Shaji Kizhakathra

Strategic Branding, Advertising & Design Consultant, Founder & Managing Director of Apostrofo. Educated from Manjeri, Bangalore and Dubai. Shaji Kizhakathra has more than 25 years of experience in handling myriad multinational brands in UAE, with many prestigious awards for his contribution including London International Awards(LIA), Cresta International Advertising Awards, New York Festival Awards etc. Associated with International research agencies like AC Nielsen, Ipsos, Ernst & Young etc on various brands.

He has worked on almost all brand categories in UAE for more more than two decades with a base in Dubai Media City and that includes Sony, Sharp, Samsung, Nokia, Ford, Mazda, Peugeot, Ajmal Perfumes, Titan, Tanishq, Masafi, Total Lubricants, Elf, Dunlop Tyres, Khaleej Times, Splash, Giordano Fashion, VLCC, Kempinski Hotels, Gems Education, Global Pharma…to name a few, right from conceptualizing concepts to execution. He used most of the fashion photographers, model agencies, digital artists, film production houses in UAE & Mumbai. He loves to work on campaigns, Scripts, corporate identity, brand philosophy, research, Strategic Presentations, creative and strategic discussions, research, photo/film shoots, ad -campaigns & films and events…etc. A good professional network across the world was the only inspiration and confidence before conceptualizing Apostrofo as a consortium, aiming to give comprehensive brand solutions for aspiring brands, with a global perspective.

15000+ creative visuals, 575+ product and fashion shoots..Films, Launches, Discussions, Blogs, Events.. and still keeps a burning desire to do more and share the same through Brand consultancy.

A Philanthropist, actively involved in 7 Art & Cultural organizations in and abroad. Founder member and Vice chairman of Ema Manjeri Global Trust, part of Manjeri’s Global expatriate Association with 20 years of legacy.

Krishna Kumar

Media Professional with thirty years of experience in Media Marketing ( All media formats - TV, Print, Radio & Digital) in India and the gulf. In depth understanding of Media landscape and marketing communication trends in both offline and online media. Worked with top media houses in India like Bennett Coleman & Co (Times of India Group), Malayala Manorama Group etc. Played a key role in launching Malayala Manorama Newspaper and Television in the Gulf. He is the Director and CEO of Apostrofo.

Sasi Menon (Director Gateway ERP)

Sasi Menon is the founder/CMD of Gateway ERP. “Real Time Operational Control” is the key to success for any business. SMEs consist of over 90 % of the total business houses in the world and majority of them continue to follow the traditional operating procedures due to a variety of reasons. Modern digital tools and platforms are still outer bounds to many due to financial constraints. GATEWAY ERP, a BPM software was designed to meet the requirements of primarily SMEs. It offers customized and automated solutions to all industry verticals as: ready to use, economically viable, easy to implement with access from anywhere options.

Dr. Pattathil Dhanya Menon ( Managing Director, Avanzo Cyber Security )

India’s first woman cybercrime investigator, over 15 years of experience in cyber laws and cyber security, recipient of ‘Woman of the Year‘ award from the President of India, Dr Pattathil Dhanya Menon, pursued her career in Cyber Crime, a phenomenon that a newly Digital India was slowly waking up to. Worked as a consultant for the Govt. of India, She now offers consultancy to over sixteen State Governments in India, including Kerala. In today’s digital data driven economy, when brands are molded with process automation, ‘Data protection’ is of paramount importance. Avanzo now offers consultancy in Formulating security policies for corporates, Intellectual property rights ( IPR) in cyberspace, Cyber forensics, Cyber Legal Audit & IS Audit for Banks and Security Audit as per ISO 27001. Cyber investigation for governments and Case presentation in front of adjudication officers ( India ). Avanzo also conducts Awareness Training Programmes for MNCs, Industry, Govt Depts etc, Avanzo also runs a programme called CAP (Cyber Awareness Programme) in schools to make kids and their parents aware of the risks we face in the virtual world.

Saro Chandra Bhooshan - Bengaluru ( CEO, Series-5 LABS, IIM Bengaluru )

Founder / CEO of Series-5 Labs, an IIM Bangalore incubated enterprise. Over 14 years of experience, proven track results as an R&D Engineer and an innovator in enterprise software product development with expertise in Software Defined Networking (SDN), ‘Openstack’, Cloud Software Platform development, Web Technologies, OLTP and Operating system Internals’. SDM-Software Defined Marketing’ is a unique concept aimed at providing digital experiences to customers, brand engagements, public mobility management, media asset management etc. in ‘Real Time’. This in turn will provide rich user experience to consumers and deep customer insights to brand owners in Real Time resulting in focussed and meaningful engagements with customers.

Zach Abraham - Canada (Director/Partner, US Communications, Canada )

Zach has over 25 years of experience in the advertising industry. He began his career at JWT as a copywriter and has developed a valuable portfolio of international experience across a wide category spanning consumer, packaged goods, financial, automotive and healthcare. Prior to starting Us Communications in Canada, he was Associate Creative Director at Anderson DDB responsible for all the Digital and Direct work produced by the agency. Zach has won a number of national and international awards for creative excellence including the London International Advertising Award, The New York Festival, The One Show, The Webby, IN AWE, RX Club NY, Mobius and RSVP among others. He was also a judge for the New York Festival Interactive Awards.

Afthab Shoukath - Calicut ( CEO, Xpresso Global )

Afthab Shoukath an entrepreneur, business consultant, speaker, and trainer with an experience of 12+ Years in education, entertainment, events, branding, and consulting. He kick-started his career as the CEO of ‘PEEVEEAAR’ Metro village " The largest ever township in Kerala" and CEO of Benchmark International School Manjeri. Then moved on to business consultancy and started ASA consulting. Xpresso Global is his new initiative focussing on events. Within a short span he created a benchmark in the industry with 100 + mega events, launched 50+ premium brands across 25+ industries. Afthab has won several awards such as the “Young entrepreneur” and “Outstanding business personality”.

Ajith Rajan - Dubai

Dubai-based young entrepreneur and a qualified Telecommunication Engineer with vast experience in Core technologies and with SUN, HPE ,EMC, CISCO, IBM technologies etc. He started a company in 2014 with a good clientele that includes Nokia Mobikeum Oberthir Morpho Gemalto Thales Mobileum etc, along with UAE's Etisalat. He has handled multiple Telco projects in the Middle East & Africa, Europe, and Asian subcontinent successfully. With his technological interest and engineering passion, Ajith has got into the world of acoustics wherein made use of his innovative ideas and diversified his business into audio visual and media production.

Srivilasan Madhavan - Bengaluru (Brand Strategist )

Corporate brand builder with over 25 years of experience in marketing, advertising and PR communications, and was heading Mashreq Bank in UAE, now relocated in Bangalore.

Shadwell Fernandez - Australia ( Brand Strategist )

Advertising and Marketing Professional with global experience in marketing brands such as Mahindra and Mahindra, Godrej, Nelco, Giordano, Subaru and Victoria University, Australia. Equipped with a Masters Degree in Business and tons of experience in crafting strategic advertising and marketing plans, Shadwell is your key contact for business in Australia.

Sugeeshma Chembreri ( Brand Strategist )

With a Masters in Economics from Calicut University and PG diploma in International Business, Sugeeshma holds a position of Business Development Manager at Apostrofo Olive for the last 2+ years. With a research mind and economics background, she is enthusiastic about conceptualizing Brand strategies and has been actively involved in some projects.

Suresh Kumar - Delhi ( Consultant Illustrator )

Born in 1963, he was schooled in London & graduated in Commercial Arts from Delhi College of Art. He is currently a visiting faculty in two Design Schools in the capital to share his vast experience & professional knowledge to enthusiastic students. Throughout his career he has been recruited by many ad agencies like Anthem, Mudra Communications, Contract, Lintas, Trikaya Grey, etc. He has created brand mascots, illustrated creatives for Nestle’s MilkyBar & Milo, Dabur’s Hajmola & McDonald’s. Over the years he has even created various caricatures, cartoons, etc. for The Times of India, Hindustan Times, Target Magazine, and many other such publications. Mr. Suresh Kumar is listed with the panel of artists at the Department of Posts. He has created more than 120 Postage Stamps for the Govt. of India. The latest from that lot was launched by the PM in October 2019. One can find his current work on display in New Delhi at various venues such as the ‘Art Alive Gallery’, ‘Artoholic’s Gallery’, and ‘Passage Art’.

Sachin Ravindran - Mumbai ( Product Designer )

Design to him is a problem-solving discipline. As a Product Design Alumnus of National Institute of Design (NID) Ahmedabad & Former Head of Concept Design at GM Modular Pvt. Ltd, Sachin Ravindran demonstrates great work. With a history of mainly designing home electronics, he displays strong arts and professional skills in Design Management, User interface Design, Concept Development, and Design Thinking. An exceptional and passionate team leader who believes that design is to make a product, space, or service easier and simple to use, while it holds visual prowess as the user experiences it.

Hussain Melattur

International Certified Corporate Trainer, Psychologist and Communicative English Trainer . Conducted 4500+ sessions in India & Abroad.