ADASIA 2011 / EVENT ROUND UP

The event was held at the monolithic Taj Palace hotel from 31 October to 3 November and welcomed more than 1200 delegates along with speakers from a selection of global brands, media owners and agency networks. The theme for 2011 was: Uncertainty - The New Certainty.

Business advisor and author of The Talent Masters: Why Smart Leaders Put People Before Numbers, Ram Charan, opened day one and set the tone with an insightful keynote on how digitisation was liberating consumers, stating that 'the markets of the future will be below the line'... Charan was followed by, amongst others, Michael Roth, chairman and CEO, Interpublic, who chaired a panel in which he fired questions on the importance of corporate social responsibility in emerging markets towards Harish Manwani, COO, Unilever, and chairman, Hindustan Unilever.

Contagious' very own Will Sansom spoke on day two, delivering a 45-minute keynote on the hottest Contagious trends, with a particular focus on campaigns which prioritise human experience over the bandwagon technologies so prevalent in digital marketing. Of those case studies shown, audience favourites included Brazilian TV sports channel, BandSports' Parental Control (which allows users to hijack friends'/family's web browsers to display sporting content and results favourable to their team), as well as Burberry's Tweetwalk - which used Twitter to bring fans of the brand closer during London's Fashion Week.

Day 3 began with a dose of local spirituality thanks to Swami Sukhabodhananda - founder & chairman of the charitable Prasanna Trust - who spoke about Indian corporations which have seamlessly synthesized spiritualism and strategy to make sense of today's 'multi-speed world'. Without doubt one of the biggest draws of the congress, however, was saved until last, when PepsiCo chairman and ceo Indra Nooyi took to the stage with a keynote on managing businesses/brands in 'the new world order'.

This new world, she explained, is characterised by extreme volatility which has led to an inherent fear and stifling of creativity. The solution, she claimed, is for businesses to have long-term plans and be aware of the role they can play in society. She also expressed the importance of innovating and making necessary changes on a big, meaningful scale - as well the need for leaders of big companies to be truly visible in the outside world.

www.adasia2011.com