Brand Dharma theme at International Advertising Association's World Congress

The who’s who of the corporate, advertising and branding from across the world will gather at the International Advertising Association (IAA) World Congress scheduled to be held in India next month. The three-day event from February 20 to 22, 2019, at Kochi will be the first such event in IAA’s 80-year history to be held in India.

Speaking with DNA Money, Srinivasan Swamy, chairman and world president, IAA, said, IAA has had 43 editions of World Congress in its 80-year history. “The 44th edition is happening in India and it is for the first time this event is being held in the country,” said Swamy, adding that world renowned speakers from marketing, advertising, communications, media and technology sectors will make their presence felt at this gathering.

The speakers include Reliance Industries Ltd chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani, Unilever chief executive officer Paul Polman, Qualcomm CEO Steven Mollenkopf, non-executive chairman of Infosys Nandan Nilekani. Rajeev Misra, CEO, SoftBank Investment Advisors, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Bollywood actors Amitabh Bachchan and Deepika Padukone will also participate. Some of the other speakers include tennis greats Andre Agassi, Vijay Amritraj, Alibaba Group chief marketing officer Chris Tung, Facebook vice-president of global marketing solutions and Simon Kahn, chief marketing officer of Google APAC.

Discussing the theme ‘Brand Dharma, What’s coming next?’ speakers will punctuate the changes that will make a difference in the industry. “The global speakers will emphasise on the direction in which things are moving. It will be difficult to predict the disruptive technologies that will change the way business is done. Having said that, the future can be predicted as to how things will happen in 2-3-5-10 years from now if the direction is right. That’s what we will decipher from the individual experiences of speakers and participants from the world over,” said Swamy.

The conference will offer participating delegates an insight into some of the key focus areas that can be taken back and applied to one’s work life. “The quality of speakers at the conference will actually give you those 3-4 key points to help make considerable changes in the way you work and approach life. If you look at brands today, they need to serve a higher purpose than just satisfying the needs of the consumers. Brands have to stand for what is right and what is wrong and ensure they practise every aspect of it, else consumers will start ignoring you. That’s what will be discussed in detail under the theme Brand Dharma,” said Swamy.

On reasons for holding the first IAA World Congress at Grand Hyatt Lulu International Convention Centre, Kochi, Swamy said it’s the best convention centre facility in India. “We looked at various venue options across the country and found that this was the only property worth our while. The facility is world-class and well-equipped to accommodate the huge turnout of delegates expected for the event. Located on an island, it’s also a very exciting venue to house 2,500 delegates in including students who will also get to experience such a grand gathering of corporate leaders and advertising, marketing, branding, media and technology professionals,” said Swamy.

The conference will also focus on offering in-depth insights into topics like artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT), machine learning (ML), data science/ mining and analytics. Focus will also be on the advent of over the top (OTT) platforms that has become a rage with the millennial populations. Topics like online/ digital marketing and its evolution, changing consumer behaviour and its impact on various businesses will be delved into by respective subject specialists as well.