IAA’s India chapter organises 14th Olive Crown Awards

Delhi: The India Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA) hosted the 14th edition of its annual property, the Olive Crown Awards 2024, on April 5 at the ITC Grand Central, Parel, Mumbai. 

The awards acknowledged the remarkable work of those individuals and corporates who drove the message of sustainability or ‘green advertising.’

The event was attended by senior marketing, media, and advertising professionals from across the country. The event was supported by The Hindu Group and Zee News; Blue Star was the cooling partner; Radio City was the radio partner; while Vijay Sales, Rajasthan Patrika, ASUS and News18 were the associate partners for the event. Laqshya Media Group was the outdoor partner and Awardor the strategic partner. 

The jury comprised professionals such as Anupama Ramaswamy (Chief Creative Officer, Havas Worldwide India), K.V. Sridhar (Global Chief Creative Officer Nihilent Limited and Hypercollective), Pateek Bharadwaj (Chief Creative Officer, Lowe Lintas India), Tista Sen (Creative Brand Consultant), Carlton D'Silva (Co-Founder, Musemakers and House of Awe) and Mukund Olety (Chief Creative Office, VML) shortlisted the winners through a rigorous process.

Avinash Pandey, President IAA India Chapter, said, "I believe these awards are not just unique but also very special. Unique because they are a symbol of intra-industry collaboration. Even though this is an IAA India Chapter property, it was launched 14 years ago at the GoaFest which is jointly run by the Advertising Club and the Advertising Agencies Association of India. Even now, it is associated with the Asian Federation of Advertising Associations, thereby being the only property with a real reach in both the Eastern and the Western parts of the world. Special, because these awards symbolize the commitment of the Marcom industry to be not just guardians of their respective brands, but also guardians of Brand Earth.”

Janak Sarda, Chairperson, IAA Olive Crown Awards, added, "Any awards are only as good as the jury that judges them. So let me begin by thanking our jury members who were a real asset to us. Our event could never have been held without the help of our supporters. Some have supported us for the second and third time. This clearly marks them as loyal supporters of the environment. And then I would like to thank those who have sent in their entries from all over the world. Their active participation shows that the marcom industry is indeed populated with people who believe that what's good is also good for business. Finally, I would like to thank each and everyone who is here today. All true friends of the environment. Planet Earth needs you.”

VML bagged 9 awards across categories including the ‘Green Agency Of The Year’ & Green Campaign of the Year’- for ‘#UnplasticIndia’

The Times of India won the ‘Green Brand of the Year’- Gold. 

‘Corporate Crusader Of The Year’ – Gold bagged jointly by Mathrubhumi Printing and Publishing Co. for the work ‘Mathrubhumi Seed’ and The Times of India for their work ‘#UnplasticIndia and Saving Our Stripes.’    

The awards were presented across 17 different categories, including the title ‘Green Crusader of the Year’ award, was presented to Padma Shri Jadav Payeng for his life’s mission to put the green agenda on not just top of their list but to make sure that the people around them have stood up and taken notice. He has a forest spread over 550 hectares after him - the Molai Forest in Jorhat, Assam. 

Popularly known as the Forest Man of India, Jadav "Molai" Payeng is an environmental activist and forestry worker from Majuli. Over the course of several decades, he has planted and tended trees on a sandbar of the river Brahmaputra turning it into a forest reserve.
Malhar Kalambe was awarded the ‘Young Green Crusader of the Year.’ He has been conducting beach clean-ups in Mumbai for the past five years at Dadar Beach, Mithi River and Airoli Mangroves, Elephanta Caves and Carter Road at Bandra. 

He uses social media to draw attention towards his cause, create awareness about environment conservation and plastic pollution, and gather a community of volunteers to help him with on-ground clean-up activities every weekend. He is an environmentalist, founder of BeachPlease and has won accolades from the Government of India as well as is the recipient of U.N. “I am the change I want to see in the world.’

Earth Brigade Foundation bagged Gold in the category ‘Green NGO of the Year.’

Ramesh Narayan was honored as the ‘Most Sustainable Marcom Personality Award’ by Earthday.org. 

The ‘International Green Campaign of the Year’ Gold was won by Grameenphone and Grey Advertising from Bangladesh for their truly outstanding campaign - Green Solar Network.

A ‘Committee Special Mention Award’ was conferred upon an initiative that brought together singers, artistes, green custodians and actors to act on the menace of Plastic waste. Asif Bhamla (Bhamla Foundation), Neeraj Roy (MD, Hungama), Ricky Kej, Shankar Mahadevan and Armaan Malik are a few of those who contributed to the cause.