MAM
Goa Fest: JWT India leads metal tally, Linen Lintas wins solitary Grand Prix
GOA: As the third and final day of Abby Awards Goa Fest came to an end, metals galore were distributed amongst creative souls across various categories.
“With a beach 50 meters away and beers available 24 hours, having more than 70 per cent filled rooms in all the sessions signifies that Goa Fest 2015 was a success,” says AAAI president M.G. Parameswaran
Goa Fest 2015 saw a versatile group of speakers, charming and ecstatic ambience, and allusive advertisements played one after another. The creative minds enjoyed their time collecting one metals after another for different categories. The third day saw 29 Golds, 51 Silvers and 94 Bronze bestowed amongst the creative lot.
Though Goa Fest organizational committee does not publish any agency ratings, if the metal tally is analysed JWT India with 35 metals (nine golds, eight silvers and 18 bronze) bags the pole position. The solitary Grand Prix was won by Linen Lintas for Dabur Vatika Premium Naturals Shampoo’s Brave and Beautiful campaign.
The number of Grand Prix though got down from three in 2014 to one in 2015. The total number of metals went up to 344 (69 Golds, 102 Silver and 172 Bronze) compared to last year’s 336. The Advertising Club and chairman of the Awards Governing Council (AGC) Pratap Bose said, “You have to do something unique and extraordinary in order to win a Grand Prix and the jury found only one such entry and hence we have only one Grand Prix in 2015.”
The total number of golds went up to 69 compared to 50 and 44 in 2014 and 2013 respectively.
The number of agencies winning Abby metals has also gone up, which is an encouraging development for the creative fraternity. A total of 106 agencies won metals in 2015 compared to 85 and 73 in 2014 and 2013 respectively. The number of entries were also an encouragement for the organizing committee as it went up from 2012 to 2823. However it must be noted that in 2013, 4376 entries were registered for the same festival.
The highest number of golds were distributed in the broadcast category as 14 metals were distributed in the category. With 40 metals OOH grabbed the pole position when it came to the total number of metals amongst all categories.
Click here to read the full winner list
Click here to read the full winner list
Brands
Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen to step down after 18 years in role
Board begins CEO search as Narayen prepares to move to chair role
SAN JOSE: After nearly two decades at the helm, Adobe’s long-serving chief executive Shantanu Narayen is preparing to pass the baton.
The company announced that Narayen will transition from his role as chief executive officer once a successor is appointed, ending an 18-year run that reshaped Adobe from a boxed software seller into a global cloud and AI powerhouse. He will remain chair of the board following the leadership transition.
Adobe’s board has formed a special committee to oversee the succession process, led by lead independent director Frank Calderoni. The committee will evaluate both internal and external candidates.
“Shantanu’s leadership has been instrumental in Adobe’s transformation and in positioning the company for the AI-driven era,” Calderoni said in a statement. “As we begin the next phase of succession planning, our focus is on identifying the right leader for the company’s next chapter while ensuring a smooth transition.”
In a note to employees, Narayen described the moment not as a farewell but as a pause for reflection after a long journey with the company.
“I love Adobe and the privilege of leading it has been the greatest honour of my career,” he wrote, adding that he will continue to work closely with the board over the coming months to ensure a seamless leadership change.
Tributes from the technology industry quickly followed the announcement. Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella congratulated Narayen on what he described as a “legendary run” at Adobe.
“Congrats Shantanu, on a legendary run at Adobe! You’ve built one of the most important software companies in the world, and expanded what’s possible for creators, entrepreneurs, and brands everywhere,” Nadella wrote on LinkedIn.
“What has always stood out to me is the empathy you’ve brought to the creative process and the example you’ve set as a leader. Grateful for your friendship, mentorship, and for all you’ve done for Adobe and for our industry.”
Narayen’s career at Adobe spans nearly three decades. He joined the company in 1998 as vice president and rose steadily through the ranks before becoming chief executive officer in December 2007.
During that time, he orchestrated one of the most significant reinventions in the software industry. In 2013, Adobe made the bold decision to abandon traditional boxed software sales and move its flagship creative tools such as Photoshop to a subscription-based Creative Cloud model. The shift initially rattled investors but ultimately transformed Adobe into a predictable recurring revenue business and a case study in digital reinvention.
Narayen also pushed Adobe beyond creative tools into the world of marketing technology and data-driven customer experience, spearheading acquisitions such as Omniture and Marketo. Those moves helped build Adobe’s digital experience division and broaden its reach far beyond designers and photographers.
The numbers tell the story of that transformation. When Narayen took over in 2007, Adobe generated roughly $3 billion in annual revenue. Today the company reports more than $25 billion. Over the same period, its workforce expanded from around 3,000 employees to more than 30,000.
In recent years, Narayen has steered Adobe into the generative AI era with the launch of Adobe Firefly, aiming to keep the company ahead in a rapidly evolving creative technology landscape.
Born in Hyderabad in 1963, Narayen studied electronics and communication engineering at Osmania University before moving to the United States for a master’s degree in computer science from Bowling Green State University. He later earned an MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.
Widely regarded as one of Silicon Valley’s most steady and effective leaders, Narayen has earned multiple honours during his career, including India’s Padma Shri in 2019.
For Adobe, the upcoming leadership change marks the end of a defining chapter. For Narayen, however, the story is far from finished. As he told employees, the company’s next era of creativity, powered by AI and new digital workflows, is only just beginning.
