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Purvita Chatterjee

Mumbai , Aug 16

AFTER a long hiatus there is a new campaign being planned for, by and of the advertising industry. For the first time in many years, advertising is set to create some awareness about itself and the industry body, the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI), has taken the initiative on the eve of its diamond jubilee year.

Being on the executive committee of AAAI, Mr V. Shantakumar, Managing Director and CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi, is spearheading the initiative and his agency has been given the mandate to create the campaign which is expected to unleash an image building exercise for the industry.

While the nuances of the creatives and funding are still being worked upon, the campaign is expected to break out within a couple of weeks.

Speaking to Business Line, Mr Shantakumar said: "We are still working on it and as far as I know this is the first time in all these years that a campaign is being created about the role of advertising. The purpose is to highlight the fact that advertising is an exciting place to be in and has an enormous contribution to the economy."

The decision to mount a campaign to highlight the importance of advertising as an industry was taken during the recent event held to mark the diamond jubilee year of the AAAI.

"It was during the AAAI diamond jubilee celebrations that the idea was conceived. It will be about raising the awareness for the industry as a whole," said Mr Shantakumar.

Though no budget has been fixed for the campaign, the AAAI is in the process of figuring out the funding possibilities for the same. "Although it is primarily the AAAI, there may be more industry bodies involved in this campaign. We are still looking at who are the people who could be roped in for funding this campaign."

Using mass media, the new campaign would highlight the fact that advertising is a "serious" business and a significant contributor to the GDP of the country.

"The campaign would address the role that advertising plays. Apart from attracting talent into the industry, it would talk about its significant contribution to the economy," said Mr Shantakumar.

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