Kochi: The Grand Hyatt-Lulu Convention Centre here will be the venue for the 44th global summit of International Advertising Association to be held from February 20-22, 2019. “The Gateway to Kerala” becomes the first Indian city to host the coveted industry event, with ‘Brand Dharma’ as its theme. The last three were held in Washington DC, Moscow and Beijing. The 3 day conference will be held at Lulu Bolgatty International Convention, Kochi.
Reliance Industries Ltd. CMD Mukesh Ambani, Unilever CEO Paul Polman, Qualcomm CEO Steven Mollenkopf, non-executive Chairman of Infosys and former Chairman of UIDAI NandanNilekani, Board Director of Softbank Group and CEO of Softbank Investment Advisors Rajeev Misra and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar are scheduled to address the summit. Bollywood legend and the nation’s most valuable brand ambassador Amitabh Bachchan will also attend, as will fellow star, DeepikaPadukone.
Nearly forty speakers, including tennis great Andre Agassi, Vijay Amritraj, Alibaba Group Chief Marketing Officer, Chris Tung, Facebook VP of global marketing solutions Carolyn Everson, co-founder of Skype Jonas Kjellberg, President and Chief Executive Officer of BBDO Worldwide Andrew Robertson and Executive Chairman & Creative Director of Ogilvy South Asia Piyush Pandey will embellish the occasion. More than 2,000 delegates from nearly 25 countries are expected to participate. Social humanoid robot Sophia, a harbinger of the coming era of cyborgs, will be the star attraction.
Chairman & World President of IAA and Chairman of RK SwamyHansa Group Srinivasan Swamy, IAA World VP and Mathrubhumi Jt. MD M V Shreyams Kumar and IAA India chapter former President Ramesh Narayanan briefed the media.
