The One Show
The One Show is the world's most prestigious award show in advertising and design. For over 50 years, the Gold Pencil has been regarded as one of the top prizes in the creative industry. The One Show has a rich legacy of honoring some of the most groundbreaking ideas, created by some of the most remarkable minds in creativity.
One Show 2024 Creative Effectiveness Jury
Aditya Kanthy
CEO
Omnicom Advertising Services
Mumbai
Aditya was born into a military family, where he moved homes every couple of years. The constant travelling, new places and living in villages and towns across the country, helped him develop a deep sense of empathy and an appreciation of culture at a young age.
These early influences translated into advertising as a career choice. He started his journey with the erstwhile Mudra in 2003 as a strategic planner, taking on various responsibilities over the years including that of the Chief Strategy Officer, a role in which he helped shape India’s most successful independent advertising agency into an Omnicom-owned integrated marketing communications group. As the CEO of the newly formed Omnicom Advertising Services, he will help bring together the power of DDB, TBWA and BBDO in India, to provide a wider breadth of capability and scale for clients in the country.
He has overseen globally recognized Diversity, Equity & Inclusion initiatives like ‘The Phyllis India Project’ which builds and develops a community of women leaders; and ‘Open Pride’ which focuses on respectful representation in creative work and an inclusive work environment for the LGBTQIA+ community & allies. DDB Mudra Group, one of the agencies that form Omnicom Advertising Services in India, was the first Indian agency to include same-sex & live-in partners in medical insurance, the first to offer professional mental health resources years before the conversation became mainstream; and provides best-in-class paternity leave to enable equal parenting.
As a strategist and then as the head of DDB Mudra Group, his work has been awarded at Cannes, WARC, D&AD, Spikes Asia and the Effies across categories including a Gold in 2021 for Audience Insight and Creative Strategy at Cannes. Aditya has represented India on global and national forums, most recently as a juror for Creative Effectiveness at Cannes 2023, WARC Awards for Effectiveness 2023, and APAC Effie Awards 2023.
Aditya graduated with honors in Economics at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi and is a gold medalist from MICA, Ahmedabad. He lives in Mumbai with his wife and enjoys seeing the world afresh through the eyes of his young son.
These early influences translated into advertising as a career choice. He started his journey with the erstwhile Mudra in 2003 as a strategic planner, taking on various responsibilities over the years including that of the Chief Strategy Officer, a role in which he helped shape India’s most successful independent advertising agency into an Omnicom-owned integrated marketing communications group. As the CEO of the newly formed Omnicom Advertising Services, he will help bring together the power of DDB, TBWA and BBDO in India, to provide a wider breadth of capability and scale for clients in the country.
He has overseen globally recognized Diversity, Equity & Inclusion initiatives like ‘The Phyllis India Project’ which builds and develops a community of women leaders; and ‘Open Pride’ which focuses on respectful representation in creative work and an inclusive work environment for the LGBTQIA+ community & allies. DDB Mudra Group, one of the agencies that form Omnicom Advertising Services in India, was the first Indian agency to include same-sex & live-in partners in medical insurance, the first to offer professional mental health resources years before the conversation became mainstream; and provides best-in-class paternity leave to enable equal parenting.
As a strategist and then as the head of DDB Mudra Group, his work has been awarded at Cannes, WARC, D&AD, Spikes Asia and the Effies across categories including a Gold in 2021 for Audience Insight and Creative Strategy at Cannes. Aditya has represented India on global and national forums, most recently as a juror for Creative Effectiveness at Cannes 2023, WARC Awards for Effectiveness 2023, and APAC Effie Awards 2023.
Aditya graduated with honors in Economics at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi and is a gold medalist from MICA, Ahmedabad. He lives in Mumbai with his wife and enjoys seeing the world afresh through the eyes of his young son.