MAM
Cannes Lions honours Ikea with advertiser of the year award
MUMBAI: Swedish home furnishing retail company, IKEA, will receive the prestigious Advertiser of the Year Award at the 58th Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, to be held on 19-25 June.
The trophy will be presented to IKEA Group global retail manager and VP Noel Wijsmans, during the Film, Film Craft, Titanium and Integrated and Creative Effectiveness Lions on 25 June.
“This important accolade is presented to advertisers who have distinguished themselves for inspiring innovative marketing of their products and who embrace and encourage the creative work produced by their agencies,”an official statement from Cannes Lions said.
Working with a number of different agencies, IKEA has encouraged creative, unconventional and humorous advertising to raise awareness of their brand and drive people to enter their stores.
Maintaining their marketing strategy, which is based around their business idea of offering a wide range of home furnishing products, the company has been able to localise its global target market and create advertising campaigns that vary significantly across territories. IKEA aimed to adapt to unique marketing conditions and cultural sensibilities of each country.
Cannes Lions CEO Philip Thomas added, “IKEA‘s approach to its marketing and communications, with its decentralised structure and strong relationships with many different kinds of agencies, has been hugely successful over many years. We congratulate both IKEA and its many agencies across many countries on this well-deserved honour.”
Since winning their first Cannes Lion in 1991, IKEA ads have gone on to win 50 Lions across all categories, including the Film Grand Prix in 2003 for ‘Lamp‘ and a Titanium Lion in 2010 for ‘Facebook Showroom‘.
Wijsmans commented, “I am honoured to receive this award on behalf of IKEA. It is a great recognition of IKEA advertising that speaks to all of us who want to have a functional and beautiful home. We want to inspire people to fulfill needs and dreams in their everyday life at home. And we want to do that with a smile.”
IKEA is named as an acronym comprising the initials of the founder‘s name, the farm where he grew up (Elmtaryd), and his home parish (Agunnaryd, in Sm?land, South Sweden).
Brands
FSS names Anand Krishnamurthi head of global digital delivery
Tech veteran to drive AI-first, cloud-led transformation in payments globally
CHENNAI: Financial Software and Systems (FSS), an AI-first payment infrastructure company, has appointed Anand Krishnamurthi as head of global digital delivery.
In his new role, Anand Krishnamurthi will lead FSS’s global digital delivery capabilities, focusing on AI-first and cloud-led transformation while ensuring predictable, high-quality outcomes for customers worldwide. He will be based in Chennai and report to V. Balasubramanian, CEO of FSS.
Bringing 28 years of experience in technology and digital transformation across banking, capital markets, financial services, and insurance, Anand has held senior leadership positions at Cognizant and NuSummit. He is recognised for scaling multi-geography delivery teams, leading mission-critical platforms, and embedding AI-driven automation in complex, regulated environments.
“What drew me to FSS is its deep payments expertise, strong product DNA, and the scale at which its platforms power real-world financial ecosystems,” said Anand Krishnamurthi. “I aim to strengthen delivery predictability, execution rigor, and engineering quality, building empowered teams that deliver measurable customer outcomes. FSS has a unique opportunity to create real-time, AI-infused payments infrastructure that is resilient, secure, and globally scalable.”
V. Balasubramanian added, “Anand’s track record in leading multi-geography delivery programs and AI-first operating models makes him the ideal leader for FSS as we accelerate our AI-driven digital payments business. His leadership will help us raise the bar for outcomes globally.”
This appointment is part of FSS’s broader push to build an AI-powered, cloud-native delivery organisation capable of meeting the evolving needs of banks, fintechs, and financial institutions worldwide.
