AD Agencies
Madan Bahal, Prateek Bhardwaj, and Amit Sharma appointed as Jury Chairs for Abby Awards 2024 powered by One Show
Mumbai: Madan Bahal, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Adfactors PR, Prateek Bhardwaj, Chief Creative Officer and Head of Creative (India) at Lowe Lintas and Amit Sharma, Founder Director of Chrome Pictures join as jury chairs for Public Relations category, Direct category and Video Craft category respectively, at The Abby Awards 2024 powered by One Show.
Madan Bahal, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Adfactors PR, has been appointed Jury Chair in Abby Awards 2024 powered by One Show in the Public Relations category.
Adfactors is India’s largest and most recognised public relations firm. Founded in 1997, Adfactors PR is also the youngest and the only independent firm in its peer group in India.
Over the last 25 years, Madan has had the privilege to serve as a lead communication counsel in many of the milestone events of Corporate India, including fundraises, M&As, disputes, litigations, issues, and crises. The firm currently serves over 500 retained clients, including many of India’s leading conglomerates, corporations, unicorns, financial institutions, and NGOs.
In 2022, the Arthur W. Page Society inducted Mr Bahal into its Hall of Fame. Some of the prominent recognitions that he has received so far include: International Communications Consultancy Organization’s (ICCO) Hall Of Fame (November 2017), PRovoke’s Individual outstanding achievement in Asia-Pac (September 2013), Communicator of the Decade by the Public Relations Council of India (PRCI), and the Life Time Achievement Award by the Public Relations Society of India (PRSI).
In October 2020, PRovoke recognised his firm as one of the seven global agencies of the decade.
A vocal advocate of continuous learning and development for PR practitioners, Madan is regarded for providing leadership in the Indian PR industry during major adverse events such as the global financial meltdown during 2008 and the two years of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Prateek Bhardwaj,Chief Creative Officer and Head of Creative (India) at Lowe Lintas has been appointed Jury Chair in Abby Awards 2024 powered by One Show in the Direct Category.
With over 20 years in the business, Prateek has earned a slew of prestigious awards including the Grand Prix at Cannes Lions and Jay Chiat Awards, and the coveted Black Pencil at D&AD.
Prateek is ranked India’s No.1 most awarded creative for 2018, according to various sources, including CampaignBrief Asia. Prateek was the Creative Director behind the much acclaimed recent work on Nescafé (stammering comedian and RJ Rishi), Ministry of Public Health, Afghanistan (Immunity Charm), and Incredible India.
His other notable work includes long-running campaigns for Dettol and PayTM and the still-famous launches of Sprite (Bujhaye only pyaas), Kinley, and Chlor-mint.
Prateek has also been a creative entrepreneur and founded Eleven Brandworks in 2008.
Amit Sharma, Founder Director of Chrome Pictures, has been appointed Jury Chair in Abby Awards 2024 powered by One Show in the Video Craft category.
Amit is a leading ditrctor of ad films and now feature films. Some of his groundbreaking TVCs are Pooja Didi – Facebook, Dove #StopTheBeautyTest, Lifebuoy – Help A Child Reach Five, Silent National Anthem, Google Reunion and many more.
Amit has bagged several prestigious awards including Cannes Lions, D&AD, Spikes Asia, Adfest, London International Awards, Abby among others.
Amit’s style of filmmaking has always revolved around topics that question the society at large and challenges its norms. For instance, his National award winning feature film, Badhaai Ho (directed and produced under his banner Chrome Pictures), addresses the issues that a middle aged couple, with two grown sons, face when they get pregnant at the age of 51.
His latest film “Maidaan”, a biopic starring Ajay Devgn on the Indian football coach Syed Abdul Rahim has done well at the box office.
With a focus on choosing subjects which are path breaking and unconventional, Amit believes in telling stories which are relatable, relevant and thought provoking.
AD Agencies
Prakash Nair reportedly quits Ogilvy after 23 years
One of the agency’s longest-serving leaders has moved on, with his next destination still unknown
MUMBAI: After more than two decades at one address, Prakash Nair has left the building. The president and head of office, north at Ogilvy has moved on from the agency, according to highly placed industry sources. His next move remains unknown. Ogilvy did not respond to requests for comment.
Nair spent over 23 years at the agency, making him one of its longest-serving senior figures. He was elevated to lead the Gurugram office in April 2022, a role that put him at the helm of Ogilvy’s northern operations at a time of considerable churn across the advertising industry.
Before taking charge in the capital, Nair served as associate president at Ogilvy Mumbai, where he worked on some of the agency’s most prized accounts, including Mondelez, Tata Motors, and BP Castrol. Over the years, he built a reputation for driving modern, integrated, and award-winning work, the kind that wins metals at Cannes and keeps clients from straying.
His departure was marked in style. A farewell gathering was held in Delhi, attended by senior figures from across the advertising fraternity, a signal of the regard in which Nair is held in an industry that does not always pause to say goodbye properly.
Where he goes next is the question the industry is now asking. After 23 years at one of the world’s most storied agencies, the answer, when it comes, will be worth watching.
