Actor Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Kant, Secretary, Industrial Policy and Promotion, Government of India, added star power and value to the inaugural of the Silver Jubilee celebrations of the International Advertising Association (IAA)’s India Chapter at Kochi on September 3.
“We have walked a long way in the last 25 years, starting with 20 members when the organization was formally created, to what we are today,” said Srinivasan K Swamy, President, IAA India Chapter and VP, Development, IAA Asia Pacific in his opening address at the summit, even as Faris
Abouhamad, IAA chairman and Global President, predicted that in the coming 2-3 years, India could be among the top three advertising spenders in the world. Amitabh Kant delivered the keynote address, captivating the audience with his candid admission that he had been approached “to be a back-up speaker in case actor Shah Rukh Khan cannot make it to the summit”. Kant, the brain behind campaigns like God’s Own Country, Atithi Devo Bhava and Incredible India, and now the custodian of the Prime Minister’s Make in India initiative, connected India’s growth to that of advertising, adding, “If India grows at the rate of 9-10% year after year and there is improvement in infrastructure, civic governance, education, poverty alleviation, India’s branding will go up. Branding is the convergence of good advertising and on ground delivery.”
But the man who stole the show was undoubtedly Badshah of Bollywood, also the ‘Badshah of Brands’, Shah Rukh Khan. Pradeep Guha, summit chairman and area director, IAA Asia Pacific introduced Khan, the Guest of Honour at the event, and presented him with a citation recognizing him as an ‘Advertising Icon’. Khan spoke about his association with brands and advertising over the past 25 years. Then he made the gathering gyrate to the tunes of the ‘lungi dance’, amidst much fun and laughter.
