GroupM’s Prasanth Kumar Re-elected As AAAI President, Havas’ Rana Barua Becomes VP

At its Annual General Body Meeting held in Mumbai, the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) has re-elected GroupM South Asia CEO Prasanth Kumar as its President and unanimously elected Havas India, South East and North Asia (Japan and South Korea)’s Group CEO Rana Barua as its new Vice President for the year 2024-25.

Other elected members of the AAAI Board are:

1. Madison Communications’ Sam Balsara

2. Everest Brand Solutions’ Tanya Goyal

3. BEI Confluence Communication’s Tapas Gupta

4. Matrix Publicities and Media India’s Vishandas Hardasani

5. Havas Media India’s Mohit Joshi

6. Innocean Worldwide Communications’ Santosh Kumar

7. Crayons Advertising’s Kunal Lalani

8. FCB Kinnect’s Rohan Mehta

9. Maitri Advertising Works’ Chandramouli Muthu

10. Platinum Advertising’s Vikram Sakhuja

11. Standard Publicity’s Kalyan Sarkar

12. Sloka Advertising’s K Srinivas

Additionally, AAAI’s Immediate Past President Anupriya Acharya will be the ex-officio member of the AAAI Board for 2024-25. Going forward, some more experienced professionals will also be inducted on the Board of AAAI and more positions will be filled up later on to make the Board broad-based.

On this occasion, Prasanth Kumar, President of AAAI, said, “I am deeply honoured by the trust AAAI members have placed in me for another term as President of this distinguished institution. Our commitment to championing innovation, upholding the highest standards of planning and creativity, and building on the momentum we have achieved remains unwavering. Our goal is to provide steadfast support to the entire ecosystem, helping the industry navigate challenges and seize new opportunities. With the exceptional team of AAAI members and the broader ecosystem, I am confident we will continue to shape the future of our industry to greater heights.”

To this, Rana Barua, the newly elected Vice President of AAAI, added “Being appointed Vice President of AAAI for the third time is both an honor and a testament to the trust the industry places in me. I look forward to continuing our efforts in driving innovation and excellence in advertising while supporting the growth of this dynamic industry.”

Formed in 1945, the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) is a not-for-profit, industry-led and industry-managed trade association of advertising agencies which is aimed at promoting the advertising industry’s interests to aid them in making an essential and ever-increasing contribution to the nation.

That being said, today, AAAI is truly representative, with a very large number of small, medium and large-sized agencies as its members, who together account for almost 80% of the advertising business placed in the country.