha Malhar {Producer}
Lux Asianet Award for the best film Megha Malhar
Fokana Award for the best film Megha Malhar
Kerala Film Critics TV award for best mega serial - Orma
Fokana Film TV award best serial - Orma

He conducted a technology tour on September 2, 2011 for MLAs elected to the 13th Kerala assembly, focussing on ways to become ‘smarter’ at managing their work using the tools of information technology.

Visited: Austria, Australia, Belgium, Botswana, Czechoslovakia, China, Denmark, England, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Luxemburg, Maldives, Malaysia, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Taiwan Thailand, Turkey, U.A.E, U.S.A, West Indies and Zimbabwe.

Pradeep Dwivedi

Group CEO, EROS Media World PLC

Mr. Pradeep Dwivedi is Group CEO of Eros Media World Group, which includes Eros Media World PLC, an Isle of Man entity, as well as Eros International Media Ltd. (Eros Motion Pictures), an NSE & BSE listed public Indian subsidiary, as well as ErosNow Private Ltd. (ErosNow OTT), based in India.

A business management professional experienced in diverse industries such as Media, Advertising, News & Entertainment, Telecoms, Technology, Banking, Financial services, and Automotive sectors, he has previously managed large portfolios with marquee organizations such as Sakal Media Group, Dainik Bhaskar Group- DB Corp Ltd., Tata Teleservices Ltd. - Tata DoCoMo, American Express Bank, GE Capital India, Standard Chartered Plc & Eicher Motors Limited.

His professional interests range from Media, Technology, Digital & Filmed Entertainment, Metaverse, Marketing and Advertising across industries. He is also interested & invested in digital innovation led businesses in Metaverse, AI & ML, Web3.0, AR/VR, Blockchain, Tokenomics, Cryptocurrency and their influence on social impact sectors. He actively encourages start-ups with mentorship, guidance, board participation and angel investments.

Mr. Dwivedi is an active participant in many Media & Advertising industry associations such as International Advertising Association (IAA) India Chapter as Board Member & Director and the IAA- Global VP & Area Director for Asia-Pacific region. He is also serving as a Managing Committee member at The Advertising Club of India (TAC)and is Co-Chairperson of Efie Awards India. Additionally, he is an active participant of IMC Chambers of Commerce & Industry (IMC), Bombay Chambers of Commerce & Industry (BCCI) as well as the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII).

Twitter ?: https://twitter.com/PradeepDwivedi

LinkedIn?: https://Linkedin.com/in/pradeepdwivedi/

AboutMe?: https://about.me/PradeepDwivedi/

ANAND SANKESHWAR

Managing Director of VRL Logistics Ltd

Anand Sankeshwar, Managing Director of VRL Logistics Ltd is an entrepreneur in his own right. A multi-faceted personality, he has been recognized as a ‘Youth Icon’. A man of vision, well-tuned to changing times and emerging trends in the publishing world, Anand Sankeshwar has been instrumental in scripting the success story of a popular Newspaper.

Anand Sankeshwar is the Managing Director of VRL Group.

Born in the most flavored place of north Karnataka. Gadag on 14th November 1974 Anand Sankeshwar, a commerce graduate became the alumnus of Karnataka University, J G College of Commerce, Hubli in the year 1996.

Awards Bagged by Anand Sankeshwar are :

• He was honored as the “Brand Builder of the Year Award - 2014” by “Global Brand Excellence Awards”, Singapore.
• He was honoured with a prestigeous award 'Inspirational Leader of New India' in USA in 2013.
• He was also honored by TIE as the “ Best IInd Generation Entrepreneur ” from Mr.Gururaj Deshpande, Trustee for Deshpande Foundation in Hubli in 2011.
• His landmark achievement is in print media. In testimony, Anand Sankeshwar was honored with the prestigious Youth Icon award by ABCI of Mumbai.
• He was honored as the ‘Marketing Professional of the year by ‘The Indira Group of Institutes’ Pune.

Anand Sankeshwar was the General Secretary of ABVP State Conference held in Hubli in February 2014.

The success achieved in VRL has made Anand Sankeshwar a man on move. He travels extensively, covering the length and breadth of the country and beyond the border. He travels 15 days in a month.

Anand Sankeshwar also flaunts of being recognized by the corporate world. He was the brand ambassador for leading transport brands like Castrol, Toyota, Ashok Leyland & Michelin Tyres.

Megha Tata

Media Professional- Strategic Advisor- Independent Director

Megha Tata has held leadership roles at organizations such as Cosmos Maya, WB Discovery, BTVI, HBO, Turner International and Star TV. In an illustrious career spanning over 3 decades, Megha has had a consistent record of increasing sales, effective negotiation, profit and loss analysis and strategic implementation of business operations. Ability to overcome obstacles and capture opportunities by closing exclusive deals, create and implement savvy marketing strategies has been her forte. An industry veteran, she leads multiple national as well as international industry forums and an esteemed member of the National Media and Entertainment Committee of FICCI.

Megha has been on the board of IBF (Indian Broadcasting Federation). She served as the Vice President of the International Advertising Association (IAA) India Chapter from 2016-2018 and as President of IAA - India Chapter (2020-2022). The second woman to hold that position. Currently she is the Immediate Past President of IAA. Megha has been instrumental in launching several marquee projects in the Indian broadcast space. She has been bestowed with multiple industry accolades during her career.

Megha is recognized amongst the top 50 influential women in media, marketing and advertising and was also conferred ‘Women of the decade in media’ by the Women Economic Forum in 2018.She was also adjudged amongst Asia's Most Inspirational Women in Leadership for 2022 by House of Rose Professional.

In addition to being actively involved in industry initiatives, Megha is energized by engaging with young minds through guest lectures at leading educational institutes including IIT, IIM, ISB, UBS, and is passionately involved as a Volunteer with Isha Foundation - a non-profit organization started by Sadhguru

Partho Dasgupta

President , The Advertising Club

Partho Dasgupta is a general management professional with diverse experience in consumer goods industries and in media, across print, television and out-of-home.

A keen observer of consumer and media trends, Mr. Dasgupta is the  CEO of BARC India, the joint initiative of Broadcasters, Media Agencies and Advertisers, and the largest Television Measurement system of its kind in the world. The Big Data and Insights generated by BARC India powers efficient media spends and content decisions in a highly dynamic and growing television sector.

Dasgupta has led start-up and management teams for Times Now, Future Media, The Economic Times and Times Multimedia. He is also currently the President of The Advertising Club.

DR. BHASKAR DAS

As the Group CEO, Bhaskar is responsible for augmenting the salience of each brand by way of enhanced credibility, relevance & increased consumer traction and also for exploring inter-group synergistic opportunities thereby propelling the group into a high growth trajectory.

In his previous role, he was the President of Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd, where he exited after serving the company for 32½ years. He gained a holistic management exposure inclusive of line function, responsibility of Profit Center as well as Brand management. The last 7 years of this stint, he drove the company's “Response” division through path-breaking innovations and cogitation, translating short & long term business strategy into implementation road maps resulting in improved Value / Volume market share for the Group. Under his leadership, the Group, apart from developing unique and rare combinations of expansive media knowledge with cross functional business competencies, across sectors, also reached the pinnacle of revenue growth.

Bhaskar has also been awarded the 'Marketing Professional of the Year' at the India Brand Summit 2006, the 'Outstanding Marketing Professional of the Year' at the Indira Marketing Awards 2007, the 'Brand Super Achiever of the Year' at the World Brand Congress 2009, the 'Master Brand Builder of the Year' at the World Brand Congress 2010, the 'Greatest Brand Builder of India' at the CMO Asia 2010-11, the 'Most Respected Youth Icon' at Awards for Retail Excellence 2011 by the Asia Retail Congress and the 'Brand Builder of the Year' at the Global Leadership Awards 2012.

Bhaskar is also a recognized tutor certified by Result Coaching Systems and a prolific speaker, with 750+ hours over the last 29 years, at various industry forums and at reputed business schools like Harvard Business School, The Wharton School, MIT, IIM, IIAS (Shimla), MICA (Ahmedabad), ISB amongst others. He is a member of Academic Council of Mudra Institute of Communications Ahmedabad (MICA) and K J Somaiya Institute of Management Studies & Research. He is on The Managing Committee of the India Chapter of IAA and The Indian Advisory Board of FranklinCovey - India & South Asia. He holds a Ph.D. in Marketing Management from Pune University, an MBA in Marketing from Calcutta University and MA in International Relations from Jadavpur University. He is currently pursuing his second Ph.D.

On a personal front, Bhaskar lives with his artist wife - Shomshuklla and their 26 year old son Uditvanu in Mumbai.

Neeraj Roy

Founder, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.

Neeraj Roy is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Hungama Digital Media. Under his leadership, Hungama today is the largest Digital Media Company in South Asia.

Neeraj was recently voted amongst the ‘Top Ten mobiThinkers’ and ‘50 Most influential People in Mobile Entertainment’ globally.

Neeraj was also awarded the Sun Microsystems- Economic Times Young Leader award in 2001 and voted as 25 young leaders in the new millennium by Business India. He is an active speaker at various international forums as Mobile World Congress, CTIA, World Handset Forum etc and on several domestic and international committees advising on the global Mobile & Digital Entertainment economy.

Neeraj has served as Chairman of the Mobile Entertainment Forum - Asia (MEF) and is currently Vice President of IAA – India Chapter.

Known as an innovator, and sought for his vision in the digital and mobile media and entertainment industry, Neeraj leads a team of highly motivated professionals at Hungama.

A serial entrepreneur, Neeraj has incubated several businesses such as Hungama.com, which is South Asia’s largest Digital Entertainment service with over 60 million active consumers offering an integrated Movie and Music Service.

Hungama also has a partnership with WPP’s JWT offering Digital Marketing Services clients worldwide.

Over the years Hungama has forayed into various aspects of Digital Media and Content such as Gaming, via its subsidiary Hungama Gameshastra Ltd.

Neeraj is excited about the prospects of the Indian digital economy as it prepares to transition to 600 million consumers over the next few years and is gearing up to cater to the needs of the world’s youngest nation as it embraces the mobile internet.

Pradeep Guha

Managing Director of 9X Media Pvt. Ltd.

Pradeep Guha ([email protected]) is the Managing Director of 9X Media Pvt. Ltd., a television broadcasting company (with satellite and digital channels) aimed at youth audiences.

Prior to 9X Media, Pradeep was the CEO of India’s largest publicly traded television broadcasting network, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. While at Zee, Pradeep helped the company set up their first foray into print in 2005. Daily News and Analysis (DNA) is a premier English news daily that Zee’s promoters launched in partnership with the Dainik Bhaskar Group.

In his previous avatar Pradeep was associated with the print medium for 29 years and was President and Executive Director of The Times of India Group, India’s largest media conglomerate.

As a co-promoter of Fountainhead Entertainment, Pradeep’s involvement in events and BTL marketing further buttressed the evolution which began from the time he helmed the sesquicentennial celebrations of the The Times of India Group in 1988, followed by Filmfare Awards, Femina Miss India Contest, Elite Model Look, the Bombay Times Parties and many more.

Pradeep is fascinated by cinema and had a production house of his own. Pradeep was the producer of the critically acclaimed and commercially successful films, ‘Fiza’ (2000) and ‘Tehzeeb’ (2002).

Currently, Pradeep is making forays into digital content and product businesses, both as co-investor and hands-on student-cum-teacher.

Thus, over the last 37 years of his career, Pradeep has spanned the entire gamut of Media & Entertainment – print, television, events, digital and films and the process of learning goes on.

Pradeep was also associated with many bodies in the field of media, marketing and advertising - as President of the Indian Newspaper Society, Chairman of the National Readership Studies Council, President of the Advertising Club Bombay and the first Chairman of the Broadcast Audience Research Council. He recently finished a 4-year stint as the Chairman of the Asian Federation of Advertising Associations (AFAA). Pradeep was also responsible for enlisting India at the Cannes International Advertising Festival and was its first Country Representative from India for 10 consecutive years.

Pradeep is currently the Vice-President and Area Director of the IAA Asia Pacific Region and has been on the ManCom of the India Chapter since 2005, first as the President (2005-2008) and subsequently as a special invitee.

Raj Nayak

Ex COO, Colors – Viacom 18 Media Pvt. Ltd

Raj Nayak needs no introduction.  He is popularly known and is one of the most respected and well-known name in the Media and entertainment industry.  

Raj began his career with Tata Economic Consultancy Services and has since worked in various capacities both in the print & electronic media including STAR TV where he was the Executive Vice President and founding member of the key management team. Went on to launch NDTV Media as its CEO, before setting up his own company AIDEM Ventures.

Raj joined Colors –Viacom 18, almost 5 years back as CEO and has grown the channel from strength to strength.  From a No. 5 position, he has today made Colors India’s No. 1 Premium Hindi Entertainment channel.

A complete people’s person, who leads from the front, he is also known to be a tough task master, risk taker & quick decision maker. His twitter handle refers to him as “Media maven, creative thinker, traveller, foodie, independent-minded person, non- conformist, free spirited, trend setter”.

He is the Past President of the International Advertising Association (IAA) – India Chapter.  He has also been on other industry bodies such as the board of Media Research Users Council (MRUC) & The Indian Broadcasting Foundation. He is currently the President of The Advertising Club –India.

KAUSHIK ROY

President - Brand Strategy & Marketing Communication
Reliance Industries Ltd.

Kaushik Roy has spent over three decades in the sphere of media and communication. Starting his career with JWT, Kolkata, in the Creative Department, he moved on to profit centre roles and worked with Clarion Advertising (now Bates) and Mudra Communications.

In his marketing avatar, he has worked as Head of Brand Strategy, South Asia with Philips and later with Reliance Infocomm as Head – Branding and Marketing Communication where he was responsible for the launch of Reliance Mobile with the 'Karlo Duniya Mutthi Mein' campaign. Earlier in his career, he has been responsible for the "We also make steel" campaign and for the launch of Max Touch (now Vodafone).

Kaushik is currently President – Brand Strategy & Marketing Communication in Reliance Industries Limited (RIL). In recent times, he has been responsible for the branding, marketing and team formation of Reliance Mumbai Indians for the Indian Premier League (IPL) Season 1, and the launch of the Indian Super League (ISL). As a sponsor from the Chairman’s office, he oversees the marketing and branding efforts for Jio, an integrated digital content and services offering from RIL.

Kaushik has held important industry positions such as President of the Advertising Club Bombay, Executive Committee member of the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI), Steering Committee Member – Ad Asia 2003, President of the International Advertising Association (IAA) – India Chapter.

Branching out from his regular day job, Kaushik has had several art exhibitions and has written and directed a critically acclaimed feature film "Apna Asmaan" that bagged the prestigious the Best Feature Film Award at the Stuttgart Film Festival, in 2007.

Kaushik is married to Nina and has two sons, Rajeev and Roshan.

Professor Anil K. Gupta

Ph.D., Management, M.Sc.(Genetics), B.Sc.(Hons), Agri.
Indian Institute of Management, Coordinator, SRISTI 
Founder, Honey Bee Network
Executive Vice Chair, National Innovation Foundation

Member, National Innovation Council, Chaired by Adviser to Prime Minister; Fellow, National Academy of Agricultural Sciences and  Fellow, The World Academy of Art and Science, California 2001

Professor Anil K. Guptas’s mission is to demonstrate the potential of knowledge rich economically poor people in taking developing societies out of the morass of mediocrity and lead these on to a path of sustainable, democratic and diversified progress.He has been walking (around 6000 kms across India) for a week or more every summer and winter for last 17 years as a part of Shodhyatra (journey on foot) to celebrate creativity at grassroots, to learn from grassroots teachers and share creativity of communities encountered so far.

Research and Action Interests: Expanding global, national and local space for grassroots inventors and innovators to ensure recognition, respect and reward for them; protection of their Intellectual Property Rights; blending excellence in formal and informal science; ethical issues in conservation and prospecting of biodiversity; linking innovations, investments and enterprise; creating Knowledge Network at different levels for augmenting grassroots green innovations and and technological innovations by youth to build a global value chain to get the creativity its due; support to Honey Bee Network including about 185,000 ideas, innovations and examples (not all unique) of traditional knowledge from various parts of the country ( nifindia.org) and rest of the world on farm and non-farm sustainable technologies, and 200,000 projects of engineering and related disciplines through techpedia.in of sristi.org

Professional Experience: Established The Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions (SRISTI, 1993, www.sristi.org) and Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network (GIAN, 1997, www.gian.org), two voluntary organization to support the Honey Bee Network and to scale up and convert grassroots innovations into viable products respectively. He helped set up the National Innovation Foundation (NIF, 2000, www.nifindia.org assisted by Department of Science and Technology, Government of India to make India innovative and creative society and a global leader in sustainable technologies. NIF has mobilized more than 200,000 innovations and traditional knowledge practices from over 545 districts of India, the largest database of its kind anywhere. Recently through student volunteers and without much external support, established a portal of 204,315 tech student projects at www.techpedia.sristi.org or www.techpedia.in to link the needs of informal sector and small and cottage industry with the young technology students besides increasing Innovation Quotient of the country (by preventing students do a repetitive project. A twin centre for Grassroots innovation has been set up in collaboration with Tianjin University of Finance and Economics, China. Similar efforts are on with other developing countries to promote grassroots to Global (g2G) strategy for knowledge based approaches to poverty alleviation and employment generation.

I Venkat

Director, EENADU

He holds a Bachelor's degree in Science. He has been in Communication profession from 1970. 1987 onwards joined Board of Directors of Ushodaya Enterprises Pvt ltd, publishers of Eenadu Telugu newspaper and ETV group channels. He was the past Chairman of Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) and founder member of Media Research Users Council (MRUC) as well as Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF). He is also on the Board of Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), International News Media Association (INMA), Broadcast Audience Resarch Council (BARC) and also had a long innings at The Indian Newspaper Society (INS) as a Board member for above 15 years. Currently the Chairman of Media Research Users Council (MRUC) and Chairman of Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC).

Ashish Bhasin

CEO-APAC & Chairman India, Dentsu Aegis Network

Ashish Bhasin is a well-known personality in the Advertising & Media industry in Asia Pacific, for the past 32 years. He is presently CEO APAC and Chairman India, Dentsu Aegis Network. He is also a member of the Dentsu Aegis Network Global Executive Team.

He has built the Dentsu Aegis Network in India from a 50 member team to a 3500 member powerhouse, now the 2nd largest Advertising and Marketing Communications Group in India, overturning for the first time the existing ranking, which has historically been in place for over 80 years.

Prior to this Ashish successfully led and set up several of Lintas India’s (IPG) businesses and also had the global role of Executive Vice President, Lowe Worldwide and Asia Regional Director for Integrated Marketing.

Ashish has received the Campaign Asia - South Asia Agency Head of the Year award for 3 consecutive years - 2017, 2016 and 2015 and was selected as MXM’s Media Person of the Year- 2016. He has been awarded the 2015 IAA Leadership Award for Media Agency Head of the Year and was the Exchange4Media - Hallmark Chairman of the Year 2015. He is also the recipient of the Business Excellence Awards for Media CEO of the Year - India & Chairman of the Year – India 2013, 2014 and 2015, at UK’s Business Excellence Awards. He has received the Indira Super Achiever Award 2003 and was also adjudged “Media Marketer of the Year” at the Brief Media Awards.

He has served as the Head of Jury for the Asia Pacific Effie Awards 2017 and has served on several global juries including Cannes Lion 2016, Cannes Lion 2007, Dubai Lynx 2008, Festival of Media Global 2013 at Montreux and Asia’s Most Promising Brands and Leaders 2013 in Dubai.

Ashish serves or has served on most industry bodies in India, including as President AAAI, Immediate Past Chairman MRUC, Chairman Goafest 2017 & 2018, Co-Chairman AAAI – IBF committee 2010 - 2018, Board Member-Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), Invitee Board Member – Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) Chairman Media Abbys 2012 & 2013, Chairman - Readership Studies Council of India and  Founding Chairman of the Sydenham Institute of Management’s Alumni Association.

Sam Balsara

Chairman & Managing Director, Madison Communications Pvt. Ltd.

The Economic Times Brand Equity Ad Agency Reckoner ranks Sam as "India's Most Influential Media Person" for 10 consecutive years. Sam is also the recipient of the Advertising Agencies Association of India's Lifetime Achievement Award, Ad Club of Kolkata's Hall of Fame Award and has entered the International Advertising Association’s (IAA) Hall of Fame.

Sam is currently the head of the completely Indian owned Madison World, which offers services in 11 specialized functions in Advertising, Media, Business Analytics, Out-of-Home, PR, Retail, Rural, Activation, Entertainment and Sports. Over the past 31 years, Madison has grown to become  India's largest Indian owned communication company employing about 1,000 communication experts, with offices in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Thailand, serving 550 Advertisers.

Sam has over 45 years experience in Marketing, Advertising and Media of which the last 31 years have been entrepreneurial.

Ashok Venkatramani

Founder
Intelligent Insights Pvt Ltd

Ashok has been a professional manager from 1989 - 19 years in Unilever and 8 years in ABP News Network Pvt. Ltd. - an ABP Group company (formerly a News Corp International and ABP joint venture) which runs India's largest news TV network. In his stint of 19 years with Unilever, he worked on the foods and personal care side of the business in sales, marketing and general management roles. He was the Vice President and Business Head - Skincare for Unilever in India before moving on, in 2008 of the CEO – ABP News Network Pvt. Ltd. In 2017 he stepped out to be an entrepreneur and is currenly busy with his own media startup.

Positions Held:

1. He was the former President and Director on the Board of the News Broadcasters Association (NBA).
2. He has been a Vice President for 4 years and Director of NBA for 7 years and Chaired their HR and Sales sub committees.
3. He is also a former Director of Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF).
4. Ashok was also a member of the Digitization Task Force appointed by Government of India.

Awards:

1. Award of the 'CEO with best HR Orientation' in 2010 bestowed by The World HRD Congress.
2. Award for 'Media Person of the Year' in 2010 by The World Brand Congress.
3. 'The Achievers & Leaders Award for Excellence in Brand Building' in Sri Lanka - India - South Africa - Singapore Partnership Summit in 2010.
4. Award for 'Excellence in Business Leadership' in 2011 by Asian Confederation of Businesses in Asian Leadership Awards Dubai.

Ashok has also featured twice, in the World CMO Council‘s list of India’s 75 top marketers.

Other Interests:

Ashok is actively engaged in speaking in various media forums nationally and internationally and has been a recipient of numerous awards in his illustrious career

Education:

Ashok is a B.Tech from Bombay University and has done his management post graduation from Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad and the Harvard Business School.

Vikram Sakhuja

Group CEO Madison Media & OOH

Vikram over his 28 years with Advertisers (P&G, Coca-Cola), Broadcaster (Star TV) and Agency (GroupM), and across Media, Brand Marketing and Marketing Research, has developed a conviction on how marketing can grow brands.

Vikram Sakhuja is an engineer from IIT Delhi, with an MBA from IIM Calcutta. He joined Procter & Gamble in 1988 where over his 8 years there, he held positions in Marketing Research and Media. He then joined Coca-Cola where over 5 years he went on to manage the brand marketing portfolio. After that Vikram spent a year with the Star TV Network (Newscorp) setting up their marketing department as the Executive VP Marketing for India. From 2002 onwards he has been with GroupM. He started there as the Managing Director of MindShare Fulcrum, went on to become the Managing Director of MindShare South Asia; and then was the CEO of GroupM South Asia for 6 years. From there, he took on global role of WW CEO for Maxus for two years, following which he was GroupM's Global Strategic Development Officer, with a remit of driving data and technology deeper into the Media practice. He has recently partnered with Sam Balsara to be the Group CEO of Madison Media and OOH.

His career highlights include setting up India's first Media AOR, starting India's first afternoon soap opera (and daily strip), being involved in most launches during P&G's and Coca-Cola's start-up phase in India, pioneering a series of researches in India including BASES, Conversion Model, a Purchase Retail Audit and Consumption Panel; and being part of the leadership team that started Mindshare and GroupM in India/ South Asia. He is proud to have led the team that has shaped GroupM into becoming India's largest, most integrated and most awarded one-stop shop for marketing Investment. He also sees himself as a growth junkie, and has had a strong P&L delivery record at local and global levels.

Vikram has sat on several industry body boards/ committees including ASCI, ABC, RSCI, BARC, AAAI committees with ISA, INS and IBF, and chairs FICCI's Marketing committees. He has consistently been voted the 2nd most influential person in Indian Media by the Economic Times Vikram's family includes his wife Simmi, a professional fitness trainer, writer and radio personality and his two daughters Tara and Diya

M. G. Parameswaran

Advisor, FCB Ulka Advertising

Ambi as he is known, is Advisor at FCB Ulka Advertising, one of India's top five agencies. A Chemical Engineer from IIT Madras (Indian Institute of Technology) and a Management Graduate from IIM Calcutta (Indian Institute of Management), in a career spanning three decades he has handled assignments in marketing, sales and advertising with companies like Rediffusion DY&R, Boots Company and UDI Yellow Pages before dropping anchor at FCB Ulka Advertising over two decades ago. He has had a key role in the transformation of Ulka Advertising into FCB Ulka Group, one of India's top three marketing communication group, with interests in advertising, media, consulting, digital, and healthcare. He has worked on numerous brands including Digene, Brufen, Santoor Soap, Sundrop Cooking Oil, TCS, ICICI Bank, Wipro, Tata Indica Cars, Zee TV among others, covering diverse categories such as automotives, healthcare, telecom, FMCG, corporate etc.

Ambi has been contributing articles to premier business publications, has conducted seminars and branding workshops for Indian/ MNC organizations and industry bodies. He has been a speaker at international forums including the Kellogg India Conference at Northwestern University and Cornell University; he has also been a guest faculty at several business schools including Indian School of Business and his alma mater, IIMC. He has also presented papers at international conferences of Association for Consumer Research and INFORMS.

Ambi now has seven books to his credit including: "FCB-Ulka Brand Building Advertising - Concepts and Cases"; "Building Brand Value - Five Steps to Building Powerful Brands" (Winner of 2007 NTPC - DMA Book Prize), and "For God's Sake - An adman on the Business of Religion" (the last book was inspired by his research on "Religion and Consumer Behaviour")

Ambi is involved in several industry organizations such as CII, IAA and has served as the President of Advertising Club Bombay. He successfully completed his PhD from Mumbai University in 2012, and the Advanced Management Program from Harvard Business School in 2014. He was inducted into the Board of Governors of IIM Calcutta in 2007 and he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from IIT Madras in April 2009. Ambi was elected as the President of the apex advertising industry body, the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) in July 2014.

Abhishek Karnani

President, The Free Press Journal Group

Mr. Abhishek Karnani is a dynamic, socially mobile young person holding MBA from S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai. He is presiding over the Free Press Group of newspapers. He is actively involved with the operations of the group since 2002. He is spearheading marketing and branding of the newspaper. He strongly believes in innovations and finding solutions by thinking out of the box.

His practical approach to the business made the company’s sales turnover scaling new heights. He possess excellent communication skills and soft skill. He is an avid reader and horse riding is his passion. As a person he is deeply religious and offers an lending hand to the needy.

He sponsors Educational scholarships for deserving MBA students every year to promote Higher Education.

Vikram Sakhuja

Group CEO Madison Media & OOH

Vikram over his 28 years with Advertisers (P&G, Coca-Cola), Broadcaster (Star TV) and Agency (GroupM), and across Media, Brand Marketing and Marketing Research, has developed a conviction on how marketing can grow brands.

Vikram Sakhuja is an engineer from IIT Delhi, with an MBA from IIM Calcutta. He joined Procter & Gamble in 1988 where over his 8 years there, he held positions in Marketing Research and Media. He then joined Coca-Cola where over 5 years he went on to manage the brand marketing portfolio. After that Vikram spent a year with the Star TV Network (Newscorp) setting up their marketing department as the Executive VP Marketing for India. From 2002 onwards he has been with GroupM. He started there as the Managing Director of MindShare Fulcrum, went on to become the Managing Director of MindShare South Asia; and then was the CEO of GroupM South Asia for 6 years. From there, he took on global role of WW CEO for Maxus for two years, following which he was GroupM’s Global Strategic Development Officer, with a remit of driving data and technology deeper into the Media practice. He has recently partnered with Sam Balsara to be the Group CEO of Madison Media and OOH.

His career highlights include setting up India’s first Media AOR, starting India’s first afternoon soap opera (and daily strip), being involved in most launches during P&G’s and Coca-Cola’s start-up phase in India, pioneering a series of researches in India including BASES, Conversion Model, a Purchase Retail Audit and Consumption Panel; and being part of the leadership team that started Mindshare and GroupM in India/ South Asia. He is proud to have led the team that has shaped GroupM into becoming India’s largest, most integrated and most awarded one-stop shop for marketing Investment. He also sees himself as a growth junkie, and has had a strong P&L delivery record at local and global levels.

Vikram has sat on several industry body boards/ committees including ASCI, ABC, RSCI, BARC, AAAI committees with ISA, INS and IBF, and chairs FICCI’s Marketing committees. He has consistently been voted the 2nd most influential person in Indian Media by the Economic Times.

Vikram’s family includes his wife Simmi, a professional fitness trainer, writer and radio personality and his two daughters Tara and Diya.

Kunal Lalani

MD, Crayons Advertising Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. Kunal Lalani had his whole life set when he completed his graduation. It was expected that he would soon start assisting his father Mr. T.M.Lalani, in his business venture: Indication Instruments Ltd. But this young guy had a different dream. While correcting print ads for his father's company he realized that he had a strong desire to communicate exceptionally well. This wish to communicate and a voracious hunger to do that well laid the foundation of an agency named “Crayons" in the year 1986. The dedication and meticulous expertise has helped this agency in becoming the largest Independent communications Network in India, today.

Crayons Advertising provides 360 degree marketing communication solutions to their clients. Crayons have an all India presence with offices at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Trivandrum, Chandigarh and Jaipur. Besides that they have their international headquarter in Dubai under the name of Crayons Global FZLLC.

Crayons Advertising is a part of the Group Mega which is a diversified conglomerate headquartered in New Delhi, which besides advertising has made successful forays into Premium Mobility Services, Hospitality, Aviation, Banking, Auto & Marine Components, PVC Profiles and Luxury Automobiles. This group with Mr.T.M.Lalani as its chairman was started in the year 1976, with the setting up of Indication Instruments ltd. (Veethree Auto Components). Over the years, this group has achieved several milestones including acquisition of Mega Corporation which led to the launch of Mega Cabs Radio Taxi services in New Delhi. In the year 2005 Crayons went International. Two years later Kuki - the Lounge Bar was opened. The year 2008 was marked by the first flight of Air Mega and a year later Veethree India acquired a US Company, and this year aIso saw Rajasthan Urban Co-op Bank coming under the fold of Group Mega. 2009 was also the year when Mega Cabs became India's largest Radio Taxi network with services in the maximum locations in India. Then in the year 2014 he forayed into the hotel industry and opened a luxury heritage hotel, the Fort Tiracol Heritage Hotel in North Goa in June 2015. The quaint and beautiful hotel provides breathtaking views and a memorable stay. The group is now striving to add many more milestones and deliver excellence in whatever they do with a commitment to the path of leadership.

People know Kunal as someone having great intensity and energy. He has a natural flair for connecting with people. He is bold and willing to experiment with innovative ideas and solutions. His strength is a great combination of divergent and convergent thinking. He has a tireless passion for ideas and continually plays a pivotal role in the Agency's successful relationships with its varied clients.

Over the years, he has acquired a nuanced understanding of insights in markets across India and the middle-east region. His entrepreneurial instinct and strategic insights have been crucial factors in helping him successfully indentify new business opportunities, making prudent investments and sound future judgments.

Kunal never shied away from trying something new and it is his risk taking ability that has led him on the path of success. He was the first to start a Luxury Radio-Taxi service in India, Calling it Mega Cabs . Today, Mega cabs operates out of 8 cities across India and the company plans to induct 2000 more cabs within the next 2 years. This lounge is popular for its ambience which creates a dreamy atmosphere with an amazing combination of Asian and western cultures. Mr. Lalani is the founding member & Patron of AAG (Advertising Agencies Guild), Executive Committee Member of AAAI (Advertising Agencies Association India), President of DAC (Delhi Advertising Club), Vice President of JITO (Jain International Trade Organisation), Delhi Chapter and President of AORT (Association of Radio Taxis).

With so many successful ventures under his belt, Mr. Lalani has proved that he has not only the ability to dream big but also the capability to achieve these dreams. An inspiring personality for the youth of today he has shown that one cannot go wrong if we follow our heart and work towards the goal with determination and sincerity.

C V L Srinivas

CEO
Country Manager, WPP India

CVL Srinivas, popularly known as Srini, is Country Manager for WPP India. In his current role, he is helping WPP drive its transformation agenda in market working closely with the various operating companies of the group, clients and partners.

In his previous role, Srini was CEO of GroupM South Asia. Under his leadership, GroupM grew to become the top media investment conglomerate in the region. A media industry veteran of over 20 years, Srini spent most of his career with GroupM/WPP where he was part of the startup team at ’HTA Fulcrum’ in 1995 when Hindustan Unilever awarded the media AOR to HTA. Srini later led the set-up of ‘Maxus’ in India and helped it to grow quickly into one of the leading agency brands in the country. He was made the Asia-Pacific CEO of Maxus in 2006. Srini has also worked in Madison Media and Starcom.

He is a frequent speaker on media, digital and business transformation in various forums.

Dr Bhaskar Das

Group CEO, ZEE Media Corporation Limited

As the Group CEO, Bhaskar is responsible for augmenting the salience of each brand by way of enhanced credibility, relevance & increased consumer traction and also for exploring inter-group synergistic opportunities thereby propelling the group into a high growth trajectory.

In his previous role, he was the President of Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd, where he exited after serving the company for 32½ years. He gained a holistic management exposure inclusive of line function, responsibility of Profit Center as well as Brand management. The last 7 years of this stint, he drove the company's "Response" division through path-breaking innovations and cogitation, translating short & long term business strategy into implementation road maps resulting in improved Value / Volume market share for the Group. Under his leadership, the Group, apart from developing unique and rare combinations of expansive media knowledge with cross functional business competencies, across sectors, also reached the pinnacle of revenue growth.

Bhaskar has also been awarded the ‘Marketing Professional of the Year' at the India Brand Summit 2006, the ‘Outstanding Marketing Professional of the Year' at the Indira Marketing Awards 2007, the ‘Brand Super Achiever of the Year' at the World Brand Congress 2009, the ‘Master Brand Builder of the Year' at the World Brand Congress 2010, the ‘Greatest Brand Builder of India' at the CMO Asia 2010-11, the ‘Most Respected Youth Icon' at Awards for Retail Excellence 2011 by the Asia Retail Congress and the ‘Brand Builder of the Year' at the Global Leadership Awards 2012.

Bhaskar is also a recognized tutor certified by Result Coaching Systems and a prolific speaker, with 750+ hours over the last 29 years, at various industry forums and at reputed business schools like Harvard Business School, The Wharton School, MIT, IIM, IIAS (Shimla), MICA (Ahmedabad), ISB amongst others. He is a member of Academic Council of Mudra Institute of Communications Ahmedabad (MICA) and K J Somaiya Institute of Management Studies & Research. He is on The Managing Committee of the India Chapter of IAA and The Indian Advisory Board of FranklinCovey – India & South Asia. He holds a Ph.D. in Marketing Management from Pune University, an MBA in Marketing from Calcutta University and MA in International Relations from Jadavpur University. He is currently pursuing his second Ph.D.

On a personal front, Bhaskar lives with his artist wife – Shomshuklla and their 26 year old son Uditvanu in Mumbai.

Manish Advani

Head Marketing & Public Relations, Mahindra Special Services Group

A Gold Medalist from New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), USA, Manish Advani holds a management degree with Suma Cum Laude with an illustrious career spanned across consulting in Brand risk management, Marketing & Public Relations. His first career engagement was an award winning engagement with the New Jersey Department of Transportation (USDOT) involving developing a decision support system for the State of New Jersey, USA.

Since 2008 Mr. Advani has been with Mahindra Special Services Group (MSSG) currently heading Marketing and Public Relations for group providing strategic risk management support to over 250 fortune companies across South Asia and Middle East. Prior to MSSG Manish has worked on client engagements of Microsoft Canada, Jaguar & Land Rover, Kraft Foods, Softscape America etc.

Mr. Advani is on the board of International Advertising Association - India Chapter, K J Somaiya College, Western Region CSR and Sustainability Committee of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Mr. Advani has also completed one year management Program organized by Harvard Business School for Mahindra Group Employees. Mr. Advani has represented Mahindra SSG in several national and international forums. In addition to the above, Mr. Advani is also an award winning song writer, his first song Smiles at Every Mile has won him awards at several leading film festivals.

Salil Kapoor

Chief Operating Officer, UPBG, Voltas Ltd.

Mr. Salil Kapoor is an accomplished executive with broad based experience of over two decades. During this period he has held leadership roles at several leading companies across various industries.

Currently the Managing Director of HOOQ Digital (India) Pvt. Ltd. India, ( A joint venture between Singtel, Warner Brothers and Sony Pictures), he is leading the launch phase of this new venture in OTT ( online Video on demand) space and is responsible for pushing the company's goals of getting India HOOQ'd by revolutionizing video-on-demand service landscape in India.

In his earlier role as COO of Dish TV (India's leading Satellite paytv company), he was instrumental in leading the growth drive resulting in one of the largest pay television subscriber base. He has also held leadership and key assignments at LG, Samsung, Microsoft etc. As business head at LG, he led the growth initiative to establish market leadership by almost doubling the market share of AC business. As the head of Marketing at LG, he launched several disruptive brand campaigns and international sports sponsorships. As Sales head and Product group head at Samsung, he led the growth leading to market leadership in some key product segments.

He has been featured twice amongst the top 50 marketing professionals of India by Pitch magazine (year 2010 and 2005 ), he has also been a part of Jury for several leading industry awards.

His other interests include mentoring start-ups. He is also passionate about Movies and Running. Salil has over the years been an active speaker at key industry forums and leading institutions.

Umang Bedi

Co-Founder, Dailyhunt

Umang Bedi is the co-founder of Dailyhunt. Representing a host of multinational companies and marquee digital businesses in his career spanning two-decades, he brings with him leadership experience in product development, consulting, sales, marketing and partnerships.

Known for championing collaborative cross-functional management and business growth, he passionately leads strategic thinking and operational business delivery every day at Dailyhunt. He directly oversees Dailyhunt’s users, product, engagement and revenue growth strategy across the entire family of applications.

Prior to Dailyhunt, Umang was the Managing Director at Facebook India and South Asia, where he was instrumental in establishing India as the largest market in the world for Facebook and driving exponential revenue growth for the company.

Before Facebook, Umang served as Managing Director at Adobe for the South Asia Region where he spearheaded growth for the business in India, making it one of Adobe’s leading markets in the APAC and global regions. At Intuit Inc., Umang served as the Managing Director of India and emerging markets, where he led the company’s business and execution of the region’s strategic plans.

Early his career, Umang served as the Business Head of the Banking and Financial Services segment at Symantec India. In his role, he helped grow the BSFI business exponentially, year on year by leveraging strategic enterprise level agreements with key financial institutions.

Umang is an alumnus of Harvard Business School and an engineering graduate from the University of Pune. He is the recipient of the ’40 Under 40 : India’s Hottest Business Leaders Award’ given by The Economic Times and Spencer Stuart in 2014, ‘GQ’s 50 Most Influential Young Indians’ for 2016 &2017, the prestigious ‘Fortune India 40 under 40’ in 2017 and Impact ‘ Media Influencer of the Year’ in 2018. In 2018, Umang was also selected as a ‘Fellow’ from a diverse group of highly accomplished leaders by the prestigious Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN), joining the ranks of over 2400 Fellows from 60 countries who belong to this coveted network. Umang serves on the boards of several start-ups and large organizations.

Based in Bengaluru, Umang is active on social media and can always be found on Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook.

Tarun Rai

Chief Executive Officer, J. Walter Thompson, South Asia

Tarun returned to J. Walter Thompson as Chief Executive Officer, South Asia in March 2015. He spent seven years before this in media, heading a BBC Worldwide – Times of India JV, Worldwide Media.

Under Rai's leadership Worldwide Media grew exponentially from just four magazines in 2008 to 15 consumer and six B2B magazines by 2014. Worldwide Media created a host of IPs and along with the Filmfare Awards – the Oscars of Indian cinema - it owns over twenty on-ground and on-line properties. Building and monetizing digital assets has been a priority for Rai and his 'Digital First' focus ensured powerful websites, strong social media presence and development of stand-alone apps for Worldwide Media. He was deeply involved with industry issues and was the President of the Indian Magazine Association.

As the CEO of J. Walter Thompson Company, South Asia his responsibilities include, JWT, Contract, ADK Fortune, Hungama Digital, Mirum, Geometry Global-Encompass, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

Rai's career with J. Walter Thompson spans two decades, he has worked across many offices and has a very successful record of developing excellent client relationships and building strong, motivated teams to deliver aggressive business targets. In the year since his return there has been a complete turnaround at JWT. The focus has been on talent, revenue growth and enhancing JWT's creative reputation.

As a leader, he believes his job is to create an environment that is empowering and collaborative. He expects people to be focussed on a clearly articulated, common agenda. He believes individuals are important but, ultimately it is, great teams that win.

Rai is an Advertising and Media professional with over 25 years' experience. He holds a business degree and is an alumnus of the London School of Economics.

His passions include squash, golf and Indian contemporary art.

Anupriya Acharya

Chief Executive Officer, Publicis Media India

Anupriya Acharya, CEO, Publicis Media India is an eminent media professional with 20+ years of experience in media agencies across India and Singapore. Prior to this, she has also held positions of President – The Media Edge, India, Leader-Team Unilever, South Asia at Mindshare, CEO-Aegis Media, Singapore, and Group CEO of ZenithOptimedia, India.

Anupriya is also the Jury member on key media industry awards in India and APAC, and speaks frequently at key industry events. She has featured in Brand Equity's list of top 10 Media professionals in Indian Media, in 2014 and is Impact's list of '50 most influential women' in 2014-2016. She is also an Independent Director on the Board of DB Corp Ltd.

A Post Graduate in Chemistry from IIT - Roorkee, married and mother to a 18 year old son, her interests are adventure trips, photography and interior designing.

NANDINI DIAS

Independent Advisor

Nandini Dias was the Chief Executive Officer of Lodestar UM and she leads one of most talented and capable teams in the country. She is also part of the global FCB Media board.

Nandini has the distinction of having launched over 400 brands in media and has managed media investments for over 175 clients like Samsung, Johnson and Johnson, Cadburys, Tata, Mahindra, Birla, Amul. She has set up various skilled practices like Brand Experiences, Content, Celebrity management etc. In addition, she has been part of the team identified to set up the creative agency FCB Interface Communications. Known for her strategic acumen she has developed several research based tools for better media investments.

Nandini has probably won the maximum number of media awards in the country. She has lead Lodestar UM to the Media Agency of the Year title several times in the biggest Indian award shows like Goafest and AAAI. She has won the Media Planner of the Year award in her early years, and has been recognized at Cannes and Spikes on more than one occasion, recognized and awarded by World Women Leadership Congress. This year, 2016, she was awarded Agency CEO of the Year by Media Ace Awards.

She is a long serving jury member at the Emvies, Effies, Goafest, Cannes, Spikes, Festival of media, Press Club of India, and many more.

Nandini also ranks consistently among the "Most influential media people", "Woman Achievers" in all the prestigious industry rankings. In the last Economic Times Brand Equity Survey, she was the highest ranked woman in Advertising & Media in the country. Her position among the industry's top women leaders had seen her being invited as a speaker on several industry platforms and in business schools in India and overseas.

Besides being passionate about the media business Nandini is passionate about sports. She has won a number of awards in the sport of badminton. A mother of two sons Nandini is a strong advocate of work-life balance.

Anant Goenka

Executive Director, The Indian Express (P) Ltd

Anant Goenka is the Executive Director of The Indian Express (P) Ltd

He was awarded a Dean’s scholarship for his Master’s in print journalism from the Annenberg School for Journalism at the University of Southern California.

In a news environment flooded by either advocacy or clickbait, Anant has steered the expansion of the Express’s brands in tune with the group’s enduring values of accuracy and courage.

Today, not only is The Indian Express Group one of India's most-read and respected newspaper groups, but it is also India’s 2nd largest and amongst the world’s largest digital news media groups reaching well over 148 million unique users a month, in six languages across the world. It builds on an 85-year history of shaping both public discourse and national policy with its globally recognized investigative journalism.

Forbes magazine says Anant exudes the energy that he promises to infuse into the venerable Express; Economic Times and Forbes recognize him as India’s 40 under-40 business leaders, News24 and GQ have also recognised him as one of India’s 50 most influential young Indians.

M K Anand

Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer
TIMES NETWORK

M K Anand is the Managing Director and CEO of TIMES NETWORK - leaders in English News and Hollywood Broadcasting with India’s leading TV channels - TIMES NOW, ET NOW, MIRROR NOW, MOVIES NOW, MNX, MN+, Zoom and ROMEDY NOW. With nearly 3 decades of experience in the M&E space, MK is one of the most respected CEOs in the media industry. Over the years, he has worked across all formats - Print, Broadcast and Digital and has deep domain knowledge in all areas Content, Brand, Monetisation and Organisation.

MK is a Times Group stalwart and has a combined experience with the group of over two decades. He first spent 15 years with the print business and now over 8 years with their TV business at Times Network. On the print side, Anand built the Times Classifieds products in the '90s and later was instrumental in devising the Maximiser which became the centrepiece of Times Group's Ad Pricing strategy from 2002 for over a decade.

He joined UTV Global Broadcasting in 2009 as CEO and turned around their TV business. Following the Disney buyout of UTV he became the Managing Director of the merged entity - Disney UTV Media Networks in February 2012. The Network saw huge growth under Anand’s leadership.

Anand took charge as MD & CEO, TIMES NETWORK in February 2014 and since then the Network has seen spectacular growth in all areas. TIMES NOW has been market leader for over a decade and continues to rule in spite of the loss of its star anchor. ET NOW, MOVIES NOW and Romedy NOW have risen up the charts in the last 3 years and are leading channels in their respective genres making TIMES NETWORK a unique collection of market leaders focused on the top of the Indian audience pyramid. With MIRROR NOW and MNX, the network now boasts of double barrel action in English News and Hollywood entertainment.

All in all, MK has had a stellar professional career with some successful brands to show off as glittering jewels in his crown.

Tarun Katial

Investor and Founder
in Media Tech and Edu Tech

Tarun Katial is widely considered one of the most successful executives in the Indian media industry. He has a robust body of experience across media platforms. A Kellogg's alumnus, the former CEO of ZEE5, enjoys combining technology and consumer insights to come up with better products for the media industry. He comes with over 2 decades of leadership experience in the Indian media industry, having successfully worked across genres and media including reality programming, soaps, and comedy on Television to retro programming on the radio to spearheading the evolution of on-demand video content in India through a leading OTT platform.

Tarun began his career with advertising agencies like Saatchi & Saatchi, Enterprise Nexus, Lowe, and Ogilvy & Mather. Later, he moved to Star Network and rose to become the Head of Content and Communications across the network in India before moving to Sony Entertainment Television as Business Head. From there he moved to Big FM, where he was the Founder COO-CEO, and during this tenure, he also set up Thwink BIG– the content incubator, and the BIG TV channels - Magic and Ganga. Tarun then moved on to Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd., where he was responsible for steering ZEE5, India's largest and most comprehensive digital entertainment platform for language content, towards gaining a leadership position in the cluttered OTT market in India. Tarun now works closely with Founders of media and edu-tech companies, while also investing and incubating some of them himself.

Tarun's acumen has been recognized on multiple Indian and international platforms. He has been voted as NewsCorp Achiever for Asia and included among the best in the 'India Today 30 on 30' list. He was also part of the team that won the first Media Gold at Cannes. Instrumental in revolutionizing the media and entertainment landscape in India, Tarun is now a TEDx speaker, and part of industry forums including Jury chair for the Ad Club Abby and DMAI, a committee member with FICCI and CII, Ex-Com at IAAA, and Vice President at Association of Radio Operators for India (AROI).

Sunil Kataria

Business Head - India and SAARC, Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL).

A graduate in Economics from Delhi University, Sunil is also an MBA in Marketing from the Institute of Management Technology (IMT) Ghaziabad.

Sunil joined GCPL in 2011 to oversee the sales and marketing organisation for the India and SAARC businesses. He has successfully led the merger of the sales and marketing organisations of GCPL and the erstwhile Godrej Sara Lee, combining the best of both companies and leveraging their complementary strengths to create a future ready platform to accelerate GCPL's growth and profit trajectory. Under his leadership, the GCPL sales and marketing organisation has become more world class with sharpened and enhanced capabilities.

Sunil has diverse work experience across the FMCG and Consumer services sectors in Sales, Marketing and business roles. He had a long and highly successful stint of 12 years at Marico Industries. Post this, Sunil has also served as business head in two challenging service sectors: retail and telecom, leading large and complex business operations. Prior to joining the Godrej Group, Sunil was Chief Operating Officer at Idea Rajasthan Circle, where he headed business operations and was responsible for the P&L of the Rajasthan Circle. He also led a major turnaround of the Idea Rajasthan business, overcoming serious business constraints and a challenging period of price wars in the telecom industry to emerge as the largest gainer in revenue as well as subscriber shares.

Sunil is currently serving as the chairman of the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA). He has built very strong relationships and equity with marketing bodies such as the CMO forum, FICCI FMCG committee and ASCI. He has also been recognised at a national level by being nominated for the "Marketer of the Year" 2014 award by the International Advertising Association (IAA) of India. Sunil has also been shortlisted as one of the "Top 10 influential CMOs of India – 2015" at the Indian Marketing Awards anchored by the exchange4media group.

Sunil is a staunch believer and practitioner of the spirit of 'Possibility Thinking' and feels that this, coupled with a passion for flawless execution, is the biggest competitive advantage in today's world. An avid reader of books across genres, he also writes Hindi poetry in his spare time. He is a movie buff, who loves watching Hindi movies and Hollywood science fiction.

Avinash Pandey

Group Chief Operating Officer and Chief Revenue Officer

Avinash Pandey is the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Revenue Officer of ABP News Network Pvt. Ltd. He has rich experience in Media Sales spanning more than 16 years. He started his career with Indian Express Group and moved on to TV Today group in 2000. He joined ANN in 2005. Avinash is a Post Graduate in modern history from Delhi University.

Girish Agarwaal

Promoter Director of D B Corp Ltd. (Dainik Bhaskar Group) and Managing Director of Diliigent Power Limited.

Mr. Agarwaal is a member of DBCL’s Board of Directors. In his strategic role Mr. Agarwaal leads the company’s pan-India expansion endeavors, bringing to the fore DBCL’s position as India’s largest print media company amongst national dailies and also highly regarded in its mission as enablers of socio-economic change.

Mr. Agarwaal was awarded the Entrepreneur of the Year (ICE Category) by Ernst & Young in 2006. He was the recipient for the “Outstanding Entrepreneur” for AEPA (Asia Pacific Entrepreneur awards).

Jaideep R. Gandhi

Founder
Another Idea

With over 3 decades of expertise, Mr. Jaideep Gandhi has covered business interests in advertising and marketing in the field of Real Estate.

His proficiency has entitled him to serve as the Honorary Treasurer of the India Chapter of International Advertising Association (IAA) for over a decade.

Mr. Gandhi is the Honorary Secretary of Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI). And also, the Joint Chairman and Chairman- Knowledge Seminars @Goafest.

He is Honorary Advisor and a jury member with Realty Plus, India’s only national Realty magazine.

He was also associated with DNA-the print medium of Zee Group as a consulting Editor for the Real Estate vertical.

He is actively involved as a Quality Assurance Supervisor at K.C. College, Mumbai.

Mr. Gandhi’s knack for real estate pulls him to undertake a lot of knowledge seminars and workshops with regards to Strategy, Advertising, Branding, Media, Sales and Marketing. His achievements and philosophies surely make us believe when he says “Always thrive to create better products and not just better advertising”

Sunita Bangard

President Marketing
Idea Cellular

An adventurous and fun loving person, I enjoy traveling, music and movies. I am  an extremely ambitious and strong willed  individual, who believes in being a critique of one’s work  at all times. With  high levels of energy and a ‘never say never die ‘attitude to work , I  always look at innovative ways to solve the problem than get sucked in by them .Quite passionate about my work , my philosophy is to  ask ‘why not’ instead of ‘why’ to come up with newer ideas or ways of working to improve results. A people’s person by nature, I think I demonstrate great enthusiasm in every activity that I take on and have tried in my own way to live the change I would like to see around me.

Have had an enriching and exciting marketing experience of almost 25 years that has been quite diverse across A list brands and organisations namely Colgate Palmolive, L’Oreal, Unilever, Godrej, Lintas Advertising. Currently at Idea for over 6 years as President Marketing .Worked in various capacities both strategic and  operational ,looked after not only brand equity but also P&L responsibilities with clear objectives of managing the financial health of my brands. Worked with large orgnizations, but  also had the experience of a start up with  L’Oreal, Was country Marketing Head at L’Oreal India and  Regional Marketing Manager –Sunsilk at Unilever for South and Southeast Asia.

Have worked on  several strategic  initiatives in my career – Got L’Oreal on the personal care map in India  where up until then Unilever dominated the market with a share of over 60%  in every category they operated. Launching all the 3 brands of L’Oreal – L’Oreal Paris, Garnier and Maybelline New York with distinctive identities, Global relaunch of Sunsilk at Unilever, Portfolio Strategy at Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (Hair Color category), initiated work on rebranding and repositioning of Godrej Powder Hair dye . In 2011 shifted gears and moved  to a completely different and dynamic Industry – Telecom. Have shaped the brand strategy at Idea keeping Industry trends and consumer insights at the core. Applied principles and practices of FMCG marketing to develop processes at Idea for a systematic approach to brand communication resulting in many award winning campaigns in my tenure for both creativity and marketing effectiveness.

Rajesh Kejriwal

CEO
Kyoorius Communications Pvt. Ltd.

Rajesh is an engineer by education, an entrepreneur by profession and design evangelist by passion.

A mechanical engineer from Bangalore University, Rajesh started his career in 1999 with a tea production company in Bangalore and since then, has diversified into paper, plantations, live events and brand consultancy.

Since 2004, Rajesh’s diversified group came under the banner of Kyoorius Group and he now heads a group of niche businesses with over 17 offices across the globe. In 2005, Rajesh started a platform to fuel a design movement in India. Kyoorius Designyatra, hosted and curated by Rajesh, is now India’s largest design conference and has been rated as the best curated annual conference in the world since 2013. Kyoorius, then, launched the Kyoorius Awards, which has since become the most credible awards for the advertising, digital, media, and design community in India.

Rajesh now hosts and curates another initiative called MELT - a conference at the unique convergence of marketing, media, advertising, digital with a unique focus on technology. In its fifth year, MELT is a unique format with parallel tracks, expos, seminars, workshops, and networking. MELT has also expanded into a magazine and portal, launched in 2017 which explores the business side of advertising and marketing.

Rajesh has worked actively with the Netherlands government to help build Indo- Dutch design collaborations. He has also frequently worked with The British Council and the Design Council of UK, in similar endeavours. Rajesh is the Founder CEO of Kyoorius Group and a global director at Saffron, a brand consultancy founded by Wally Olins and Jacob Benbunan. He is a global partner at Addikt, a design boutique dedicated to motion and digital design, specializing in storytelling and consumer engagement in this age of connectivity. Rajesh has been on the managing committee of industry forums, speaker panels and jury sessions at various festivals and awards.

Rajesh works tirelessly to represent India on the international stage and to build strong and enduring country relationships in the domain of design and creativity.

Avinash Pandey

Ex-Chief Executive Officer, ABP Network.

Avinash has been with the group since 2005 and is the CEO of ABP Network since January 2019. Before that he was the Chief Operating Officer of the Group for over 7 years. He steered the transformation of the channel from Star News to ABP News in 2012, along with the rebranding and repositioning in 2020. He has also been at the forefront of promoting Indian regional languages especially on Digital mediums.

Avinash has over 26 years of experience in Media sector. His illustrious professional career includes stint with Indian Express Group and TV Today Group.

He is on the Board of the News Broadcasters Association of India, ABP Creations Pvt. Ltd. and Indian Chapter of International Advertising Association. A true industry specialist, he is a core member of Digital News Publishers Association and a former Director of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation. He is on the Advisory Board of Mobile Marketing Association of India and Amity International Business School. He has been a member of several committees, including Media & Entertainment Committee of FICCI, Panel Advisory Committee of the Bureau of Outreach & Communication for release of Government Advertisements and the Committee of Experts appointed by the I&B Ministry on ethical standards in media coverage.

Avinash is the proud recipient of several prestigious awards and felicitations including The News Television CEO of the Year – 2019 Award and Business Leader of the Year – 2018 Award. He has judged numerous awards in advertising, marketing & communication, including TV awards at the Goa Fest as Jury Chair.

An alumnus of Harvard Business School, he also holds a degree in History and a postgraduate degree in Modern Indian History from Delhi University. A voracious reader, Avinash is interested in contemporary history as well.

To know more about Avinash, log in to www.avinashpandey.in

Rajiv Kental

President Marketing, Amar Ujala Publications Ltd.

Rajiv Kental has a career span of over 34 years in sales & marketing, almost equally split in print media& consumer durables industry.

Currently he is working with Amar Ujala Limited as President Marketing since January 2007,heading space marketing for all 20-publication editions while based at Noida. He had started his career in print media industry with DainikBhaskar as General Manager for Rajasthan & served them for approx. 4 years.

He had started his career with Consumer Durables Industry starting with USHA, moved on to ATLAS, BPL, LG & Videocon, representing at regional & national level positions, apart from sales & marketing his key strengths are in product management.

He is a commerce graduate with DBA, MDP: in MARKSTRAT from MICA, EEP: on Digital Marketing from IIM – B, CMO Boot Camp: on Digital by Google

Some of his other professional engagements have been with INMA, IAA, CCC panel of ASCI, CMO forum of IMA, CEO forum of IMA &PRSI

He is representing Amar Ujala in industry bodies at ABC, INS & MRUC in official capacity

Keeping in line the basic philosophy of his organization at Amar Ujala he had submitted client development case study at INMA in France

He been Invited as Guest Speaker: by PRSI, New Delhi Institute of Management, Chandigarh University, Lovely Professional University &Amity University

He is a pet lover, enjoys nature to extreme &a fitness enthusiast, represented his college in Intra University Tournaments in Gymnastics, practiced martial arts & yoga.

Rani Reddy

Director, Indira Television Ltd.

Rani Reddy is a senior Marketing professional with more than 25 years of experience in the areas of Advertising, Marketing and Media. Having started her career with BPL Ltd at Bangalore, Rani headed the appliances marketing department at BPL's central marketing organization in Bangalore.

In 2001 Rani Reddy moved to work at O&M’s Mumbai office. At O&M Rani had the opportunity to work on a host of brands in several categories. In 2006 Rani returned to Hyderabad to head O&M's Hyderabad office. In 2008 she joined the Sakshi Media Group as a whole Time Director and currently is a Director Corporate Affairs overseeing the functions related to HR, Corporate Communications and IT. A mother of two boys her interests include community service, reading, cooking, travelling, singing and meeting people.

Monica Nayyar Patnaik

Managing Director, Sambad Group

Monica Nayyar Patnaik, is a management professional with a rich experience of 27 years.

She is the Managing Director of Sambad Group - Odisha’s No.1 media house. Its flagship brand in print is “Sambad”, Odisha’s most widely read and largest circulated No.1 Odia daily. Others are FM radio “Radio Choklate 104 FM- Odisha’s apna No.1”, TV- 24x7 Odia news channel “Kanak News”, Entertainment- Eastern Opera, Digital- sambad.in, sambadgroup.in and CSR- Ama Odisha.

She is the Past Chairperson of FICCI - Odisha State Council.

She is the Governing Body Member of AROI (Association of Radio Operators of India)

She is the Managing Committee Member of International Advertising Association (IAA) India Chapter.

A student of Delhi Public School (R K Puram), she was a three-time topper of the prestigious Hindu College. While pursuing post graduation in Molecular Biology from Delhi University, she also held fellowships from the renowned Indian Institute of Science (Bangalore) and did business management in international and domestic marketing from Delhi. Furthermore, she has completed a leadership course from University of Oxford, as well. She is also pursuing her PhD from KIIT School of Management.

She is also a national governing body member of FICCI- Media & Entertainment Skills Council.

Monica regularly participates as chief speaker, panellist, presenter in the national fora for media and entertainment and has been a soft skills trainer for IT giants such as IBM, Infosys, etc.

Prasanth Kumar

CEO-South Asia, GroupM Media India Pvt Ltd

Prasanth Kumar is the Chief Executive Officer – GroupM South Asia. Most recently as GroupM’s COO South Asia, he was responsible for driving operational excellence, while leading teams across OpCos, Trading, and Specialised Units to drive client delight while fortifying partnerships. Under his leadership, as CEO of Mindshare India, the agency developed a record for the most number of new business wins by a single market and created a tradition of external accolades, including a Glass Lion at Cannes, a Grand Prix at WARC and an average of over 250+ external awards per year. Mindshare India was also recognized globally as number 2 in the Gunn report. Prior to Mindshare, he led the GroupM Central Trading Group across South Asia and championed exciting partnerships in digital and traditional media. He has held several roles across Mindshare and GroupM over the years. He joined Maxus Bangalore in 2004 and now has spent more than 15 years with GroupM. PK, as he is known amongst friends, is an MBA graduate from Madras University. He is also the first Indian to win the APAC MediaPlanner/Buyer of the Year title.

Nina Elavia Jaipuria

Ex Head – Hindi Mass Entertainment & Kids TV Network, Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd.

A turnaround expert and a driven leader - Nina Elavia Jaipuria has played a decisive role in scripting the future growth story of the kids category in India with NICKELODEON and driving the leadership agenda of the Hindi Mass Entertainment broadcast category with the COLORS franchise.

In an illustrious career spanning close to 3 decades across FMCG, telecom, broadcast and advertising, Nina has spearheaded numerous landmark product launches, campaigns, and strategic business innovations and initiatives. After completing her MBA from Sydenham Institute of Management, Nina started her journey in advertising with the memorable launch of Surf Excel at Lintas. She moved on to Colgate to look after their Cibaca toothbrush portfolio followed by her shift to BPL Cellular to work on its customer acquisition strategy. She started her stint in the broadcast industry with Sony Entertainment Television where she launched iconic brand campaigns for industry leading shows such as JassiJaisi Koi Nahi, Indian Idol and the current social phenomena - Bigg Boss.

Since taking on the leadership mantle of the kids cluster at Viacom18, Nina has built an inspired and talented team that has fuelled Nickelodeon’s sustained category leadership that has stood the test of time. It continues to remain an undisputed No 1 in ratings and engagement, achieved through taking calculated risks, pioneering game changing initiatives and introducing successful local IPs such as Motu Patlu, Rudra, Shiva and many more.

It is the success of Nina’s vision for the kids’ cluster and her strong understanding of the consumer and the broadcast industry that led to her repeating the turnaround story with the network’s flagship Brand and Business - The Hindi Mass entertainment cluster (COLORS, Rishtey and Cineplex). Under her aegis COLORS has emerged as a leading Hindi Mass entertainment brand on the back of its innovation, engagement, and an inclusive content strategy with blockbuster shows such as Bigg Boss, ChotiSardaarni, Barrister Babu among others.

A remarkable people’s person, Nina leads an inspired team at Nickelodeon and Colors and is reckoned for her ability to attract, grow, and nurture talent. Nina has also been voted as one of IMPACT’s “50 Most Influential Women in Indian Media, Marketing & Advertising” for 9 years. Nina chairs the Internal “POSH” committee at Viacom18 and has also been a part of the reputed and prestigious “FICCI Women on Corporate Board” program. She is also a committed

Philanthropist and is an active member of the Social Venture Partners (SVP) and supports many charities in her individual capacity. Married with one daughter, Nina also loves to travel and soak in world cultures.

Alok Jalan

Managing Director, Laqshya Media Group

After two decades of leadership in the Media & Advertising industry, Alok Jalan, Managing Director, Laqshya Media Group, is acknowledged as one of the people who revolutionisedthe Out of Home eco-system. Alok continues to spearhead the OOH industry by setting up strong practices and initiating some method to the madness. A Governor of the Indian Outdoor Advertising Association (IOAA), Alok is respectedfor his extensive domain knowledge, data-driven approach, and business acumen in the fraternity. On behalf of the OOH industry, Alok has steered regulatorydialogue with the government for a more symbiotic relationship; championed the acceptance of transparency in business, structured the roll-out of digitisation of OOH and evangelised Smart Cities in the fraternity – thereby bringing his industry tothe springboard from which it will claim its rightful place as one of the primary advertising media in the country. The younger generation of professionals and entrepreneurs in this medium look up to him as an agent of change.

Over the last few years, Alok has sharpened his focus on Technology, Research and Creativity – the traditional weaknesses of OOH. Laqshya Media Group has invested heavily in the development of the ground-breaking tool, SHARP (short for Strategic Hyperlocal AI-aided Reach Planner) to make the OOH medium credibly measurable. His focus on Research and Creativity has resulted in the numerous awards and trophies won by Team Laqshya across the three business verticals of OOH, Digital and Experiential Marketing. And the burgeoning portfolio of clients bear testimony to his attention to business opportunities and, critically, to his attention to building up a team of talented managers.

Alokhas now trained his sight on Global interactions and opportunities. He is currently pursuing the Owner’s/Presidents Management Programme (OPM) from Harvard University, and still manages to make time to actively contribute to various National and International Boards and Bodies in the Advertising eco system.

Right from Laqshya Media’s inception in 1998, ethics and empathy have been Alok’s guiding principles. Alok believes that ‘great leaders do not set out to be leaders; they set out to make a difference’. It’s never about the role for him, it’s always about the goal.And the goal that Alok Jalan has set for Laqshya Media Group is simple: “To be acknowledged as the most technologically-advanced, customer-focussed converged-media brand in India and, indeed,the World”.

Rajeev Beotra

Executive Director, HT Media Ltd

Rajeev Beotra born on 30th Jan 1968, He holds a Master’s Degree, MBA in Marketing from Punjab University, Chandigarh, and has over 30 years of experience across various industries and geographies.

Before joining the Media Industry in 2005, Rajeev worked in FMCG and Durables Industries in leading organisations such as Asian Paints, Coca-Cola, and Whirlpool. In his 15+ years in the Media Industry, Rajeev has worked with Star India and HT Media. His past roles have been as Head of Advertising Revenues in both HT Media, for Print revenues; and in Star India for Television revenues. He was the CEO of HT Media’s Print business before moving into his current role as Executive Director, in charge of revenues, advertising and distribution.

Rahul Johri

Founder & CEO, Citadel Advisory

Mr. Rahul Johri was the President – Business at Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. In this role Rahul is responsible for leading the integrated revenue and monetisation team to drive a more synergised value generation engine.

In his previous stint, Rahul was associated with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as its first CEO, being the driving force in powering the improvement in monetisation of assets including the IPL & the BCCI Media & Sponsorship rights.

Prior to BCCI, Rahul was associated with Discovery Networks Asia Pacific for 15 years where he successfully led the turnaround of the Company, working across all aspects of the value chain.

At Discovery, Rahul successfully launched multiple new networks, improved revenue generation, affiliate partnerships, viewership growth, programming, productions, operations, government relations and managed the Sony Affiliate Joint Venture – The One Alliance.

With a rich experience of over 30 years, Rahul is the recipient of several prestigious awards and accolades.

sunil lulla

Chief Executive Officer, Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India

Sunil Lulla brings over 35 years of significant leadership and domain proven knowledge, with ground-up experience in growing brands and building businesses. Having worked across Media, Brands and Advertising he has served in leadership roles at MTV, SONY, Times Television Network, SaReGaMa, Diageo, Indya.com, GREY group, JWT and Balaji Telefilms. Sunil maintains active interests in serving industry interests to foster the spirit of self-regulation and collaboration. He is an active long-distance runner, enjoys sailing and evocative conversations.

sangeeta pendurkar

Chief Executive Officer, Pantaloons & Jaypore

Sangeeta Pendurkar is the CEO of Pantaloons and Jaypore, at Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited (ABFRL).

Sangeeta has had a successful career of over 30 years spanning across four diverse sectors i.e. FMCG, pharmaceuticals, financial services and retail. Prior to her current role, she was the Managing Director for Kellogg - India and South Asia.

Before joining Kellogg India, she has held senior positions at Coca-Cola India, HSBC Bank, Hindustan Unilever and at Novartis (then Hindustan Ciba-Geigy), where she started her career.

She has been listed as Fortune’s most powerful women in business for six consecutive years from 2012 to 2017. She is one of the top 50 most influential women in media and marketing for 2020. She is also on Business Today’s list of Most Powerful women in Indian Business for 2020. She was also recognized as the “CEO of the Year” at the ET Prime Women Leadership Awards, 2020.

Sangeeta has held various industry positions, during her career. She was the Chairperson of the FICCI - Food Processing Committee, for two consecutive years when she was part of the food industry. She is currently an Independent Director on the board of Vistara Airlines & on the board of Signify Innovations India Limited.

Anbuchezhian K

Ad Club President, Madras

Rahul Sha

CEO - TV & Radio India Today Group

Rahul Shaw is the Chief Executive Officer of the Television and the Radio business of the India Today Group. He has been with TV Today Network Limited for over nine years. He was the Chief Operating Officer (COO) for the Television business before getting re-designated to CEO of the Television and Radio business.

Shaw has experience of over 25 years in the business of advertising industry across Print, Television, Radio & Sports Management. He has worked with Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd, Turner International India Pvt. Ltd., SET India Pvt. Ltd., Star India Pvt. Ltd., NDTV Imagine, INX Media, and Zee Entertainment. He has also managed a Sports and Media company for a brief period before joining TV Today Network Limited.

While his formative years were spent with Bennett Coleman and Co Ltd, specialising in creating advertising solutions in print media, the second stage of his career path saw him traversing across a variety of genres in TV ranging from premium English Movies, English Entertainment, Mass General Entertainment, Hindi Movies, International News, Kids Entertainment, Niche Hindi General Entertainment, Premium English News Channel, Sports Business, Hindi News Channels, and Events.

Salil Kappoor

Business Unit Head - Appliances, Orient Electric Ltd.

Mitrajit Bhattacharya

Founder & President, The Horologists

Co-founder and Partner of influencing platform on luxury for men, The Corner Room Project, Founder of luxury consulting outfit, The Horologists and the former Publisher and President of the Chitralekha Group, Mitrajit has been among the longest serving publishers in Indian media and among the most influential commentators in the world of horology. He has written more than 400 articles in various publications, authored two books titled Life Money Can’t Buy and Grand Hours and hosts a weekly celebrity chat show Bollywood TALKies with Outlook. When not delving into the complex world of mechanical watchmaking, he is enjoying the good life thrown around this fascinating industry and meeting eminent personalities like John Travolta, Buzz Aldrin, Leonardo DiCaprio and Salma Hayek to name a few.

He quit his Day Job- as he calls his publishing responsibility- in 2018, to devote full time to writing columns, brand consulting and influencing.

Not shirking from taking industry initiatives, he has donned the role of President of Association of Indian Magazines- the nodal body of magazines in India and is currently a member of the management committee of The Advertising Club, Mumbai. He has served as jury and jury chair in many advertising and media awards including the Abby Awards and is the current Chairperson of the Effie India Awards.

Nakul Chopra

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, BARC INDIA

Nakul Chopra, who has held many leadership positions, brings with him a rich repertoire of experience in financial, general & process management. He is regarded as a trusted advisor to captains of the industry. As the CEO, Publicis Worldwide, India & South Asia, (2004-17), he established & grew the agency to be amongst the front runners in India. Earlier he was EVP, Trikaya Grey Advertising (1989-95) & has also been the President, Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) from Aug ‘16 – July ‘18.

Mr. Chopra joined the Board of BARC India in 2016 and served as its Chairman from Dec ‘17 to Jan ‘19.  In Jan ‘20, he was appointed a member of its Oversight Committee.

Partha Sinha

President, The Times of India Group

Partha is an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur and IIM Ahmedabad. In his career spanning over 30 years, Partha had been a Nuclear Design Engineer, a Banker, a Strategy and Marketing head of Media and Internet companies and an Advertising Strategist. He has worked with companies like Citibank N.A, Ogilvy & Mather, Zee, Publicis, BBH, & McCann World Group. Now he is the President with Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd – the company that publishes the Times of India, the Economic Times and many other marquee newspapers..

He has won many accolades internationally including the planner and business development person in the Asia Pacific region. He has also won a number of awards in Effies, WARC, Cannes Lion including some grand prix. On the personal front, Partha is a voracious reader, an ardent Arsenal fan and loves listening to Hindustani classical music.

Neena Dasgupta

The Salt Inc Consulting & CEO, Aidem Ventures

Few women exemplify the term ‘boss-lady’ like Neena. A true trailblazer in digital media and advertising, Neena has more than 20 years of experience building organisations that lead change in effective and efficient communications. After a decade with BBC Worldwide, Neena has nurtured Zirca from an inspired vision into a 150-strong, multi-million-dollar enterprise with a consistent winning streak. Neena is one of IMPACT 50’s Most Influential Women in Media (2019).

Kranti Gada

Founder, neOwn

Kranti Gada was Chief Operating Officer, Shemaroo Entertainment Limited, Kranti heads the revenue function of the company and leads the strategic business initiatives. She was also responsible for controlling diverse business operations and overseas functioning of key verticals like digital media, domestic and international business.

Kranti joined Shemaroo in 2006 after a successful stint in marketing at Pepsi Co. Under her leadership, Shemaroo has successfully set up the mobile business in India, became one of the early adopters of YouTube for monetization of its content, embraced and adopted the digital outlook and incubated the company’s expansion into the Direct to Home (DTH) segment.

In her current role, Kranti has been instrumental in launching the new businesses for the company - launch of ShemarooMe (in India and the US), Shemaroo Devices vertical and expansion in various international territories.

A business postgraduate from NMIMS, Mumbai, Kranti has been recognized as a leader in the M&E space. Recently she was awarded BW (Business World) Disrupt 40 under 40 and was also named amongst the most influential women in the Indian Media, Marketing and Advertising space under the '50 Most Influential Women in Indian Media, Marketing & Advertising, 2019'.

Neha Barjatya

Marketing Director for Platforms & Devices,
Google India

Neha Barjatya, an industry veteran and a well known face in the Indian digital ecosystem.

Neha is the Marketing Director for Platforms and Devices at Google India. She is responsible for Google’s marketing efforts in India across Android, Google Play, Google Assistant, Google for Education and Google’s hardware portfolio. Over her tenure at Google, Neha has launched several projects and campaigns focused on driving the growth of the Internet in the country, including Internet Saathi, a digital literacy program which covered 300,000 villages and impacted over 30 million women across India.

Neha strongly believes that technology can play a transformative role in improving the lives of many and is passionate about creating equal access for everyone. She has been a strong advocate for gender equity and the use of technology to bridge gender gaps. She has spoken about these passion areas at various forums including at the Stanford University and has also been showcased by UN Women in their global #SheInnovates campaign.

Before joining Google, Neha has worked across advertising and media industries with organisations such as Lowe Lintas and Viacom18. She completed her graduation from Lady Shriram College in Delhi and followed it with a post graduation in communications from MICA, Ahmedabad. She is a proud mother to two girls (7 yrs. & 12yrs.) who ensure they keep her curiosity alive and push her to think differently.

Kalli Purie

Vice Chairperson , India Today Group

Kalli Purie is the Vice Chairperson of the India Today Group. The India Today Group is India's most respected and diversified media conglomerate that has created an enviable legacy of trust, leadership and admiration since the group's inception over four decades ago. The launch of the India Today magazine in 1975 set the beginning of the group's journey into a multi brand, multi-platform and multi vertical media group, with brands that command undisputed leadership across categories. The Group has today become a barometer for trust, integrity and excellence in journalism across TV, Print, Digital and Social.

A serial entrepreneur at heart, she brings a rich experience in running a wide range of media properties from 4 television channels – Aaj Tak, Aaj Tak HD, India Today Television, Tez, apps, a digital newspaper, championing world class events, to devising a social media strategy for the group. She has also spearheaded the launch of 5 new web portals – TheLallantop.com, DailyO.in, OddNaari.in, Pakwangali.in, iChowk.in. Currently she is totally immersed in nurturing the 24 niche mobile first, digital channels across multiple platforms under the umbrella of Mobile Tak. An ideator and project manager, par excellence, she is the natural choice to head the innovation for the group. In addition, Kalli Purie also oversees the publishing business which publishes the nation's No.1 magazine - India Today, the nation's No.2 Magazine and No.1 Hindi Magazine - India Today Hindi, the No. 1 Business magazine - Business Today, besides Indian editions of leading international titles like Cosmopolitan, Harper's Bazaar and Reader's Digest, all of which command leadership status. She is also the lead for all signature, thought leadership events of the group – The India Today Conclave which has global leaders from around the world including luminaries such as President Bill Clinton, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, President Nicolas Sarkozy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Hamid Karzai, Vice President Al Gore, Sir Tim Berners Lee, James Cameron, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Alvin Toffler; Agenda Aaj Tak, our thought leadership conference in hindi; India Today Safaigiri Summit and Awards, our program focused on the environment, celebrating green initiatives and eco warriors; Sahitya Aaj Tak, a Literature festival celebrating the traditional Indian forms of expression; India Today Mind Rocks, a Youth festival of ideas, career advice, success stories and music.

Her unified leadership in television, digital and events is the cornerstone for the success of synergy in the Group.

A graduate from Oxford University, UK in Politics, Philosophy & Economics she is armed with a clear vision about the future of news, she is leading one of the most-awarded and celebrated team of journalists in a futuristic newsroom that she helped build, apt for the multimedia, multi-device world we live in. The project has created a giant news turbine to harness the forces of an integrated newsroom, exploiting synergies amongst the many media platforms. Also, pursuing the Owner/President Management Program (OPM 54 Batch) from Harvard Business School, Boston, U.S.

Awards:

• Kalli Purie was named in the top five in a list of 50 most powerful women in media, marketing & advertising in India, by Impact magazine in 2017-18 and 2018-19

• She was honoured with the Achievement & Excellence Award in recognition of her contributions and achievement in promoting the true spirit of journalism at the Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya & International Conference-cum-Cultural Festival on God's Wisdom for World Transformation

• She also bagged the annual YFLO Achiever Awards for Media in 2016-17. In April 2017, she was also awarded FICCI Young Woman Achiever for excellence in media

• Kalli Purie has been awarded “India’s Most Powerful Woman in Media Award” by Confluence Excellence Award, UK in 2019

• 21st Century Icon Awards, UK awarded Kalli Purie the “Outstanding Media & Entertainment Award” in 2019

• Kalli Purie has also been conferred with the prestigious IWEC award (an initiative by Ficci FLO and US Department of State) in 2019

• Kalli Purie has been recognised as ‘Impact's Most Influential Woman’ for the year 2020

Arun Srinivas

Director, Head of Ads Business (MBG), India

Arun Srinivas graduated from the University of Madras and completed his masters from the Indian Institute of Management Kolkata in 1996. He joined Meta in 2019 and is now the Director & Head for the Ads Business for Meta India. He leads the business and relationships for all industries and all business sizes - large, medium and small, as well as the entire media and creative agency ecosystem.

He has over 25 years of experience, of which 21 years were in the Consumer Products Industry. He spent 5 years with Reebok India and 16 years subsequently with Unilever. In Unilever, he rose to lead several businesses such as Beverages, Skin Care & Makeup and Foods for India, and has been part of the India, South Asia and Global leadership teams.

Arun spent 2.5 years in the PE Industry with Westbridge Capital, where he led the consumer vertical across fresh and existing investments. Arun was part of several deals and evaluated hundreds of companies raising capital across sectors.

Arun spent over a year at Ola, where he was the COO and the Global CMO. He managed the mobility business and P&L for India and led the Marketing, Categories and Revenue functions globally. Arun anchored the Ola London launch to success.

Personal interests:
Arun is an avid runner and also a keyboard player.

P N Mahadevan

Corporate Advisor
Netcon Technologies

Maha has over four decades of professional services in Marketing, Publishing, Communications and IT industry. His last employment was with Sky cell Communications Limited (now Airtel) as VP-Corporate Affairs in 1995. Prior to his appointment with Sky cell, Maha was the Chief Operating Officer of GETIT Infomediary Limited (A Bell Canada Enterprise). He was responsible for setting up of the entire Yellow Pages operations in India. He played a key role in the introduction of the Yellow Pages in the Indian Market. Maha has travelled the world extensively in his over 40 Years of Professional career. Maha started his own enterprise in 1996 under the banner Purple Infotech Ltd as Chairman and Managing Director and setup the entire distribution channel for Point-of-Sale Systems and peripherals for Epson and Casio Japan in India. Maha also played a pioneering role in the introduction of POS system and Mobile Applications for the retail and utility industry. In the year 2006, Maha diversified into hardcore technology solutions in the field of Traffic, Security and Surveillance and developed a State-of-the-art digital Traffic Management System for Tamil Nadu Police with the introduction of E-Ticketing system, which was a first in India paving the way for other Law Enforcement agencies in India to emulate the system.

Maha kept pace with emerging technologies to offer scalable solutions to customers and his key area of interests are Digital Marketing & Communication, Security and Surveillance including the Cyber space. Currently Maha is the Corporate Advisor- Netcon Technologies Limited, an Indian IT Infrastructure Company. Has a passion for getting involved in social and public activities and played a significant role in the organization of the Asian Games held in India in 1982 and was also the Joint Secretary of the Madras Advertising Club in 1989-91 during that period a World Advertising Conference was held in Chennai. Maha till recently VP-Business Development of the Global body of International Advertising Association and successfully conducted a World Summit – NATIONS AS BRANDS in 2022 as its Chairman of the organizing Committee. An industry veteran of over 40 years, Maha brings with him an excellent network of contacts in both Government and Private institutions across the globe.

Rana Barua

Chief Executive Officer, Havas Group India

Rana Barua is CEO of Havas Group India – in sync with the global “Together” strategy of collaboration and integration, that brings together Havas Group agencies of different disciplines under a unified leadership. He leverages over 23 years of rich experience in the media industry.

Rana oversees all companies of Havas Group in India which includes Advertising, Media, Digital, Experiential Marketing, Design (UX|UI) and Health - which together comprise and work closely as a Village model. The ‘Village’ way of working is transformative as it not only strengthens and enhances the product but enables the Havas Group to deliver maximum effectiveness and efficiency for the client. It is something Havas strongly believes is a competitive edge over any other network. The Havas Group is now fully integrated into Vivendi - one of the largest media and communications companies in the world with assets like – Universal Music, Dailymotion, Gameloft, Canal + and many others.

A leader who believes in leading from the front Rana is known to turnaround organizations into a resounding success, a highly skilled brand, media and marketing communications leader with cross category & multi-media platform expertise and has had wide-ranging experience in running large establishments with different verticals and making a success out of them by integration and collaboration.

He has as a CEO led esteemed organizations like Contract India (a leading WPP creative agency) and RED FM (India’s leading radio network). He has also held senior leadership profiles in Radio City (as marketing head) and multiple WPP agencies (JWT / Ogilvy & Y&R) where he has spent most of his professional life.

Rana is on the board of the IAA, as well as an executive committee member and honorary treasurer of the Advertising Agencies Association of India – AAAI, he also presides on the board of many leading companies.

He has attended various forums as speaker, been final jury in multiple Effies, Grand jury DMA Asia Echo Awards, judged multiple awards in India Radio Forum, New York Festivals, exchange4media among many others. He is also actively involved as a speaker in leading MBA schools and colleges across the country.