Agency CEOs missing in action: Fear and CCI probe cast a shadow over EMVIES

The 25th edition of the EMVIES, one of the biggest celebrations of Indian advertising, was supposed to be a night of glitz, glamour, and well-earned recognition. The stage was set, the trophies gleamed under the bright lights, and the industry’s finest gathered to toast another year of creative excellence. But something was off — some of the biggest names in the industry were missing.

Among the missing were some of the most powerful figures in advertising: Shashi Sinha of IPG Mediabrands, Anupriya Acharya of Publicis Groupe South Asia, Kartik Sharma of Omnicom Media Group, Harsha Razdan of Dentsu, Rana Barua of Havas India, and Dheeraj Sinha of FCB Group.

Even their leadership teams were nowhere to be seen.

Legal teams of several media agencies have advised leaders to avoid industry events and communication with other agencies regarding the CCI investigations to avoid further scrutiny. The whispers grew louder, adding to the growing tension in the room.

Last week, the CCI conducted raids at leading media agencies, including Dentsu, Omnicom, Havas, Madison, IPG, GroupM, and Publicis, as well as industry bodies such as the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI), the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA), and the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF). These searches were carried out over allegations of media cartelization, signaling heightened scrutiny on the sector.

A top CCI lawyer said, "It is a practice advised by legal teams in cartel cases to avoid such industry gatherings and also avoid discussing the investigations. This can lead to rise of further speculations and can even become a part of probe. The CCI officials can question the organizers about the purpose of holding such events."

Further fueling the speculation was an advisory from the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI), which urged media agencies not to discuss the CCI investigations. But this advisory, instead of calming nerves, was leaked - raising even more eyebrows. One industry veteran commented, "They shouldn’t have made it official. The moment you put something like that in writing, it only raises suspicions. It suggests agencies were already discussing things behind closed doors."

Despite the uncertainty, some leaders still showed up, making a silent statement of resilience. Sam Balsara of Madison World, Prasanth Kumar of GroupM, and Rathi Gangappa of Starcom India were among the few senior figures present.

As GroupM took away major accolades at EMVIES, Wavemaker, Mindshare India and EssenceMediacom gained top awards. GroupM leadership team including Praseed Prasad, Priti Murthy, Amin Lakhani, Ajay Mehta, Atique Kazi, Vinit Karnik and Shekhar Banerjee were present at the event.

Now, all eyes turn to the next grand event - Goafest.