GECs
Kentaro Kimura joins Adfest 2014
MUMBAI: Japan’s most acclaimed advertising executives, Kentaro Kimura, will head up next year’s direct lotus & promo lotus category as its jury president.
Hakuhodo Kettle executive creative director and co-CEO Kimura joined the agency he founded in 2006 after joining Hakuhodo in 1992. “The more ways we have to communicate, the more important human nature becomes. What moves people? Why do people take action? It may be an activity for social good, moving content, or a platform for experiences. There are a lot of possibilities for activating people. It is these inventions to move people that make the Direct Lotus and Promo Lotus categories so exciting,” he said.
Kimura says the theme of Adfest 2014, ‘Co-Create the Future’, gives him a positive, hopeful feeling.
“In the next 10 years, we will face more change than we did in the last 10 years. Our industry will also change a great deal. We communication professionals will be able to do more than ever before. Today, a truly brilliant campaign can cross borders and influence millions of people. We cannot only adapt ourselves to a given future, but also create our own future,” said Kimura.
Adfest president Jimmy Lam said, “Many of the campaigns created by Hakuhodo Kettle Inc. have changed the way people think about advertising. Kimura is a visionary when it comes to using technology to forge new ways of communicating with consumers, making him the perfect choice to lead the Direct Lotus and Promo Lotus jury next year.”
Adfest 2014 will take place on 6-8 March at the Royal Cliff Hotels Group in Pattaya, Thailand.
GECs
Sony ties up with EU for MasterChef India finale
GI-tagged European ingredients headline finale week
MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Networks India has struck what it calls a landmark association with the European Union for the finale week of MasterChef India, marking the first such collaboration between the bloc and an Indian television format.
The tie-up will culminate in the “European Union mystery box challenge”, which opens the much-anticipated finale week. The task will see the top six contestant pairs cook with a curated basket of ingredients bearing geographical indications (GIs) from across EU member states: a nod to provenance as well as palate.
Chef Ajay and Chef Guntas, introduced as chef ambassadors to the European Union, will present the mystery boxes and set the brief: use the fewest ingredients from each category and produce a MasterChef-level dish that marries European produce with Indian flavour sensibilities. Precision and restraint, rather than extravagance, will be tested.
For Sony, the move signals a push towards high-value integrations that blur the line between sponsorship and storytelling. The network said the association underscores the show’s growing global stature and its ability to attract world-renowned institutions to Indian screens.
Chef Ajay Chopra, food ambassador in the European Union, described the collaboration as a strategic opportunity to spotlight the heritage and authenticity of GI-tagged European products to India’s vast food-loving audience.
Over the years, MasterChef India has positioned itself as a gateway to global cuisines. The EU partnership sharpens that pitch, turning the finale into a stage for cross-continental culinary diplomacy.
The finale week will air from 2 March, 2026 at 8 pm on Sony Entertainment Television and stream on Sony Liv.
