Brands
Ramesh Iyengar as Chair for second term at DMAi’s Hall of Fame(HoF) Selection Board
MUMBAI: DMAi, an apex not for profit, stands for the collective cause of advancing & protecting responsible data driven marketing & advertising has announced the appointment of Nita Kapoor as the Chairperson of DMAi 2014 Marketer of the Year Awards and Ramesh Iyengar as Chairperson of DMAi Hall of Fame which will take place on the sidelines of the DMAi 2014 Convention at New Delhi from 22nd to 24th January 2014.
On these appointments Vatsal Asher, CEO, DMAi noted “With such stellar industry participation, the DMAi has leapfrogged from the past into the present and is poised for the future. I welcome the new chairpersons for the MoY & HoF programs to further the collective cause. With such an eminent chair & jury members, we am certain the MoY will serve as the new gold standard for marketers in the days to come. The HoF has been now established as the standard for lifetime achievement & contribution. I also wish good luck to the eligible contenders for the citation & induction”
The Marketer of the Year Award is fashioned closely on the lines of the program at the global DMA. The program however has been re-modeled to serve the needs of the fraternity here. It is a joint citation for an individual & the company.
This program accolade honors the achievement, innovation, and inspiring leadership of an individual & the company whose work represents the very best in data-driven marketing industry. The individual & company being considered will have exhibited corporate and social responsibility through the innovation and implementation of new products, services, processes and growth within the last 12 months.
Those being considered have had a positive impact on the marketing community and excelled at connecting data and the consumer through data-driven marketing.
Speaking at her appointment Nita Kapoor said, “I believe DMAi has a great idea going. I volunteered my time because recognizing and bringing forth visionaries and exhibiting their transformations have a larger impact than we assume. Responsible & sustainable marketing is the call of the times. Sharing the best practices in play can benefit the entire industry.”
The jury members for the DMAi 2014 – MoY Awards now include Abhsihek Malhotra – Vice President & Partner at Booz & Co; Ambar Chowdhury – Principal at Deloitte; Arvind Wable – CEO & Executive Director at Draftfcb Ulka; Holger E. Metzger – Managing Director at TMRC Impact; Piyush Mathur – President at India for Nielsen; Rajesh Kumar – Head of Marketing, SAP Indian Sub-continent at SAP; Reena Ramachandran – Member Task Force, Performance Division at Cabinet secretariat; Sanjay Sharma – Group Creative Director at FCB Ulka; Sanjay Thapar – CEO, India at Bates and Sanjiv Kapur – Chief Marketing Officer at Citi.
The DMAi Hall of Fame, now in its third year, honors Digital & Direct marketing professionals who have made outstanding career contributions to the practice, growth, and stature of the direct marketing process. It celebrates the spirit of direct & interactive marketing with innovation, collaboration, and creativity.
In line with DMAi’s continuous efforts to create recognition for marketers who have made a difference in the way brands communicate with customers and raised the standards and level of professionalism in marketing. The DMAi Hall of Fame will recognize scholars, marketers, creatives and entrepreneurs who have impacted the direct & interactive industry.
DMAi’s Hall of Fame is modeled along the lines of DMA Hall of Fame, the most prestigious award bestowed in the direct & interactive marketing community. DMAi Hall of Fame will felicitate lifetime achievers in two categories – living & posthumous and as many as four individuals can be inducted every year to serve as an inspiration for future generations and encourage excellence.
In the past the DMAi has inducted Drayton Bird, UK, Winnifred Knight, SA, Late Vivek Basrur, R Sridhar, B S Nagesh & Ramesh Iyengar.
According to Iyengar, “I have the proud distinction of being the first Indian inductee to the DMAi Hall of Fame and I am delighted to serve the DMAi & the fraternity for the second term as the chairperson of the selection board. Like the previous year this year too we have an eminent board of selectors that will bring about rightful recognition to the truly deserving.”
The selection board members including Jodie Sangster, Chairperson of the IFDMA, Winnifred Knight, – Managing Director and Owner, The Marketingsite.com; Ashok Ananthraman, Ex-ITC, Aditya Atri -Loyalty and CRM Consultant; Leena Basrur – Executive Chairman, Direxions Marketing Solutions Pvt Ltd; Raj Bhatia- Managing Director, UCP Loyalty Marketing Pvt Ltd; Nabanita Chaudhri- CRM Consultant, Nespresso SA; Kayzad Hiramanek- Senior Vice president Customer service& operations, ICICI Prudential life insurance; USA; Ramesh Ratan- CEO – Bell & Howells, Director, Joyanto Mukherjee – SVKM’s Harkisan Mehta Foundation Institute of Journalism and Mass Communication; and Shankar Seetaraman.
With the annual DMAi convention having expanded manifold, The DMA International ECHO Awards India edition has been retained back in Mumbai and will happen in June 2014.
The nominations for MoY & HoF are both open till 8 January 2014. The jury for the MoY meets in Delhi on 18 Jan and the selection board for the HoF meets on Jan 10 at Mumbai. The new recipients & inductees will be honored at a glittering ceremony on 23 Jan 2014 at the opulent Radisson blu, Mahipalpur, Delhi on the sidelines the 3rd Annual DMAi Convention. Apart from the awards program the 3 day convention from 22nd to 24 Jan will have 100+ speakers, 164 intense sessions, 15 Dynamic Conference streams.
Brands
Godrej clarifies ‘GI’ identifier after logo similarity debate
Says GI is not a logo, will not replace Godrej signature across products.
MUMBAI: In a branding storm where shapes did the talking, Godrej is now spelling things out. Godrej Industries Group (GIG) has issued a clarification on its newly introduced ‘GI’ identifier, addressing questions around its purpose and design following a wave of online criticism. At the centre of the debate were two concerns: whether the new mark replaces the long-standing Godrej logo, and whether its geometric design mirrors other corporate identities.
The company has drawn a clear line. The Godrej signature logo, it said, remains unchanged and continues to be the sole logo across all consumer-facing products and services. The ‘GI’ mark, by contrast, is not a logo but a corporate group identifier intended for use alongside the Godrej signature or company name, and aimed at stakeholders such as investors, media and talent rather than consumers.
The need for such a distinction stems from the 2024 restructuring of the broader Godrej Group into two separate business entities. With both continuing to operate under the same Godrej name and signature, the identifier is positioned as a way to differentiate the Godrej Industries Group at a corporate level.
The rollout, however, triggered a broader conversation on design originality. Critics pointed to similarities between the GI mark’s geometric composition and logos used by companies globally, raising questions about distinctiveness.
Responding to this, GIG said its intellectual property and legal review found that such overlaps are common in minimalist, geometry-led design systems. Basic forms such as circles and rectangles appear across dozens of brand identities worldwide, the company noted.
It added that the identifier emerged from an extensive design process and was chosen for its simplicity, allowing it to sit alongside the Godrej signature without competing visually. While acknowledging that elemental shapes may appear less distinctive in isolation, the group emphasised that the mark is part of a broader identity system that includes a custom typeface, sonic branding and other proprietary elements.
Following legal and ethical assessments, the company said it found no impediment to using the identifier, reiterating that the GI mark is a corporate tool not a consumer-facing symbol.
In short, the logo isn’t changing but the conversation around it certainly has.
