AD Agencies
Goafest 2017: Ramesh Narayan re-elected council chairman
MUMBAI: The Advertising Club and Advertising Agencies Association of India have announced the Awards Governing Council for the Abby’s at Goafest 2017. Ad veteran and industry leader Ramesh Narayan, founder of Canco Advertising has been once again appointed the Chairman of the AGC.
“The Abby’s are the Oscars of Indian advertising. The Awards Governing Council has a wealth of experience and expertise and I feel privileged to lead such an august panel. It will be our endeavor to engage actively with all constituents and ensure that creativity is properly judged and celebrated,” Narayan shared.
The other members elected to the Council are:
The other members elected to the Council are:
· Nakul Chopra, CEO – South Asia, Publicis Communications India & President, Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAA’s of I)
· Ajay Chandwani, Director, Percept Ltd
· Ajay Kakkar, Chief Marketing Officer- Financial Services, Aditya Birla Group.
· Ashish Bhasin, Chairman Goafest 2017 and Chairman & CEO South Asia Dentsu Aegis Network
· CVL Srinivas, Chief Executive Officer, South Asia, GroupM
· M G Parameswaran, Founder at Brand-Building.com
· Nagesh Alai, Founder, Independent Business Advisory and Chairman of C4A
· Partha Sinha, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, McCann Worldgroup
· Pradeep Dwivedi, CEO Sakal Group
· Shashi Sinha, Chief Executive Officer, IPG Mediabrands
The Advertising Club’s Raj Nayak said, “Under Ramesh Narayan’s leadership Goafest 2016 emerged as a huge success with increase in participation and highest standards of ethics and governance. We are sure that with once again taking on the reigns of the awards, he will take this key industry event that is the gold standard in advertising awards, to greater heights.”
“It is great to once again have Ramesh in the driver’s seat of the governing council. His experience of leading multiple industry bodies and awards gives him great perspective and foresight to be able to drive excellence, in the judging and execution of this year’s awards,” added Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAA’s of I) president Nakul Chopra.
AD Agencies
Publicis Brazil’s creative chief Mauro Ramalho lands the jury chair at Abby Awards 2026
Mauro Ramalho brings 25 years of global advertising firepower to the new creative commerce, use of data and B2B category at Goafest
GOA: The Abby Awards 2026, powered by The One Club and The One Show, has appointed Mauro Ramalho, chief creative officer of Publicis Brazil, as jury chair for its newly launched creative commerce, use of data and B2B category. The announcement, made on 18 March, signals the awards’ intent to bring serious international muscle to a category that sits squarely at the intersection of creativity and commercial performance.
Ramalho is not a name that needs much introduction in global advertising circles. Over 25 years spanning three countries, he has worked at some of the industry’s most creatively restless addresses. At AKQA in San Francisco, he worked across McDonald’s, Nike, Fox, Target, Kraft Foods and GAP, and helped lead “The Lost Ring” for McDonald’s, one of the first alternate reality campaigns and among the most awarded projects of its era. He later moved to Organic in Toronto, bridging the Detroit and Toronto offices on Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler, before spending over a decade building CUBOCC into one of Brazil’s most iconic and innovative independent agencies, which subsequently joined the IPG network.
A stint at FCB followed, where Ramalho led integrated work bridging online and offline, before he joined R/GA São Paulo as vice-president and executive creative director, stitching together the São Paulo office with New York, London, Portland and California on global clients including Verizon, Google, Meta, Samsung, American Express and Heineken. He now heads Publicis Brazil as its chief creative officer.
His trophy cabinet includes Clios, Effies, TikTok awards and MMA Smarties, and he has served on juries at the Andys, TikTok and the Lisbon Awards.
The Abby Awards 2026 is scheduled to take place at Goafest 2026 on 20, 21 and 22 May in Goa.
For Indian advertising, landing a jury chair of Ramalho’s calibre for a category built around data-driven creativity and commerce is a statement of ambition. Goafest just raised its own bar.
