Awards
Future Group awards media duties to Starcom
MUMBAI: Future Group and Starcom MediaVest Group have jointly announced that with effect from 1 January 2007, all media investments for member companies of the Future Group, will be managed by Starcom Worldwide.
The Starcom responsibility of the Future Group media investment management will be handled by Manish Porwal, who is slated to assume his new responsibility of Starcom Worldwide India-West and South managing director, starting 1 January.
The account will be managed by Starcom in three separate locations in India – Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi, with central reporting to the marketing team at the group’s head quarters in Mumbai. Some of the staff to handle the account will be shifted from Starcom’s existing talent pool, while some others will be recruited from the market.
Specific initiatives that Starcom wishes to implement to activate this assignment will be announced in due course.Pantaloon Retail president-marketing Sanjeev Agrawal said, “We are passing through some really exciting times, with consumer spends growing rapidly, and retailing as a business literally exploding. We are a pioneer and leader in the area of retail. We recognize that the media landscape in India is complex and will be even more so in the times ahead. To take us through the challenges and opportunities ahead and help our brand connect with our consumers, we were looking for a new media partner.
Starcom’s focus on Return on Objectives [ROO] as a new metric for marketing accountability appealed to us. We were also happy to see that they have built true 360 degrees communication capability over the last few years. These are the reasons we decided to align with them” commenting on the win, Starcom MediaVest Group CEO-South Asia Ravi Kiran said, “I believe we have a complete mind match with the Future Group marketing team. For some time now, we have been proposing a view of the future of marketing and communication which is based on today’s market realities of attention-challenged, multi-tasking consumers, and the need to activate all the assets of media owners, instead of just negotiating with them to reduce cost. This is the basis for Return On Objectives, a principle that emphasizes leveraging market opportunities, rather than internal constraints such as minimizing costs.
We hope to deliver engaging consumer connections, using platform-agnostic ideas, activated media owner assets and through-the-line planning and execution capabilities, to the brands of Future Group.”
Mumbai based retail group Future Group’s flagship enterprise is Pantaloon Retail in addition to other companies such as Home Solutions Retail India, Indus League Clothing, Galaxy Entertainment and others. the group operates through six verticals: Future Retail (encompassing all lines of retail business), Future Capital (financial products and services), Future Brands (all brands owned or managed by group companies), Future Space (management of retail real estate), Future Logistics (management of supply chain and distribution) and Future Media (development and management of retail media spaces).
Awards
Ajay Kakar to chair jury for ad:tech Honours Awards 2026
Industry leaders join jury as nominations surge for marketing tech awards
NEW DELHI: The ad:tech Honours Awards 2026 are gearing up for a bigger second edition, with Ajay Kakar, head of corporate branding at Adani Group, set to chair the jury for India’s technology-focused marketing awards.
Organised in partnership with the International Advertising Association India Chapter, the awards celebrate the growing influence of technology in shaping modern advertising and marketing outcomes. This year’s edition has drawn a strong response from across the industry, signalling rising momentum around innovation in marketing technology.
The organisers say the nominations reflect a wide range of ideas and approaches, highlighting how brands and agencies are increasingly leaning on platforms, tools and data to sharpen their campaigns and connect with audiences more effectively.
Leading the evaluation process, Kakar will head a jury made up of senior leaders from across brands, agencies and technology platforms.
The jury panel includes Amaresh Godbole, CEO, digital technology business at Publicis Groupe; Bishwajeet S, head of marketing and PR at Volkswagen India; Carol Goyal, executive director at Rediffusion and CEO of Aesthetic Intelligence Lab; Kushal Sanghvi, director at Komerz; Lara Balsara, executive director at Madison World; Rana Barua, group CEO India, sea and North Asia; Deepak Oram, senior vice president growth marketing and martech; and Priyanka Khaneja Gandhi, head of marketing and creative solutions at Amazon Ads India.
The ad:tech Honours Awards aim to recognise not just creative campaigns but the smart use of technology that delivers measurable impact and business results. Categories this year reflect the rapidly evolving digital landscape, covering areas such as artificial intelligence, data-driven marketing, content ecosystems, automation, martech and adtech integration, and commerce-led marketing.
The winners will be announced on 17 March 2026 at the Yashobhoomi Convention Centre in New Delhi during ad:tech New Delhi 2026. The event is expected to bring together leaders from brands, agencies, platforms, creators and technology partners for an evening celebrating the ideas and innovations shaping the future of marketing.iconductor industries.
