Subhash Kamath elected ASCI chairman

Kamath is an industry veteran, having spent more than 32 years building brands across various sectors.

Subhash Kamath, chief executive officer at BBH & Publicis Worldwide, India, has been unanimously elected chairman of the board of governors of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). The vote was held at the board meeting that followed the 34th annual general meeting this afternoon. Kamath is an industry veteran, having spent more than 32 years building brands across various sectors.

NS Rajan, managing director, Ketchum Sampark was elected the vice-chairman and Shashidhar Sinha, CEO, Mediabrands India was reappointed as honorary treasurer at the same meeting.

The Board of Governors includes: Abanti Sankaranarayanan, Co-Chairman & Board Member, ISWAI; D Shivakumar Group Executive President, Aditya Birla Management Corporation P. Ltd; Girish Agarwal, Director, Dainik Bhaskar Group ; Harish Bhat, Director, Tata Consumer Products Ltd; KV Sridhar, Chief Creative Officer (Global), Nihilent Ltd; Madhusudan Gopalan, CEO, Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care Ltd; Rohit Gupta, President - Network Sales & International Business, Sony Pictures Networks India P. Ltd; Prof SK Palekar, Centre For Developmental Education, IFIM Business School; Priya Nair, Executive Director Beauty and Personal Care, Hindustan Unilever Ltd; Prasun Basu, President – South Asia, Nielsen (India) P. Ltd; Sivakumar Sundaram, President Revenue, Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd; Umesh Shrikhande, CEO, Taproot India Comm. P. Ltd.

Incoming chairman, Subhash Kamath said: “It’s a genuine privilege to accept this role as Chairman of ASCI. Having served ten years on the board, I have had the honour of working and learning from very senior and experienced leaders of the industry. More importantly, I have learned the immense value of self-regulation and the far reaching impact of the work ASCI has done over the years. Our industry today is at a crucial stage. With the digital revolution influencing brand messaging and engagement with consumers, advertising is evolving rapidly. And with the recent formation of the Central Consumer Protection Authority constituted by the government, self-regulation will be even more crucial in promoting consumer confidence and trust. As I have always said, with great creative power, comes great responsibility. So I look forward to working closely with the ASCI team to continue the good work set up by my predecessors and to introduce some newer, more future-facing initiatives as well.”