AD Agencies
Pallavi Chakravarti, Raj Kamble and Mayuri Nikumbh appointed as jury chairs for Abby Awards 2024 powered by One Show
Mumbai: Pallavi Chakravarti, founder and CCO of Fundamental, Raj Kamble, founder & CCO of Famous Innovations and Mayuri Nikumbh, head of design at Conran Design, join as jury chair for Diversity, Equality and Inclusion category, Out of Home and Ambient category, and Design Category respectively, at The Abby Awards 2024 powered by One Show.
Pallavi Chakravarti, founder and CCO of Fundamental has been appointed jury chair of Abby Awards 2024 powered by One Show in the Diversity, Equality and Inclusion category.
In the creative business for two decades now, Pallavi became independent in 2023. Her agency Fundamental has created work for Airtel, Adidas, WhatsApp, Facebook, Parle Products, Marico and more, all in under a year. In her previous stints across Saatchi, Grey, JWT, Taproot Dentsu and DDB Mudra, she has worked on Instagram, McDonald’s, Pepsi, Uber, J&J, Unilever, P&G and local giants like Times of India, ITC and Star Sports.
Pallavi featured among the 200 most-awarded ECDs in 2021 in The Drum World Creative Rankings and closer home, in the 2022 edition of Wonder Women 100 by Indian Television Dot Com, a list celebrating leaders in creative arts.
From shows like Cannes Lions, D&AD, The One Show, Adfest Asia Pacific, Spikes Asia, Kyoorius and The Abbys to effectiveness awards like Effies and Appies, her work has been recognised everywhere. With hundreds of metals to her credit, Pallavi was also the recipient of the Best Ad Screenplay plaque at the prestigious 2015 Dadasaheb Phalke Film Festival.
Pallavi has served on many juries over the years – at Cannes Lions, Dubai Lynx, New York Festival, Global Awards, Gerety Awards, Kyoorius Awards and the Abbys, across categories like Film, Outdoor, Direct, Radio and Integrated Advertising.
She also mentors young talent through various industry initiatives. Psychology, theatre and music make her tick, both on the job and off it.
Raj Kamble, Founder & CCO of Famous Innovations has been appointed Jury Chair of Abby Awards 2024 powered by One Show in the Out of Home and Ambient category.
Raj Kamble is a gold medallist in design and art from Sir JJ School of Arts. His 25-year career has taken him from Lowe India to Lowe London, Lowe New York, BBDO New York and back to Mumbai as Managing Partner, BBH India. During this time, his work for brands like Stella Artois, Unilever, Nestle, P&G, Saab, Diageo, Vaseline, Burger King and Google has achieved both critical acclaim and business results.
One of the most awarded and globally recognized Indians in advertising, Raj has over 150 awards to his name including several Cannes and One Show gold.
In 2013, he founded an independent creative agency – Famous Innovations. Today, Famous is a 200+ people agency across Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi, and holds the title of nine-time winner of South Asia Independent Agency of the Year in a row, as well as Digital Agency of the Year, Design Agency of the Year and Green Agency of the Year.
Raj is a frequent lecturer at institutes such as the Kellogg Institute of Management and Columbia University. He is the Director of Miami Ad School in India. He is part of a think tank with the Government to make India WiFi-friendly.
He plays a prominent role in shaping the future of education in India as part of the Board of Governors at the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, the Board of Governors at MIT-Pune and the Academic Advisory Board at the National Institute of Design
Mayuri Nikumbh, head of design at Conran Design has been appointed Jury Chair of Abby Awards 2024 powered by One Show in the Design Category.
With a strong belief in the power of design to convey authentic stories that help transform businesses as well as influence consumer behaviour, Mayuri has led award-winning projects and contributed to the success of both startups as well as well-established brands.
An alum of IIT Bombay with a career spanning over two decades, she currently leads the creative vision for Conran Design Mumbai which she helped establish in the middle of the global pandemic. Within three years of its inception, Mayuri has helped win notable businesses and awards including Campaign Agency of the Year, Transform Asia and IDA Awards.
Mayuri has been voted as one of India’s 40 under Forty go-getters in the creative field by Impact magazine. She has also represented India at the Asia-wide collaborative project ‘Colours of Asia’- which culminated in a unique exhibition at the Hong Kong Design Institute which went on to win the Design for Asia Award.
Amidst numerous other representations as a leading voice for design, Mayuri has been on the jury panel for Spikes Asia awards, Kyoorius Design Awards as well as all major local festivals. She will also be at Cannes this year as a part of the Design Lions jury.
Mayuri strongly endorses the practice of working towards the sweet spot of consumers’ and clients’ problem-solving needs. She believes good designers make good citizens that enable a meaningful way of life.
AD Agencies
Publicis posts €4.19bn Q1 revenue, 6.4 per cent growth; backs FY outlook
Ad giant signals Q2 acceleration as AI and new deals power momentum
PARIS: Publicis Groupe continues to outperform the industry, delivering a strong start to 2026 under Chairman and CEO Arthur Sadoun. Despite a volatile global macro environment, the company has now outpaced the industry for nearly 20 consecutive quarters.
For Q1 2026, total revenue reached €4,191 million, up from €4,161 million last year, with organic growth of 6.4 per cent. Net revenue, which excludes pass-through costs, stood at €3,460 million, reflecting organic growth of 4.5 per cent.
Exchange rates had a negative impact of €268 million, mainly due to a weaker US dollar and pound sterling. Acquisitions, including Adge.AI and 160over90, contributed an additional €46 million.
Performance across regions was largely positive, with some variation:
- North America, accounting for 59 per cent of net revenue, grew 4.7 per cent
- Europe recorded growth of 3.9 per cent, led by the UK at 6.2 per cent, while France grew 1.6 per cent
- Asia Pacific posted 5.9 per cent growth, driven by China at 11.7 per cent
- Latin America grew 13.3 per cent
- Middle East and Africa declined 5.1 per cent due to geopolitical challenges
AI-powered marketing services, which now make up 86 per cent of the business, grew 5.6 per cent. However, the technology segment, representing 14 per cent of revenue, declined slightly as clients reduced spending on large-scale transformation projects.
Sharing his outlook, Publicis Groupe chairman and CEO Arthur Sadoun said, “Publicis had a very strong start to the year, outperforming the industry for almost 20 quarters in a row despite the volatile macro environment. Organic revenue growth reached 6.4%, leading to 4.5% in net and further increasing the gap with our peers.” He added that the company remains confident of delivering industry-leading performance. “We are confirming our industry-leading organic growth guidance of 4 to 5%, with the 4% rock solid, and a sequential organic growth acceleration in Q2 despite a higher comparable.”
Publicis continued its expansion with the acquisition of Adge.AI in March, followed by 160over90 in April to strengthen its sports and culture marketing capabilities.
Net financial debt stood at €1,156 million at the end of March, reflecting a seasonal shift from the net cash position at the end of 2025. Average net debt over the past twelve months was €1,035 million.
The company has reaffirmed its full-year guidance, expecting net revenue organic growth of 4 to 5 per cent in 2026. It also anticipates an operating margin slightly above 18.2 per cent and free cash flow of approximately €2.1 billion.
With expectations of stronger performance in the second quarter, Publicis remains well positioned to sustain its growth momentum.
