15th IAA Olive Crown Awards Celebrate Sustainability Champions

Packmate Grreen LLP wins the ‘Green Brand of the Year’

RK Swamy wins the ‘Green Agency Of The Year’

Adani Enterprises Ltd & Ogilvy win multiple awards, including the prestigious ‘Corporate Crusader of the Year’ -Gold for their impactful campaign, ‘Pehle Pankha Aayega, Phir Bijli Aayegi.’

‘Green Campaign of the Year’- Gold joint winners Eastern Media Ltd – for Punascha Pruthibi & Reliance Foundation – for Guardians of the Coast

Dharmesh Barai named ‘The Green Crusader of The Year’

Earth Brigade Foundation wins Gold in ‘Green NGO of The Year’

Shri Rahul Narwekar, Hon. Speaker Maharashtra Assembly was the Guest of Honour

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 The 15th annual Olive Crown Awards 2025, organized by the India Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA), took place on April 4th at the ITC Grand Central in Parel, Mumbai. The audience consisted of the tallest creative and corporate leaders.

A distinguished panel of jurors, featuring celebrated professionals like Carlton D’Silva (Founder of Musemakers & House of Awe), Tista Sen (Founder of TistaThinks), Ambareesh Chakraborty (Senior Partner & Executive Creative Director at R K Swamy Ltd), and Rahul Ghosh (National Creative Director at VML), meticulously evaluated entries to finalize the winners.

Jury members being felicitated at the event (L-R) Ambareesh Chakraborty, Janak Sarda (Chairperson, IAA Olive Crown Awards), Jaideep Gandhi (Vice President, IAA India Chapter) and Carlton D’Silva

Shri Rahul Narwekar, Hon. Speaker Maharashtra Assembly addressing the audience

 

The Guest of Honour, Shri Rahul Narwekar, Hon. Speaker Maharashtra Assembly congratulated IAA for successfully organizing the Olive Crown Awards for the last 15^th years successively. He said that he is glad that IAA took up this initiative from a time when sustainability was perhaps not a known concept the way it is today, and took upon the task of driving the thought of sustainability through young minds, old minds and people at large. He said that because of these efforts that we see that the world taking sustainability seriously.

Abhishek Karnani, President IAA India Chapter said ” We’ve witnessed some remarkable work being recognised—work that not only inspires us but also drives real change.  Although we live in challenging times, one thing is clear: sustainability is no longer a choice, it is a responsibility. The warning signs are now impossible to ignore—erratic weather patterns, raging wildfires, vanishing forests, melting ice caps, and the heartbreaking disappearance of animal and bird species. These are no longer distant headlines; they are our reality.At the International Advertising Association (IAA), we take these warnings seriously. And I am heartened to see that corporates, advertising agencies, and media houses are doing the same.”

Abhishek Karnani, President, IAA India Chapter

Says Janak Sarda, Chairperson, IAA Olive Crown Awards ” They say that 15 long years are just a blink of an eye in the life of an Association. And so it is, for the India Chapter of the International Advertising Association. What began as a dream that was clearly ahead of its time, is now one of the most respected and coveted awards in Asia. It is our industry’s’ promise to be guardians of Brand Earth. It is the IAA’s commitment to always prove that communication is a force for good.”

Janak Sarda, Chairperson IAA Olive Crown Committee 2025

RK Swamy wins 4 Olive Crowns and Jury’s Special Mentions including the ‘Green Agency Of The Year’

Teams from RK Swamy receiving the’ trophies from presenters  Roger Pereira – Past President, IAA India Chapter & Partner, Roger Pereira Communications, Harjinder Kang, Deputy High Commissioner, UK consulate, Harshita Narwekar, Sangeeta Tanwani, IAA Mancom Member and CEO & Director, Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Ltd

Packmate Grrreen LLP wins the ‘Green Brand of the Year’- Gold

Team from Packmate Grrreen LLP along with presenters (Jaideep Gandhi & Tarun Jha – Head of Marketing, JSW Steels )

Adani Enterprises Limited bags Gold in ‘Corporate Crusader Of The Year’ & ‘Green Advertiser of The Year’

Team Adani receiving the trophy from Presenters (Abhishek Karnani, President, IAA India Chapter, Sri Rahul Narwekar & Srinivasan K Swamy, Chairperson AFAA and Executive Group Chairperson, R K Swamy Limited

The awards were presented across 17 different categories, including the coveted title ‘Green Crusader of the Year’ award, which was presented to Dharmesh Barai a visionary environmentalist whose impactful initiatives have been pivotal in preserving and rejuvenating Maharashtra’s natural ecosystems, spearheading the Mangrove Clean-Up Drive, mobilizing over 90,000 volunteers to remove 850 tons of waste from coastal ecosystems, for pioneering the Waterfall Clean-Up Drive, restoring 21 cascades and removing 12 tons of debris etc

Dharmesh Barai being felicitate with the Green Crusader of the Year Awards

Earth Brigade Foundation get Gold in the category ‘Green NGO of the Year’.

Team from Earth Brigade Foundation receiving the award (Presenters: Abhijit Ghorpade – Director, Climate Cell, Government of Maharashtra, Neeraj Roy, IAA Mancom Member & Founder, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Private Limited & Subodh Jaiswal –Former Director, CBI)

Committee’s Choice special award for “Best Continuing Effort” was conferred to The Bhamla Foundation & Hungama Digital Media for the United Nations World Environment Day campaign called ‘Bhoomi Namaskar’; for their continuous efforts in promoting sustainability.

(L-R) Devashree Chande, Managing Director, Deepak Builders and Developers, Asif Bhamla,Founder, Bhamla Foundation, Jaideep Gandhi, Vice President, IAA India Chapter, Prasoon Joshi, the lyricist for the campaign, Janak Sarda, Chairperson, IAA Olive Crown Awards and Neeraj Ro, Founder, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment

This year, IAA along with the Indian Merchants chambers (IMC) called for entries from the creative industry to craft campaigns that promote eco-conscious behavior and inspire real-world impact. A fabulous jury comprising Raj Nair, Chief Creative Officer, Garage Worldwide, Bobby Pawar, Advisor and Former Ad Guy, Senthil Kumar, Chief Creative Officer, VML, PG Aditiya, Co-founder & CCO, Talented, Amer Jaleel, Co-founder, Curativity, judging the work. The innovative ‘Pinky Promise’ campaign created by Rahul Rudra & Abhiskek Kaddi of Ogilvy was selected as winner of the Sustainability Campaign

The winners of the campaign with presenters Abhishek Karnani, President IAA India Chapter and Sunita Ramnathkar, Vice President, IMC

The event brought together senior marketing, media, and advertising professionals from across the nation. Deepak Builders & Developers was as the principal partner, while Blue Star Ltd was the associate partners, Mobligent Media the supporting partner & Awardor the strategic partner for this event.

 

(Winner’s List attached)

About IAA

The International Advertising Association is the world’s only globally-focused integrated advertising trade association with membership representing Advertising agencies and the Media. The IAA comprises Corporate Members, Organizational Members, Educational Affiliates, as well as 56 Chapters with individual members and young professionals from 76 countries including the top 10 economies in the world. lAA is over 80 years’ old and is headquartered in New York.

Membership to the Indian Chapter of IAA is by invitation only and IAA has very senior marketing, advertising and media professionals as it members.  IAA in India is seen as the most active chapter by IAA Global. IAA India is well-recognized for some of its marquee events like the IAA Leadership Awards, IAA Olive Crown Awards, IndIAA Awards, IAA Voice of Change, IAA Debates, IAA Conversations, IAA Young Turks Forum and an array of IAA Knowledge Seminars, Webinars, Workshops, Conclaves etc.

For more information please visit www.iaaindiachapter.org