AD Agencies
Madison BMB promotes Raj Nair to CEO & Chief Creative Officer; Prabha Prabhu retires
MUMBAI: Prabha Prabhu, Founder Member, Madison, who moved with Sam Balsara when he started Madison way back in 1988 has decided to retire after 28 years at Madison. She was the CEO of Madison BMB for the last several years. Raj Nair, the current Chief Creative Officer will now also assume additional responsibility of CEO. Kim Solomon will be a new addition to the team, who joins as Chief Operating Officer. All these changes are effective April 1, 2016.
Describing Prabha Prabhu as the youngest and most energetic lady in advertising, Madison World chairman Sam Balsara said, “Whilst I am sorry that I will not have the benefit of Prabha’s wisdom and expertise, I would like to wish her a cheerful, relaxed and fulfilling retired life.” At the farewell function Sam thanked Prabha for her loyalty, commitment and dedication to Madison and its Clients over the last 28 years. Prabha played a critical role in the formative years of Madison working on successful brands like Cinthol, Vicks, Whisper, BlueStar and She Comfort and more recently with Asian Paints, VVF, Hyper City and Angel Broking among others.
Commenting on Raj Nair’s elevation to the position of CEO and Chief Creative Officer, Balsara said, “Raj has proved over the last few years that whilst maintaining his creative focus, he can look at the larger business picture from the client’s perspective and I am sure this move will help make Madison BMB a more result oriented agency.”
Said Balsara on appointment of Kim Solomon, “Kim is a true blue advertising professional with over 20 years experience at Ogilvy, Mudra, Dentsu, Triton and Everest Advertising and has handled many blue chip clients over the years. I am sure his experience and expertise will add tremendous value to our current and future clients.”
Prabha Prabhu further added, “Madison has been my home for the last 28 years and has been an intrinsic part of me. Whilst I was happy doing effective campaigns for our clients, I was very keen to also win awards. And in the last 4 years we have won several awards. After a rewarding and satisfying career, I now look forward to spending more time doing social work, giving back to society and spending time with my children who are both in advertising and settled in US.”
Madison BMB CCO and CEO Raj Nair, said, “I cannot imagine life at Madison without Prabha. These are extremely large shoes to fill and we will do our very best to keep the flag flying vigorously. And of course I am looking forward to this new role and partnering our clients to help them continue to achieve their business goals through insightful advertising.”
Kim Solomon, COO, Madison BMB COO Kim Solomon said, “Madison BMB has a great set of clients and Madison World is a wonderful and highly reputed organization that I look forward to contribute to in ample measure.”
Madison BMB has just won a couple of prestigious accounts like Angel Broking and Asian Paints’ Bath Business. In the last 3 years Madison BMB has won several awards at the Abbies, Foxglove and Ink for HyperCity, Kyoorius Advertising Award, INK Golds as well an Abby Gold all for the acclaimed Jiyo Parsi Print Campaign, to name a few.
AD Agencies
AdTrust Summit 2026 to examine trust, AI and Gen Alpha in advertising
Two-day summit in Mumbai to explore ethics, regulation and the future of advertising trust
MUMBAI: At a time when advertising is navigating a delicate trust deficit, the Advertising Standards Council of India is preparing to bring the industry to the table. On 17 and 18 March, the body will host the inaugural AdTrust Summit 2026 in Mumbai, a two-day gathering designed to spark conversation around responsibility, regulation and credibility in modern advertising.
The summit, to be held at the Jio World Convention Centre in Bandra Kurla Complex, will bring together leaders from advertising, media, technology and policy to examine how brands can build trust in a marketplace increasingly shaped by algorithms, influencers and artificial intelligence.
In an age of deepfakes, dark patterns and blurred lines between content and commerce, the question is no longer just how brands capture attention, but whether audiences believe what they see. The AdTrust Summit aims to unpack that challenge.
Day one will turn its attention to the youngest digital natives. Titled Decoding Gen Alpha, the session will unveil ‘What the Sigma?’, a study by ASCI and Futurebrands Consulting that explores how children growing up in a hyper-digital environment encounter advertising and commercial messaging.
The report presentation will be delivered by Santosh Desai, founder and director at Think9 Consumer Technologies and a social commentator known for his insights into consumer behaviour. The discussion that follows will attempt to decode how Gen Alpha consumes media, interacts with brands and navigates the growing overlap between entertainment and marketing.
In a move that mirrors the subject itself, two Gen Alpha students will also join the conversation, offering a rare perspective from the generation advertisers are trying to understand.
The second panel of the day will shift the focus from observation to implication, asking what the report’s findings mean for brands, agencies and society. Speakers include Karthik Srinivasan, communications strategy consultant; Preeti Vyas, president at Mythik; and Abigail Dias, associate president planning at Ogilvy. The session will be moderated by Sonali Krishna, editor at ET Brand Equity.
Day two moves from insight to regulation. Under the theme From Compliance to Trust, ASCI will release its Ad Law Compendium, a comprehensive guide to India’s advertising regulations.
The day will open with a keynote by Sudhanshu Vats, chairman at ASCI and managing director at Pidilite Industries, followed by a chief guest address by Sanjay Jaju, secretary at the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Legal experts from Khaitan & Co., including Haigreve Khaitan, senior partner, and Tanu Banerjee, partner, will present an overview of the current advertising law landscape in India and examine whether existing frameworks are equipped to deal with emerging technologies and formats.
Subsequent panels will explore issues increasingly shaping the industry’s ethical compass. Conversations will range from the limits of persuasive design and the rise of dark patterns, to the growing scrutiny brands face from digital creators and consumer watchdogs.
One session will also feature Revant Himatsingka, widely known online as the Food Pharmer, whose critiques of packaged food brands have sparked debate around transparency and corporate accountability.
Later discussions will turn toward media literacy among Gen Alpha, asking how children can be equipped to navigate a digital world where gaming, content and commerce are becoming indistinguishable.
The summit will conclude with a final panel on the future of advertising, bringing together voices from agencies, legal circles and technology platforms to discuss how innovation, intelligence and integrity can coexist.
For an industry built on persuasion, trust has always been its quiet currency. But as audiences grow more sceptical and digital ecosystems more complex, that currency is under pressure.
Events like the AdTrust Summit suggest the advertising world knows it cannot afford to take credibility for granted. The real challenge now is turning conversation into commitment.
