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AdAsia to return to India after a gap of eight years

The Asian Advertising Conference will be held in New Delhi from October 31- November 3, 2011. The theme of the four day conference is 'The New Certainty'.

Ad Asia is all set to return to the Indian turf in 2011, after a gap of eight years. The four day conference will be held in New Delhi during October 31-November 3, 2011. 'The New Certainty' is the theme of the conference.

Madhukar Kamath, group chief executive officer and managing director, Mudra Group and chairperson, AdAsia 2011, says in an official communiqué, "Marketing is dead, engagement is in. Similarly, trust is dead, excitement and edginess are in. Uncertainty is the new certainty. Brands are on an experimental spree through multi-layered communication channels, right from Twitter and Facebook to mobiles and micro-blogging as the new evolving channels.

AdAsia to return to India after a gap of eight years
AdAsia to return to India after a gap of eight years
"Mastering this ever evolving operating environment and its impact on business is gaining critical significance in long term sustainability. We believe that AdAsia 2011 will not only chronicle the changes but also provide a glimpse of impending opportunities and challenges."

The organising committee for the conference includes Ashish Bagga, chief executive officer, Living Media (co-chairperson); Bhaskar Das, executive president, The Times of India Group; and Uday Shankar, CEO, STAR India.

The logo of AdAsia has been redesigned by Mudra Group's design agency, Water. The logo is an assimilation of multicultural motifs on textile from various regions of Asia, which further reflects the dynamism of the region.

Das, who had designed the content for the conference held eight years ago, will assume his role again. However, this time, the challenge will be tougher. Das explains, "While 2003 was a benchmark, AdAsia 2011 will be about the prism of business and will consist of a mix of panel discussions and individual presentations. The whole focus will be on making the session as interactive as possible through various activities."

The website will be ready within a month.

The advisory board for AdAsia 2011 is chaired by Anand Mahindra, vice-chairperson and managing director, Mahindra & Mahindra. The board also comprises Aroon Purie, chairperson and editor in chief, The India Today Group; Kurush Grant, executive director, ITC; Manu Anand, chairperson and CEO designate, PepsiCo India; Nitin Paranjpe, CEO, MD and group vice-president, South Asia, Hindustan Unilever; Piyush Pandey, executive chairperson and creative director, South Asia, Ogilvy & Mather; Raghav Bahl, founder and editor, Network18 Media; Ravindra Dhariwal, CEO, Bennett Coleman and Co.; and Vinita Bali, MD, Britannia Industries.

According to Kamath, 1200 delegates are expected to attend the conference, including 450 international delegates and 200 students.

The last AdAsia conference took place in 2003 in Jaipur. At that time, Rs 5 crore was spent on the event. The event had sponsors such as the Aditya Birla Group and Videocon. The organising committee is of the opinion that this time, it will be bigger and better.

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