Anantha Narayan
| Anantha Narayan | |
|---|---|
| Born | Anantha Narayan 1971/01/29 Dharapuram |
| 🏡 Residence | Chennai |
| 🏳️ Nationality | Indian |
| Other names | Anantha |
| 🏳️ Citizenship | Indian |
| 🏫 Education | B.Tech (Mining), PGDBM |
| 🎓 Alma mater | IIT Varanasi, XLRI Jamshedpur |
| 💼 Occupation | Wordsmith, Brand Namer, Inventor |
| 📆 Years active | 1996- |
| Known for | Copywriting, Naming, Puzzles, Shell Idli |
| Label(s) | Albert Dali |
| 🏡 Home town | Chennai |
| 🌐 Website | http://ananthanarayan.com |
| thisisanantha | |
| anantha.narayan | |
| narayan.anantha | |
Anantha Narayan (born 29 January 1971) is the founder of Albert Dali[1], Wannawill Inventorium[2], and co-founder of 1pointsize[3].
Early Life[edit]
After finishing his schooling from Shrine Vailankanni (Chennai), he majored in Mining Engineering from IIT Varanasi and went on to specialise in Marketing from XLRI Jamshedpur.
Career[edit]
Anantha kickstarted his career with Philips India. After overseeing the sales in 12 districts in Western UP for the Lighting Division, he switched to the creative domain. In 1997, he cut his teeth in advertising in Client Servicing at Contract Advertising. Then he switched over to the creative side by turning a copywriter at McCann Erickson. A rewarding stint at Mudra Advertising emboldened him to join Sharad Haksar and CP Sajith in founding 1pointsize in 2002. Under the collective creative stewardship of Anantha Narayan and Sharad Haksar, 1pointsize blossomed into the most awarded independent creative hot shop in Chennai. It was named the 'Ad Agency of the Year' thrice (2004, 2005 & 2008). In 2009, Anantha set up Albert Dali, India's first ever end-to-end naming consultancy. Albert Dali is today the most sought after naming specialist in India. In 2016, he gave vent to his desire to invent, by founding Wannawill, India's first inventorium along with Joseph Babin. Wannawill's first design patent was granted for Shell Idli, a product innovation that went viral.
Personal Life[edit]
Anantha is single. He lives with his siblings in Chennai. An avid blogger and humorist, he's written columns for The Hindu, New Indian Express & Indian Times. An ever-curious puzzler, he's created over 10 games including Cluenatic, which was popular with the quizzing community. Inventing new words is his passion. He's coined over 1000 neologisms. He's authored one book 'Ananthalogy', a compilation of his fun-liners. He also dabbles in Chess. He became a FIDE rated player in 2018.
Awards & Recognitions[edit]
- Won over 50 regional, national and international awards at various advertising award shows.
- Named 'Copywriter of the Year' thrice. Twice by Ad Club Madras and once by Ad Club Kochi.
- Runner's up at the nationally televised Brand Equity Quiz in year 2000.
- Wrote the Nama Sutra column for The New Indian Express for 4 years.
References[edit]
- Interview with Anantha Narayan - Desi Creative
- For the joy of building brands on our terms - Campaign India
- Breaking the idli mould - The Hindu
- Bring the wave to your breakfast platter – “Manorama Online”
- These consultants help brand newborns – “Times of India”
- Made in Tamilnadu Idli gets 'out of the shell' makeover -DT Next
