AD Agencies
AFAA to organise training programme for ad, media professionals in Malaysia
MUMBAI: The Asian Federation of Advertising Associations (AFAA), of which Advertising Council of India (a division of STACA Trust) is a member, had commissioned a unique initiative in 2013, called Fast Track Professional Excellence Programme. In its third year now, the Fast Track Professional Excellence Programme, is a three day specialized training programme held in Malaysia. It is targeted at young professionals from advertising, marketing and media industry. This year, the specialized training programme will be held from 17-19 April, 2015.
Fast Track Professional Excellence Programme was designed with an aim to support the up-and-coming-stars of the industry in their growth. It empowers young professionals (below 35 years and with at least five years of work experience) with the necessary skills to excel in their respective professions. This year, too, The Standing Committee on Advertising (STACA) will be sponsoring around four – six young professionals for this programme. It’s an expression of STACA’s and ACI’s commitment to the industry in India.
Commenting on the initiative AFAA chairman Pradeep Guha said, “Since its launch in 2013, the Fast Track Professional Excellence Programme has been a catalyst in accelerating the careers of many young professionals. This year too, the three-day specialized training programme will guide young professionals to reconnect with their passion for the industry, and enhance their skills as they face the challenges ahead. ”
Young professionals can apply for Fast Track Programme sponsorship by writing an article on how communication can be made into a force for good. The article (not more than 100 words) should be mailed to acifasttrack@gmail.com along with their brief profile (age, valid passport number, jobs details, etc.) before 24 March, 2015.
AD Agencies
Fevicol releases its last ad campaign by the late Piyush Pandey
The adhesive brand’s last campaign by the late advertising legend Piyush Pandey turns an everyday Indian obsession into a quietly powerful metaphor
MUMBAI: Fevicol has never needed much of a plot. A sticky bond, a wry observation, a truth that every Indian instantly recognises — that has always been enough. “Kursi Pe Nazar,” the brand’s latest television commercial, is no different. And yet it carries a weight that no previous Fevicol film has had to bear: it is the last one its creator, the advertising legend Piyush Pandey, will ever make.
The film, released on Tuesday by Pidilite Industries, fixes its gaze on the kursi — the chair — and what it means in Indian life. Not just as a piece of furniture, but as a currency of ambition, a vessel of authority, and a source of quiet social drama that plays out in every home, office and institution across the country. Who sits in the chair, who waits for it, and who eyes it hungrily from across the room: the film transforms this sharply observed cultural truth into a narrative that is, in the best Fevicol tradition, funny, warm and instantly familiar.
The campaign was Pandey’s idea. He discussed it in detail with the team before his death, but did not live to see it shot. Prasoon Pandey, director at Corcoise Films who helmed the commercial, said the team needed five months to find its footing before they felt ready to shoot. “This was the toughest film ever for all of us,” he said. “It was Piyush’s idea, magical as always.”
The emotional weight of that responsibility was not lost on the team at Ogilvy India, which created the campaign. Kainaz Karmakar and Harshad Rajadhyaksha, group chief creative officers at Ogilvy India, described the process as “a pilgrimage of sorts, on the path that Piyush created not just for Ogilvy, but for our entire profession.”
Sudhanshu Vats, managing director of Pidilite Industries, said the film was rooted in a distinctly Indian insight. “The ‘kursi’ symbolises aspiration, transition, and ambition,” he said. “Piyush Pandey had an extraordinary ability to elevate such everyday observations into iconic storytelling for Fevicol. This film carries that legacy forward.”
That legacy is considerable. Over several decades, Pandey’s partnership with Fevicol produced some of the most beloved advertising in Indian history, building the brand into something rare: a household name that people actively enjoy watching sell to them.
“Kursi Pe Nazar” does not try to be a tribute. It simply tries to be a great Fevicol film. By most measures, it succeeds — which is, in the end, the most fitting send-off of all.
