Kochi Conclave pays tribute to Piyush Pandey’s creative legacy

A commemorative event titled Piyush Not Out was held at SCMS, Kalamassery, to honour the creative legacy of Piyush Pandey, regarded as one of Indian advertising’s most influential voices. The session brought together industry leaders who reflected on his impact on the profession and on generations of creatives.

Speakers included Prakash Varma, founder of Nirvana Films; Rajiv Rao, former national creative director at Ogilvy India; Prakash Nair, president, Ogilvy Gurugram; Kiran Antony, former chief creative officer, Ogilvy South; and Suresh Eriyat, founder of Studio Eeksaurus.

“Piyush is an all-time great role model for anyone entering the advertising field. Humour and leadership were his defining qualities,” said Prakash Varma.

Across the programme, speakers revisited how Pandey’s leadership style—marked by trust, creative independence and an instinctive approach to storytelling—shaped some of India’s most-recognised pieces of work.

The event was organised jointly by I Am (the association of ad film makers), the Pepper Creative Award Trust, the Kerala Management Association (KMA), the Kerala Advertising Agencies Association (K3A) and the SCMS Group.

Sejoy Varghese, president of the Kerala chapter of the Indian Ad Film Makers, delivered the welcome address. The discussion was moderated by Francis Thomas, creative director at Maitri Advertising. Venugopal K, chairman of the Pepper Trust; Dr T Vinayakumar, trustee; Raju Menon, president of K3A; K Harikumar, president of KMA; and Pramod Thevannoor, vice chairman of the SCMS Group, were also present.

(afaqs! got this information in a press release)