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WPP, Omnicom, Publicis and Havas join forces under AAAI Media Council
Chaired by Omnicom Media’s Kartik Sharma, the council has formed three working groups
MUMBAI: The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) has kicked off the inaugural meeting of its Media Council, laying down a sharp action plan centered on talent development, cross-industry collaboration and practical playbooks for emerging adland hurdles.
Chaired by Omnicom Media chief executive officer Kartik Sharma, the council split into three focused taskforces covering Knowledge Sharing, Events and Thought Leadership. Formed as a pillar of AAAI’s 2026–27 agenda, the body serves as an open forum for member agencies to tackle operational headaches and pitch directly to advertisers, media owners and research houses.
The council’s roster packs heavy clout. Joining Sharma on the panel are Monaz Todywalla and Anisha Iyer (Omnicom Media), Amin Lakhani and Navin Khemka (WPP Media), Niti Kumar and Jai Lala (Publicis Media), Uday Mohan and Shibu Shivanandan (Havas), Mayank Bhatnagar (Madison World), Navin Kathuria (R K Swamy) and Rohan Nair (Network Advertising).
To fix the industry’s talent crunch, the council mapped out plans for local and global training tie-ups. It also backed an annual flagship knowledge-exchange platform and targeted playbooks to help media planners navigate fast-evolving media formats.
“The challenges and opportunities before our business increasingly cut across individual agencies, making collaboration essential,” said Sharma, pointing out that the objective is to convert collective priorities into ground-level readiness for the entire media ecosystem.
AAAI president Sandeep Goyal pressed that small and medium-sized agencies must not get left in the margins, noting the council’s job is to ensure every agency tier gets the guidance needed to steer client strategies.
The strategic push also had top AAAI office-bearers steering the conversation, including vice president Jaydeep Gandhi (founder, Another Idea), honorary secretary Babita Baruah (senior regional lead, VML India) and honorary treasurer Punit Batra (chairman and managing director, Ratan Batra Advertising).
