Saatchi & Saatchi Focus' Harita named president of Bangalore Ad Club

Malavika R Harita, CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi Focus has been appointed president of The Advertising Club, Bangalore for the year 2009-10. Harita (pictured) takes over from PR Satheesh, COO, Tag Media Network.

The new committee consists of PR Satheesh; Arvind Kumar, CEO, Visar Media (also executive director of the Ad Club), RT Kumar, MD Oysters Advertising; Mythili Nirvan, MD, Prachar Media Solutions; Rajesh Gangwani, senior VP, JWT; Prateek Srivastava, group president, Ogilvy South; Darshan M, COO, Deccan Chronicle; Mala James, VP, MAA Communications; Manohar Mason, MD, Pentagon Communications; Navin Nair, head- PR, Madison Communications, Bangalore and Prithviraj Sen Gupta, senior planning manager, Madison Media.

Harita says her mandate will be to keep a constant buzz around the club throughout the year.

"I would like to broad base the activities so that we have a mix of cerebral and sporting events. Some lectures and panel discussions are on the anvil where I am hoping to invite luminaries from the industry to come and share their knowledge and experiences with the club. The Big Bang format also needs to be looked at and changed to include awards for effectiveness and new communication media which are gaining ground like recruitment, interactive and consumer engagement. We would like to make the Big Bang award an aspirational one. Popular activities like quizzes, online contests and college programs are also being planned to involve a younger audience," she added.