IAA Debates Chennai: Madhukar Sabnavis and Senthil Kumar take on KV Sridhar and Shaleen Sharma

The IAA Debates, organised by the International Advertising Association (IAA) India Chapter, will be hosted in Chennai on 31 January 2014, in association with the Advertising Club Madras, at Hotel Savera, from 5 to 7.30 pm.

The topic for the fourth in the IAA Debates series reads: ‘There will be no consumer connect, unless advertising is created specially for each South market.’

Supporting the motion will be Madhukar Sabnavis, vice chairman and country head – discovery and planning, Ogilvy & Mather India and Senthil Kumar, national creative director, JWT India. Opposing the motion are Shaleen Sharma, partner – national planning and strategy initiatives, RK Swamy BBDO and KV Sridhar, chief creative officer, India sub-continent, Leo Burnett. The debate will be moderated by Latha Menon, director, Iris Films.

Srinivasan K Swamy, president, IAA India Chapter; VP – development, Asia Pacific, IAA; and chairman, RK Swamy Hansa Group,  said, “The IAA Debates have seen industry leaders deliberate in depth on several topics that are of immediate relevance to stakeholders we serve. We have had debates on the relevance of print and TV in the digital age, on whether advertising awards should also be given for one-off creative expressions, if social media is a good business, and on whether the role of creative has become more critical with media fragmentation. I am happy that the IAA Debates have come to Chennai, after successfully making the rounds of other cities.”

On the topic for IAA Debates Chennai, Partho Dasgupta, co-chair, IAA Debates Committee and CEO, BARC, said, “It is befitting that we bring to the Chennai market - a highly unique market in many respects beyond language - this topic that is bound to spark fireworks from the passionate line up of speakers. The issue of national ads being adapted for South markets has for long irked a vast section here, but then, there is also the view that adaptations have worked as the audience has evolved. This is a long pending debate that warrants discussion and IAA Debates Chennai will settle the issue on what creates real consumer connect. May the best team win.”

Delegates (including media) wishing to attend the IAA Debates Chennai need to register beforehand at [email protected], with name, designation and organisation represented. A limited number of seats are available and delegate invitations will be issues at the discretion of the IAA India Chapter.

The IAA Debates have been hosted so far in Mumbai, Goa, Delhi and Bengaluru. The Debates have featured senior advertising, media and marketing professionals such as Prasoon Joshi, Vikram Sakhuja, Lloyd Mathias, Josy Paul, Pratap Bose, Deepika Warrier, Anupriya Acharya, Arun Anant, Arunabh Das Sharma, Partha Sinha, Mahesh Murthy, Virginia Sharma, Ashok Lalla and Zerin Rahman.

For more information on the IAA India Chapter, log on to www.iaaindiachapter.org.