AD Agencies
Prasanth Kumar re-elected president of AAAI
Mumbai: Group M Media (India) Pvt Ltd South Asia Prasanth Kumar, was re-elected as President of the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) for the year 2023-24 at the Annual General Meeting of AAAI held on 1 December.
Havas Worldwide India CEO Rana Barua was unanimously elected vice-president of the association.
Other elected members of the Board in alphabetical order are:
Sam Balsara (Madison Communications Pvt Ltd)
Tanya Goyal (Everest Brand Solutions Pvt Ltd)
Vishandas Hardasani (Matrix Publicities and Media India Pvt Ltd)
Mohit Joshi (Havas Media India Pvt Ltd)
Kunal Lalani (Crayons Advertising Ltd)
Chandramouli Muthu (Maitri Advertising Works Pvt Ltd)
Sridhar Ramasubramanian (Beehive Communications Pvt Ltd)
Vikram Sakhuja (Platinum Advertising Pvt Ltd)
K Srinivas (Sloka Advertising Pvt Ltd)
Publicis Group South Asia chief executive Anupriya Acharya will be the ex-officio member of the AAAI Board for 2023-24 as AAAI’s immediate past president.
On this occasion, Kumar said, “I am deeply grateful to the members of the AAAI for re electing me as President, a role I accept with great honor and responsibility. Our collective vision is to strengthen an inclusive environment, actively engaging with all stakeholders to shape a dynamic and future-ready organization. Our commitment is steadfast in strengthening unwavering support for every member, recognizing that while we have achieved few milestones together, there is still a considerable journey ahead. This prospect excites us; it fuels our motivation. When we collaborate and exert our combined efforts, we not only enhance each year for everyone involved but also solidify our resolve to be architects of change within our industry. We stand dedicated to not just witnessing but actively creating a transformative era, steering our organization towards new horizons of innovation and impact.”
On his appointment as vice president, Barua said, “I am passionate about policymaking that leads to impactful and positive changes to the advertising industry, that benefit all the stakeholders, including, media, consumers, and advertising agencies. I believe in the potential of advertising to foster economic development and enhance meaningful social changes. I look forward to collaborating with the AAAI members to bring these shared goals to life.”
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.
