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Olive Crowns JWT’s ‘campaign of the year’
MUMBAI: The India Chapter of International Advertising Association (IAA) hosted the 7th edition of its annual property, the Olive Crown Awards. JWT leads the pack as they bag four Golds at the Olive Crown Awards 2017, on Wednesday 15 March at Famous Studios, Mahalaxmi (Mumbai). The awards acknowledged the remarkable work of those individuals who drove the message of sustainability or ‘green advertising’. The event was attended by senior marketing, media and advertising professionals from across the country.
An eminent jury comprising renowned professionals such as K V Sridhar, Founder & Chief Creative Officer of Hyper Collective; Sonal Dabral, Chairman & Chief Creative Officer of DDB Mudra Group, India; Carlton Disilva, CEO & CCO of Hungama Digital Services, Malvika Mehra, Founder & Creative Director of Tomorrow Creative Lab and Raj Nair, CEO & Chief Creative Officer of Madison BMB, shortlisted the winners through a rigorous process, keeping in mind the contribution of each individual towards saving the earth. The jury for the Corporate Crusader award included Shernaz Vakil, Chairman & MD of Dai-ichi Karkaria Ltd, Suresh L. Goklaney, CEO of Eureka Forbes Ltd, Sachin Kalbag, Editor of The Hindu and K. Anandasagar, MD & Chief Compliance Officer of Citibank, following a similar procedure in short-listing the winners.
The awards were presented across 20 different categories, including the coveted title ‘Green Crusader of the Year’ award, which was presented to the charming actress Dia Mirza for her contribution towards the welfare of the society by associating with NGOs, in addition to her constant efforts towards the green initiative. The award was presented by Monica Tata, along with the Guest of Honour, Actor and Social contributor Vivek Oberoi. The’ Campaign of the Year’ and the ‘Brand of the Year’ awards was presented to The Hindu for their #spiritofBengaluru campaign, ideated by J Walter Thompson, India.
IAA India chapter president Neeraj Roy said, “It is really heartening to see the message of a ‘Green Earth’ reach millions of people with the effective apparatus of mass media. We are extremely honored to host yet another successful edition of the awards, and we look forward to replicating the same success in the coming years with more captivating entries that are contributing in making the world a better place to live in.”
Vivek Oberoi said, “Thanks to a tradition that my family started 11 years ago in our Juhu house lane, of planting trees on each birthday, our locality has transformed, bringing about a significant change.”
Dia Mirza said, “It is a honour to receive the award for Green Crusader of the Year at Olive Crown Awards 2017. It is crucial and extremely difficult to make people realize this umbilical link we have towards the environment.”
MUMBAI: In India’s fast-moving payments race, Visa has just swiped in a new leader. The company has named Suresh Sethi as its India country head, marking a key leadership shift as it sharpens its focus on digital payments growth in the market. Sethi steps into the role following his recent exit from Protean eGov Technologies, where he served as chief executive officer. He succeeds Sandeep Ghosh, who has moved on after more than four years at Visa to pursue an external opportunity.
The appointment comes at a time when Visa is doubling down on its expansion strategy across India and the wider region, deepening partnerships and accelerating adoption in an increasingly competitive digital payments ecosystem.
Sethi brings with him a broad, cross-market perspective shaped by decades of experience across corporate banking, retail financial services, mobile money and large-scale government technology initiatives. He began his career at Citigroup, where he spent 14 years working across India, Africa, South America and the United States, focusing on transaction banking services within the corporate bank.
His appointment signals a blend of institutional experience and market familiarity qualities that could prove critical as Visa navigates a landscape where fintech innovation, regulatory evolution and consumer adoption are all accelerating at once.
As digital payments in India continue to scale rapidly, the leadership change underscores a simple reality, in a market where every tap, scan and swipe counts, who leads the charge can matter just as much as the technology itself.
