MAM
AdFest 2014: India brings home 26 metals
MUMBAI: At the Adfest 2014 held at Pattaya in Thailand from 6-8 March, Indian agencies won a total of 26 metals, eight less than last year.
This year, McCann Erikson led the charge with 11 medals, of which three are Gold, five are Silver and three are Bronze.
JWT India and Grey Worldwide followed winning four metals each. Next are TBWAIndia and Creativeland Asia with two metals each and BBDO India, Taproot India and Linen-A Lintas Group with one each.
The most-award winning campaign by McCann was Audiobook – the William Shakespeare/Mark Twain/Oscar Wilde campaign, which received two Golds in the Print Craft Lotus category for Art direction and Best use of illustration; and for Point of Sale: small scale sub category in the Design Lotus category. The campaign also picked up Silvers in Point of Purchase – Display sub category in Outdoor; Poster sub category under Design Lotus and Best Use of Computer Generated Imagery under Print Craft Lotus. In addition to this, it also took home bronze awards in the Press Lotus category under Best of Communication Media & Publications sub category, and Best of Travel, Entertainment & Communication Media sub category in the Outdoor Lotus category.
Apart from this, McCann won a Silver each for its AIDS Awareness campaign under Media Lotus and Big Babol campaign in Best of food sub category under Outdoor. And, it won a Bronze for Rain catching Adshel campaign for Catchtherain.org in the Outdoor category.
Nike’s Parallel Journey’s campaign helped JWT India stuck Gold under Best of sports, fashion cosmetics and luxury goods sub head in Film Lotus. The campaign also got two Silvers in the Film Craft Lotus category. The Health Capital campaign for Rotract Club of Mumbai Shivaji Park in the Direct Lotus category got the agency its single Bronze.
Grey Worldwide picked up a Gold and a Bronze for Duracell Positive & Negative: Dock/Monkey campaign in the Press Lotus and Outdoor Lotus categories, respectively. For another Duracell campaign called Ageless Wonder: Music/Man/Woman the agency was awarded Silver in the Press and Print Craft categories.
Creativeland Asia’s campaign for Frooti helped the agency grab Gold in the Original music score sub category and Bronze for direction under Film Craft Lotus.
TBWAIndia won two Bronze medals for its Adidas Wall cricket campaign under External/street signs and street furniture and Guerrilla marketing sub categories in Outdoor Lotus.
Taproot India’s Times of India’s farmer suicide campaign secured finalists berth in many categories but was only able to win Silver in the Outdoor Lotus category.
BBDO was awarded Bronze for a public awareness campaign Stick It Art under Best use of ambient: small scale sub category in the Media Lotus category.
Lastly, Linen-A Lintas Group was the only Indian agency to get a bronze in the Radio category.
Brands
Saugata Mukherjee exits SonyLIV after steering standout content run
Streaming chief signs off after a prolific phase of originals and awards
MUMBAI: SonyLIV is set for a leadership transition, with its executive vice president and head of content Saugata Mukherjee announcing his departure after a three-and-a-half-year stint that helped shape the platform’s creative identity.
In a reflective note shared publicly, SonyLIV executive vice president and head of content saugata mukherjee described his tenure as more than just building a slate of shows, calling it “a shared belief in stories, in risks, in pushing ourselves a little further every single day”. He pointed to a wide-ranging line-up including The Hunt, Mayasabha, Kankhajura, Black White and Gray, Four and Half Gang, Kuttram Purindhavan, Real Kashmir Football Club, Maharani S4 and Freedom at Midnight S2 as a fitting close to his journey with the platform.
Mukherjee credited the team’s resilience through “crazy deadlines, uncertain moments and audacious choices”, adding that what stood out most were the quieter wins and collective spirit behind the scenes. “Some goodbyes are harder than others. This is one of them,” he noted, signalling an emotional sign-off.
During his tenure, Mukherjee oversaw content strategy, commissioning and original programming across languages and genres, helping SonyLIV cement its position in India’s increasingly competitive streaming landscape. The platform’s catalogue under his watch included critically acclaimed titles such as Scam 1992, Maharani, Rocket Boys, Tabbar, Gullak and Freedom at Midnight, collectively earning over 100 industry awards and several international nominations.
Before rejoining SonyLIV in 2022 as EVP, Mukherjee had a brief stint at HBO Max under Warner Bros. Discovery, where he led India content strategy and worked on the platform’s global rollout. Earlier, he held senior creative roles at Disney+ Hotstar and Star TV Network, shaping original programming during the early days of India’s OTT boom.
His career began in publishing, with leadership roles at Pan Macmillan and HarperCollins Publishers, where he worked closely with some of India’s most prominent literary voices.
Mukherjee’s exit marks the end of a defining chapter for SonyLIV’s content journey. As the platform looks ahead, it does so on the back of a creative foundation that has consistently punched above its weight in a crowded streaming arena.
