The Hindu Business Line : Hello again!

As we say, we might speculate or gossip but we would do so, tongue firmly in cheek, and never with malice. So just loosen your seat belt, lighten up and enjoy the ride. Don’t take life too seriously. In any case, we won’t.

And this time around, we want real interactivity. So send in your views and tell us what you want to know more about. We’ll try and oblige.

After all, this is really your very own column.

President Das

Forget about the fuss over who will be the President of India. We’ll leave those stories for other pages. The advertising and marketing industry is awash with associations (we love them all) and this is the time of year when they elect new leaders.

First off the block was the Advertising Club Bombay.

This venerable institution witnessed a smooth transition. No multiple candidates, no cross-voting, no proxy wars. How boring! Yet, sometimes a smooth transition is necessary, especially when the road ahead could be really rocky.

Bhaskar Das, the man whose hairstyles the industry loves to watch (he changes it rather often, to our utter delight) is the new man in the hot seat.

And the genteel Pranesh Misra of Lowe (no, he is not retiring with the many crores of rupees he must have got as a long-time Lintas employee) is his Vice-President.

A solid team to lead the Club at a time like this. We wish them all the very best. May they return the Abby to its pre-eminent position. May they lead hundreds of excited professionals to the AdAsia in Korea this year. May they remain the only ones to present an award for effectiveness (they don’t need more problems), and may all their wishes come true (except the ones about the AAAI).

Presidential race at AAAI

Srinivasan Swamy

By the time this appears (the joys of being a weekly) the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) would have a new President. No. We do not know the person’s name at the time of going to press. We just know that it is not Srinivasan (Sundar) Swamy. Having played out his unique hat-trick, Swamy is moving on to bigger things. You won’t have to hold your breath for too long, we will tell you about them later in this column itself.

Having talked about smooth transitions, we owe it to you to spice things up a little. A committee member tells us that the road to the elections at the AAAI has been really rough, to say the very least. The names of the nominees for the post of the President tell a story of their own.

Reportedly, 12 nominations have been received for Madhukar Kamath. Observers say this is unprecedented. A real statement has been made for Kamath who served as the Vice-President under the redoubtable Sundar Swamy. Yet, these might not be enough to crown him.

The three other nominees are Colvyn Harris of JWT, Arvind Sharma of Leo Burnett and V. Shantakumar of Saatchi. The last two names are akin to two thoroughbreds from the same stable being entered for the Derby. One is just a pace-setter. Which one, is the big question.

In these sweepstakes, both might be just pace-setters. That would leave the race open for a straight contest between Colvyn Harris and Kamath. Boy, you would think the president of the AAAI would reside on Raisina Hill!

Anyway, we will save any further comments till the final verdict is out. After all, we don’t want to be accused of insider trading or something like that. We will also save our good wishes till next week.

God knows the poor President, whoever he is, will need them!

Sundar Swamy & AdAsia 2007

If you are a fan of the Asian Advertising Congress (AdAsia) or if you are keen to see the Hawaii of the East, keep some dates in October free. The AdAsia 2007 is being hosted in Jeju Island, Korea. Never heard of Jeju Island? Well, here’s your big chance to visit this lush holiday retreat.

On August 1, the Ad Club Bombay would have hosted the road-show presentation by the Koreans and we will tell you all about it next week.

What we will tell you now is that Sundar Swamy has been nominated as the leader of the Indian delegation to the AdAsia Korea. If the AdFest at Goa was any measure of his crowd-mobilising skills, the AdClub Bombay better charter a Boeing 747 to ferry the huge Indian delegation across to Korea.

Vic’s pick’s

Write in and tell us which advertisements you would like reviewed in our own special style. We can’t guarantee a “good” review, but hey, who said life has to be perfect? It just has to be enjoyable.

See you next week. Same say. Same place.

Victoria invites comments on this column at brandline@thehindu.co.in

Victoria

More Stories on : Advertising | Mumbai Mosaic

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
To sing a distinct tune

Top-end tumult

‘Ideas are fragile, shy things’

Hello again!

Shaken for sure

Why viral marketing fails

See opportunity where others don’t

Silver power

Lip service

Sporty elegance