Ad Club, AAAI to felicitate marketers at Goafest 2017

Nadia Chauhan, Chandrasekar Radhakrishnan, RS Sodhi, Harish Bhat and Amitabh Kant are among the awardees. It's called the 'Champions of Excellence' Award.

In a recent announcement, The Advertising Club (TAC) and the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) jointly announced the first ever Champions of Excellence who would be felicitated at the Goafest on April 7, 2017. The awards were conceived and curated by the AAAI and TAC for acknowledging and saluting visionary advertisers who have taken the leap of faith and invested resources, ensuring that 'great ideas transform into great advertising.'

The jury consisting of senior members of the Awards Governing Council of the Abby's @ Goafest were unanimous in selecting Amitabh Kant, chief executive officer, NITI Aayog, Chandrasekar Radhakrishnan, senior vice president and head of communications and e- commerce, South Asia region - ‎Nestlé India, Harish Bhat, chairman, Tata Global Beverages, Nadia Chauhan, joint managing director, chief marketing officer, Parle Agro and R.S. Sodhi, managing director, GCMMF (Amul) as the first ever recipients of this new and prestigious industry award for their role in inspiring great advertising.

Nakul Chopra, president, AAAI, says in a press release, "For the first time we are honoring advertisers at the Goafest. This award is very special as it acknowledges the pivotal role played by these men and women we call "clients" but who have acquired a much larger status in the overall brand scenario. These are the select few individuals who have helped build and nurture brands, supporting their Agency partners every step of the way."

Raj Nayak, president, The Advertising Club, says in a press release, "As an industry we need to salute these Brand Custodians who stake the reputation and money of their Brands on the creativity of their advertising agencies. They literally take that leap of faith every day. Having them at Goafest would be very inspirational for the audience.

Ashish Bhasin, chairman, Goafest 2017, says in a press release "we always celebrated advertising agencies, digital companies, production houses and media companies at the Goafest. Now with top advertisers being honored, the festival is more complete.

Ramesh Narayan, chairman, Awards Governing Council, says in a press release, "This award really places the advertiser at the center of the communication effort, and rightfully so. The response for nominations from advertising agencies was quite good and I am confident this would go on to become one of the highlights of the Goafest in the years ahead. What is advertising without the advertiser?"