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AdAsia returns to India after eight years

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Masoom Gupte Mumbai
Last Updated : Jan 21 2013 | 12:12 AM IST

The national capital is all set to put on the host’s hat again. This time, for the premier event of the advertising world, AdAsia 2011 - a congregation of the best minds in advertising and marketing from across the continent.

The event, scheduled from October 31 to November 3, has returned to India after a gap of eight years. And expectations of a repeat of the stupendous success of the last one held at Jaipur in 2003 are running high. The organising committee seems acutely aware of this and is leaving no stone unturned.

For Madhukar Kamath, Group CEO and MD, Mudra Group and chairman of the organising committee of AdAsia 2011, it is an event with many firsts, starting with the number of speakers expected at the event. The organisers have already confirmed 38 speakers and are awaiting another 10-12 confirmations, aiming at almost 50 speakers in all from the 100 speakers short listed. According to the organizers, this is a much higher number as compared to the usual 15 -20 speakers at other events. Besides the number, the array of speakers includes spiritual teachers, corporate czars to global CEOs. In fact, the committee prides itself on being choosy about the speakers. Sample this: a session planned on Bollywood and its reach in today’s age was actually scrapped because their speaker of choice, Aamir Khan is unavailable during the conference time.

The theme for AdAsia, 2011, “Uncertainty, the New Certainty” comes against the backdrop of the financial meltdown and the 20-odd sessions to be held over the four days will focus on the various challenges emerging due to the global uncertainties. However, as the organising committee puts it, the event is not just about advertising or Asia, the sessions will focus on many issues beyond this theme and provide all present an unprecedented learning experience.

Efforts for sharing these learnings with many more than the 1,200 delegates present at the Congress are underway. There are talks of live twitter updates, seeking participation of twitter followers via questions during the sessions, webcasts and others are on. However, there are no confirmations just yet. It is also intended to tie up with management institutes to include students in the ambit of the event. “Space is a major constraint and the main reason for us not being able to make any concrete announcements on the front just yet,” says Kamath.

Another first is the  design language, developed specifically for the event. “We wanted to create a logo for the event that would be representative of the continent and its nations,” says Kamath. Based on this mandate, Water Consulting, a brand strategy and consulting firm, collected fabrics and textiles from the different Asian nations and put them together in the logo and designs that will be used for all communication, presentations, brochures and so on. Do you ask which motif belongs to which country? Well, that’s a little guessing game which may just culminate in a contest says Kamath on a lighter note.

Lastly, all the learnings aside, the event holds the promise of a week long gala with performances, lavish meals and theme nights. It will be replete with all the razzmatazz associated with the capital and its high decibel party spirit. Above all, the ‘Indianness’ of the event will stay intact, in tandem with the image Kamath created while presenting the event plans at gatherings across Asia, dressed in a salwar-kurta, playing his part of a gracious Indian host to the T.

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First Published: Sep 17 2011 | 12:55 AM IST

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