AD Agencies
The One Club for Creativity wraps up a successful Portfolio Night 2024
Mumbai: The One Club for Creativity concluded the third edition of Portfolio Night 2024 in Mumbai and has become one of the most important networking events for the creative industry. The event took place on 10 October (virtual) and 11 October (Mumbai) 2024. Fostering connections between emerging talent and established creatives; Portfolio Night is an ecosystem of creative development, the launchpad of careers, and a major force in shaping the future of creativity.
The event was held at the Ecole Intuit Lab in Mumbai and was co-hosted by agencies under Omnicom Advertising Group – BBDO India, DDB Mudra Group, and TBWAIndia. It brought together 110 emerging creatives with diverse academic backgrounds in design, planning, direction, content writing and so on.
BBDO India chairman & CEO Josy Paul, kicked off the event with an inspiring speech. This was followed by an energetic, fast -paced evening of one-to-one portfolio reviews by the jury panel of 30 jurors over the two days.
“Portfolio night is really about a portfolio of creative values: Originality, freedom, fearlessness, love, passion and belief. That’s what I was looking for. It is as much about the people as it is about the work. And I got all of it. For that’s what I saw, felt and experienced at this electric night. Thank you for the collision of emerging talent and established creatives. It was alchemy. The future of creativity is shining bright” said, Josy.
Speaking about this year’s juror experience, DDB Mudra Group CCO Rahul Mathew said, “While the Portfolio Night may come across as a night of evaluation by the creative heads, it’s also an introduction. We’re introduced to where the talent is headed and what the future has in store for our industry. And once again we leave reassured and confident that the future of creativity is bright.”
TBWA India chief creative experience officer Russell Barrett commented, “As always it was an amazing experience to interact with the energy and the openness of the future of our industry. This year I saw a number of portfolios that were not from the traditional areas of creativity – animators, cinematographers, UX, UI designers. While a good number of the other portfolios had experiential and innovation ideas too. It’s great that the portfolios at portfolio night are keeping pace with the rapid changes we’re seeing all around us.”
Sukanya Aggarwal emerged as the winner at the Portfolio Night Mumbai while Udo Döhler Neto won the virtual pan-India Portfolio Night. They’ve both earned the chance to participate in the prestigious global Portfolio Night All-Stars program. This program brings together creatives with winning portfolios from all host cities. These lucky All-Stars will work in global teams on a brief from a major brand and attend seminars and recruiting sessions. At the end of the week, each team presents their pitch, with the winning Portfolio Night All-Stars flown to New York by The One Club for Creative Week 2025.
Jury Panel – Mumbai
|
Sr. No |
Jury Name |
Organization |
|
1 |
Aalap Desai |
tgthr |
| 2 |
Arun Iyer |
Spring Marketing Capital |
|
3 |
Gia Fernandes |
Dentsu Webchutney |
| 4 |
Hemant Shringy |
FCB Ulka |
| 5 |
Josy Paul |
BBDO India |
| 6 |
Kainaz Karmakar |
Ogilvy India |
| 7 |
Mukund Olety |
VML |
| 8 |
Pallavi Chakravarti |
Fundamental |
| 9 |
Priya Shivakumar |
DDB Mudra |
| 10 |
Rahul Mathew |
DDB Mudra Group |
| 11 |
Raj Kamble |
Famous Innovations |
| 12 |
Rajdeepak Das |
Leo Burnett India |
| 13 |
Russell Barrett |
TBWA India |
| 14 |
Shitu Patil |
Publicis India |
| 15 |
Sindhu Sharma |
Enormous |
| 16 |
Sonal Chhajerh |
Leo Burnett India |
| 17 |
Swati Bhattacharya |
LightBox |
| 18 |
Varsha Desai |
MullenLowe Lintas |
Jury Panel – Virtual
|
Sr. No |
Jury Name |
Organization |
| 1 |
Ajeet Shukla |
Dentsu Webchutney |
| 2 |
Akshay Seth |
Ogilvy |
| 3 |
Chandani Samdaria |
L&K Saatchi & Saatchi |
| 4 |
Ishan Mehta |
22feet Tribal Worldwide |
| 5 |
Pooja Manek |
Talented |
| 6 |
Preeti Kaul |
Ogilvy |
| 7 |
Shruti Subramaniam |
BBDO India |
| 8 |
Siddhi Yadav |
McCann |
| 9 |
Snigdha Malhotra |
BBDO India |
| 10 |
Suchitra Gahlot |
FCB Ulka |
| 11 |
Sushant Dharwadkar |
TBWA India |
| 12 |
Vishnu Srivatsav |
22feet Tribal Worldwide |
AD Agencies
Microsoft shifts global media account from Dentsu to Publicis Groupe: Reports
Closed review ends decade-long tie-up; Xbox remit may remain with Dentsu
MUMBAI: Microsoft has reassigned its global media planning and buying business to Publicis Groupe, according to media reports, ending Dentsu’s long-standing stewardship of one of the advertising industry’s biggest accounts.
The move follows a closed review and marks a notable shake-up in the global media landscape. Dentsu, which managed the account through Carat, had held the mandate since 2014 and successfully defended it in a 2018 review.
While the broader business is shifting, Dentsu is expected to retain media responsibilities for Xbox, according to media reports, though the exact contours of that arrangement remain unclear. None of the parties involved have publicly outlined the transition timeline or the full structure of the handover.
The scale of the account underscores the significance of the change. Estimates from COMvergence, cited by Ad Age, peg Microsoft’s global media spend at roughly $700 million last year.
For Publicis Groupe, the win deepens an already expanding relationship with the tech giant. Earlier this year, Microsoft Advertising partnered with Publicis Media Exchange and Epsilon to integrate Epsilon’s data into its platform, aiming to sharpen targeting across search, native and display formats.
The decision reflects a broader industry shift, as large advertisers increasingly favour agency partners with strong first-party data capabilities, AI integration and platform-led solutions. Publicis Groupe has been leaning into this model, positioning its data assets and technology stack as a central differentiator.
For Dentsu, the loss is significant. Media remains a core pillar of its global business, and the development comes close on the heels of leadership changes, including the appointment of Takeshi Sano as global chief executive officer.
The shift also carries a touch of irony. Microsoft and Dentsu have worked closely beyond the client-agency relationship, including collaborations around AI tools such as Copilot to support media and creative workflows.
As the dust settles, the message is clear: in today’s data-driven, AI-powered media world, relationships may be long, but they are rarely permanent.
