Perfetti Van Melle India MD Nikhil Sharma joins Storyboard18 Awards for Creativity Grand Jury
Nikhil Sharma, Managing Director of Perfetti Van Melle India, joins the Grand Jury of the Storyboard18 Awards for Creativity, strengthening the platform’s focus on culturally resonant, scalable and strategically effective brand storytelling.
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As the advertising and marketing landscape becomes more fragmented, faster and culturally charged, the definition of creativity is being reshaped by those who understand both consumer behaviour and long-term brand building. Reflecting this shift, Nikhil Sharma, Managing Director of Perfetti Van Melle India, has been named to the Grand Jury of the Storyboard18 Awards for Creativity, a platform recognising excellence in modern advertising and brand storytelling.
The Storyboard18 Awards for Creativity aim to celebrate work that goes beyond surface-level craft to demonstrate cultural resonance, strategic clarity and real-world impact. With categories spanning brand films, integrated campaigns, digital and social innovation, purpose-driven creativity, design and visual craft, creative effectiveness and next-generation formats such as AI, gaming and creator collaborations, the awards are structured to mirror the realities of contemporary brand communication.
Apply here: Enter The Storyboard18 Awards for Creativity
A Jury Reflecting India’s Creative and Economic Leadership
The grand jury brings together leaders who have shaped brands, culture and economic thinking in India. The panel includes Amitabh Kant, the force behind the Incredible India campaign and one of the country’s most respected reformers; Praveen Someshwar, CEO of Diageo India; Prasoon Joshi, Chairman of Omnicom Advertising India; strategists and commentators Suhel Seth and Santosh Desai; Anil Viswanathan of Mondelez Europe; Shantanu Deshpande, co-founder of Bombay Shaving Company; Radhika Gupta, CEO of Edelweiss Mutual Fund; and Nikhil Sharma, Managing Director of Perfetti Van Melle India.
Together, the jury reflects the breadth of today’s creative economy—where advertising intersects with culture, business strategy, entrepreneurship and public discourse.
Creativity in an Era of Constant Consumption
The awards arrive at a moment when creativity must perform across multiple dimensions. Brands today operate in an environment defined by short attention spans, platform-led storytelling and heightened consumer awareness. Campaigns must be entertaining yet responsible, culturally fluent yet commercially effective.
The Storyboard18 Awards for Creativity have been designed with this complexity in mind. Entries are judged on originality, cultural relevance, storytelling depth, executional excellence, innovative use of media and technology, and—where applicable—measurable effectiveness. The emphasis is not just on what a piece of work looks like, but on what it achieves.
Apply here: Enter The Storyboard18 Awards for Creativity
Nikhil Sharma and the Science of Mass Creativity
Sharma’s inclusion on the jury brings the perspective of a marketer who has spent years building some of India’s most recognisable FMCG brands. As Managing Director of Perfetti Van Melle India, he oversees a portfolio that includes household names such as Mentos, Alpenliebe, Center Fresh and Happydent—brands that have historically relied on sharp insight, mass appeal and memorable creativity.
Under Sharma’s leadership, Perfetti Van Melle India has continued to invest in brand-building, innovation and marketing-led growth in a category where differentiation often hinges on communication rather than functionality alone. Perfetti has consistently focussed on advertising-led salience and youth-oriented messaging in a highly competitive confectionery market.
That experience makes Sharma a relevant voice in evaluating creativity today—particularly work that must balance scale with originality, and humour or emotion with strategic discipline.
Setting a Contemporary Creative Benchmark
As agencies, brands and creators prepare to submit work released in 2025, the Storyboard18 Awards for Creativity seek to establish a benchmark that reflects how advertising actually works today: fast, fragmented, culturally embedded and increasingly accountable.
