SAM BALSARA Chairman and Managing Director, Madison World
Sam is a Management Graduate from Bajaj Institute with over 30 years experience in Marketing (Sarabhai's & Cadbury's) and Advertising (Contract, Mudra & Madison). He started Madison in 1988.
He is actively involved in various industry committees to further the cause of advertising and media in the country. Some of the associations he is involved with include Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI), IBF – AAAI Joint Committee, INS - AAAI Joint Committee, National Readership Studies Council (NRSC), Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) and many others.
He has been nominated as a Media Jury member at International Advertising Festival, Cannes in 2005 and is also a speaker at several National & International Conferences.
He has been ranked as the Most Influential Person in Media over the last 4 consecutive years and the 3rd Most Influential Person in Advertising in 2008 by the Brand Equity Ad Agency Reckoner.
Contact Sam at: Madison World,
349 Business Point,
Western Express Highway,
Andheri East,
Mumbai - 400069
Having over 25 years of experience in advertising at Mudra and Madison, Prabha has been steering Madison Creative in the right direction for the past 16 years.
Prabha has to her credit, the growth of Cinthol from 9% to 18%, taking Whisper from 26% to 50%, moving Jumpin from 8% to 35%, successfully repositioning Camlin & TBZ and putting them on the growth track, and making BenQ one of the top 4 players in a short span of 1 year in the highly competitive mobile phone market.
Prabha was selected by Procter & Gamble to be part of a 10 member global strategic think-tank on Whisper, for Cloth Conversion in key markets. She is also currently the Chairperson, Media Relations Committee, Ad-Club Bombay.
Punitha has about 15 years of experience in all facets of media- strategy, planning, buying, research and operations. She has worked with several agencies like O&M & Initiative Media and in several markets like Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai before joining Madison . Her experience spans a wide range of products including FMCGs, durables and financial services.
She has been voted amongst the top 15 most influential people in the Indian Media Industry by Brand Equity Ad Agency Reckoner 2007. She is also the winner of GR8 Woman Achiever Award 2006.
Punitha has been recently featured in Business Today’s Most Powerful Women in Indian Business Issue as one of the 10 rising stars.
Contact Punitha at: Madison Media Group,
349, Business Point,
Western Express Highway,
Andheri (East),
MUMBAI - 400069
VEENA GIDWANI
Chief Executive Officer,
Madison Public Relations
Veena has over 27 years experience in Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations.
She started her career in Advertising as an Account Executive, moved over to the client side
and then to outdoor media where she was instrumental in bringing Airport Advertising to India and instituting awards for excellence in Outdoor Advertising.
Veena has played a vital role in getting the PR business recognized as an important management function. For the past 12 years, she has been responsible for setting up and managing new businesses like:
Madison Public Relations – Her key contribution in the past six years has been making the business grow substantially through PR services that enhance corporate and brand image and by building a team of qualified, enthusiastic and committed professionals.
Prima Communications Ltd, the Image Management agency of Pressman Advertising.
Design Shop India Limited, the creative agency of Tata Donnelly, which was her initiative for the Company to diversify into creative services.
Professional Activities: Chairperson Awards Committee and Publications and PR committees of the
Advertising Club, Mumbai Immediate Past President of Public Relations Consultants Association of India
(PRCAI) Immediate Past President of Public Relations Society of India, Mumbai Chapter
(PRSI) She lectures regularly at institutes like Narsee Monjee, Xaviers’ Institute of Communications and Symbiosis Institute of Mass Communications. She is also a recipient of The Indira Super Achiever Award for Women Achievers
She was also recently honoured Professor Emeritus by the Symbiosis Institute
of Media and Communications.
Contact Veena at:
Madison Public Relations, 3 rd Flr, Zoroastrian Bldg, Horniman Circle Fort MUMBAI 400023
Armed with a B.com (Hons) Degree from Bombay University, Mr. Sheshadri began his career with Clarion advertising as a Trainee Accounts Executive in 1979. He gained experience from handling various multinational accounts like Geoffrey Manners, Richardson Hindustan (P&G), and other major national accounts like Vazir Sultan Tobacco (ITC). A rise in his career led him to being the Group Manager - Accounts at Ulka, where he was in charge of prestigious clients like Voltas, Godrej, HDFC, Singapore Airlines and Agfa. He joined Anugrah in 1988 as the Director - Client Service.
He is currently the President of the Advertising Club, Madras and a faculty member in the Diploma Course in Advertising, conducted by the Ad Club Madras.
Contact Seshadri at:
Anugrah Madison Advertising Pvt. Ltd.
Jammi Building, I Floor,
125 Royapettah High Road,
CHENNAI - 600 004
Darshana, is a management graduate from NMIMS and has over 8 years of sales experience in Indian Express Newspapers and Sony Entertainment Television. She started a company called TeamWorks fp&e for entertainment-associated advertising, which has had the opportunities to work with film projects like Chalte Chalte, Main Hoon Naa, Kyun! Ho Gaya Na..etc. This company is a part of the JV, which formed MATES.
Contact Darshana at:
MATES
303 VIP Plaza
Off Andheri Link Road
B7 Veera Industrial Estate
Andheri (West),
MUMBAI - 400053
Arminio is a graduate in Fine & Applied Art with a post graduate degree in Management and has over 20 years of experience in the field of Communication. He commenced his career in the creative department of JWT and later in the management team as Vice President and Clients Services Director. During this period he has been involved with many MNCs and trusted Indian household names. He was appointed President, Portland India in 2001 and has been responsible for the dramatic growth of the company – over a period of 5 years. He has been appointed as the Technical Advisor to MRUC on the Indian Outdoor Research Survey Programme and is a member of the Advisory Board of “Outdoor Today” – India's leading magazine on Outdoor Advertising.
Contact Arminio at: MOMS & Platinum Outdoor
201, Kamla Executive Park,
Opp Vazir Glass Factory,
Kondivita Road,
Andheri (East),
Mumbai 400 093
Rachna Lanewala is a qualified Architect with over 12 years of experience in retail design. She has worked with retail brands including Shopper’s Stop, Piramyd group (Trumart and Jammin) and Crossroads mall.
Prior to joining madison+rkd /iQ she was with Reliance Retail where she was involved in conceptualizing and designing of Reliance Mart, Reliance Fresh, Reliance Digital, Reliance Trends and Sahakari Bhandar.
LARA BALSARA
Business Development and Diversification Manager, Madison World
Lara has done her Masters in Marketing from UK and is responsible for diversification into unexplored areas of communication. If you have any ideas/suggestions for Madison, you can get in touch with her. She is also in charge of organization building and recently conceptualized a unique Madisonites Stock Partnership Scheme to attract and retain talent within the Group.
Contact Lara at Madison World
349 Business Point,
Western Express Highway ,
Andheri East,
Mumbai - 400069
Chairperson Awards Committee and Publications and PR committees of the
