AAAI opens North India chapter; Kunal Lalani to chair

The Advertising Agencies Association of India has formalised its North India presence with a new North India Chapter, naming Kunal Lalani, Managing Director of The Crayons Network, as Chairman and Santosh Kumar, COO of Innocean Worldwide Communications, as Co-Chair.

Dr Sandeep Goyal, President of AAAI, described the chapter as part of the association’s commitment to “deepening regional engagement and strengthening local leadership.”

01 · A local mandate with national ambition

Kunal Lalani said the chapter will focus on creating opportunities for agencies to learn, collaborate and innovate while addressing the unique dynamics of the North market. He added that North India is home to some of the most dynamic advertisers and advertising agencies, and that the region’s insights should help shape national industry standards.

Santosh Kumar said the chapter aims to bring agency leaders together, nurture regional talent, and deliver programs that strengthen talent, creativity and business growth.

02 · Why this matters for brand teams

For CMOs and marketing teams, the new chapter is more than an association update. It signals that agency bodies are building leadership structures around regional realities, not just aggregating membership numbers from a national head office. It also creates a more direct route for smaller and mid-sized agencies to participate in conversations that often happen in closed national circles.

• North Indian agencies get a dedicated forum to learn, collaborate and innovate.
• Regional talent development becomes a visible priority.
• Local market insights gain a direct route into national advertising standards.

03 · The leadership mix

The two appointments bring complementary strengths. Lalani’s agency leadership at The Crayons Network gives the chapter a strong domestic network view, while Santosh Kumar’s Innocean experience brings a global network and digital transformation lens. That mix is likely intended to make the chapter both locally rooted and internationally informed.

For brand-side marketers, the chapter could become a useful listening post on how agencies in the North are organising themselves around talent, creativity and regional client needs. If your agency partners are active in North India, the chapter gives you a practical reason to engage: it can surface talent programs, collaborative resources and local market intelligence that national platforms may miss. The broader lesson is that structure follows strategy, and regional chapters only matter when they are given real decision-making scope.

04 · Execution will be the measure

The real test is how quickly the chapter moves from intent to action: programs, talent initiatives, and standard-setting work that North Indian agencies can actually use. Watch for the first set of programs; their speed and depth will tell marketers whether the chapter is a working forum or a ceremonial name. A stronger regional agency ecosystem tends to show up in better local insight, sharper creative and more responsive agency partners.

If the chapter works as designed, it could become a model for how industry bodies engage markets beyond the usual metro clusters.

Source: Indian Advertising Media & Marketing News – exchange4media

Mad About Marketing Desk The strategists and writers at Mad About Marketing, writing up what we see in the work every week.