Countdown to AdAsia 2003 begins

The countdown to the Asian advertising congress, AdAsia 2003, has begun. At a press meet in Delhi yesterday, the Advertising Council of India, the apex body of advertising, media and allied associations in India, unveiled the programme for the four-day congress scheduled to begin in Jaipur, Rajasthan, on November 10. Held once every two years, AdAsia has come to be recognised as the most important advertising meet in Asia.

Speaking to agencyfaqs! at the conference, Ramesh Narayan, MD, Canco Advertising, and chairman, Planning Committee, AdAsia 2003, said, "This is the largest event of its kind covering marketing, advertising and media. Our effort would be to project to the rest of the world the best of Indian advertising, marketing and media."

The convention, which will run from November 10-14 (November 12 being the ‘off-day') at the Birla Convention Centre, will include such topics as the future of communications, building great brands, challenges for mass media, and IT and changing lifestyles. The advisory board that arrived at the theme - Break the Rules! - and drew up the list of likely speakers and topics included MS Banga, chairman, HLL, MK Khanna, chief executive, JWT, Gautam Rakshit, managing director, Advertising Avenues, Pradeep Guha, president, The Times of India group, and Ramesh Narayan, managing director, Canco Advertising, among others.

Rakshit informs there will be 20-odd speakers chosen from "marketing gurus, advertising geniuses, ace strategists and top-notch consultants". The panel boasts of names such as CK Prahalad, professor, University of Michigan Business School, and one of the most influential thinkers on strategy, Jeff Goodby, co-chairman, creative director, Goodby Silverstein & partners, Trevor Beattie, chairman and creative director, TBWA Worldwide, and Lester Wunderman, worldwide director, Wunderman's marketing Lab.

But it's not all work that's on the agenda. Sight seeing trips, networking parties and even a fashion show - that would beat the Lakme India Fashion Week, informs Rakshit - have been thrown in. "There is a conscious turning away from all the rules that have been laid down, and a move to think out of the box. Many of our speakers have been chosen because they have broken the rules. We have also broken many rules - right from the choice of Jaipur rather than Mumbai or Delhi, to organising a day of sight-seeing for delegates," explains Narayan. © 2003 agencyfaqs!