M G Parameswaran, or Ambi as he is known is a Brand Strategist and Founder Brand-Building.com. In a career spanning over three decades Ambi has handled assignments in marketing, sales and advertising with companies like Rediffusion DY&R, Boots Company and UDI Yellow Pages before dropping anchor at Ulka Advertising over two decades ago. He has helped build numerous brands including Digene, Brufen, Santoor Soap, Sundrop Cooking Oil, TCS, ICICI Bank, Wipro, Indica Cars, Zee TV among others.
He served as VP, then as CEO of FCB Ulka from 2003 to 2013, and as Advisor before moving out to set his own Brand Advisory unit Brand-Building.com.
Ambi has been contributing articles to premier business publications, has conducted seminars and branding workshops for Indian/ MNC organizations and industry bodies like CII, FICCI, AIMA etc.; he has spoken at international forums including the Kellogg India Summit at Northwestern University and Cornell University; he has also been a guest faculty at several business schools in Mumbai and at his alma mater, IIM Calcutta.
Ambi now has seven books to his credit including : “FCB-Ulka Brand Building Advertising – Concepts and Cases I & II”; “Understanding Consumers – Building Powerful Brands Using Consumer Research”; “Building Brand Value – Five Steps to Building Powerful Brands” (Winner of 2007 NTPC – DMA Book Prize). His book “For God’s Sake – An Adman on the Business of Religion” was published by Penguin in 2014. June 2016 saw the launch of his book “Nawabs Nudes Noodles – India Through 50 Years of Advertising”, published by Pan Macmillan.
Ambi is currently serving as the President of Advertising Agencies Association of India [2014-16]; he was President of Ad Club Bombay [2003–05]. He was inducted into the Board of Governors of IIMC in 2007 and he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from IIT Madras in April 2009.He successfully completed his PhD from Mumbai University in 2012 and AMP from HBS in 2014.
