NEW YORK: Over 300 South Asian media and marketing professionals gathered for the first time to discuss industry issues, influence of the South Asian demographic and growth of South Asian marketing professionals at the first annual summit of the South Asians in Media and Marketing Association (SAMMA) in New York City on Sept 27.

The Summit brought together over 250 media and marketing professionals and over 45 high-level industry speakers to discuss the dramatic growth of South Asians entering the US media, marketing and entertainment industry; the emergence of South Asians as an important multi-cultural market for US brands; and the marketing, media, & entertainment industry as the next great wave of collaboration between India and the US.

The Summit tackled the issues of the changing economics of the media world, the new rules of marketing in an era of social media, the blurred lines between content creation and consumption, the growth of South Asian marketing in the US, and creating Web 2.0 success.

The high caliber of top media industry speakers included: Vivek Shah, newly appointed President, Fortune/Money Group; Tim Rosta, SVP, Integrated Marketing, MTV Networks; Shailesh Rao, Managing Director, Google India; Tariq Khan, VP of Diversity Marketing, Nationwide; Chris Lighty, CEO, Violater & Manager, 50 Cent; Nusrat Durrani, SVP and GM, MTV World; Gitesh Pandya, Editor, boxofficeguru.com; Salil Dalvi, General Manager, Wireless, NBC Universal; Anu Babber, Head of International Programming, DirecTV; DJ Rekha, and Maulik Pancholy, Actor, NBC's "30 Rock" and Showtime's "Weeds".

The Summit closed with an evening Gala of elegance and entertainment with a keynote by actor Aasif Mandvi of Emmy-winning "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and popular singer Falu. Driving new media innovation "The growing number of South Asians driving the innovative use of new media and marketing underscores the relevance of this groundbreaking conference" said Neal Shenoy, Conference Chair and SAMMA board member. "South Asians are not only increasingly a part of US pop culture but are creating it.

Look at the top US marketing or media departments and you will find South Asians and Indians making fantastic contributions in the media and marketing industry - from MTV and Pepsi to Fortune Magazine and Virgin Comics," added Rajan Shah , SAMMA co-founder and President/co-founder of Phenomenon, a top marketing agency in New York City. Rohan Oza, a recipient of the 2006 NYC Crain's prestigious "40 under 40" award and SVP of Marketing for vitaminwater participated in a fireside chat, "Entertainment Marketing:

The Story Behind vitaminwater, 50 Cent and the New Future of Marketing" along with 50 Cent's manager, Chris Lighty (named by Forbes as one of the "most influential leaders in music") to illustrate the power of breaking into the pop culture world. Oza's team used musical artists and athletes to cross all cultural barriers, and involve stars who genuinely drink the beverage to create vitaminwater as one of Ad Age's "top 10 products that have rocked the world in the last decade." Throughout each of the panels, SAMMA participants recognized the importance of adapting to the new rules of marketing due to the rise of social media, integrated marketing, the global consumer, and the power of viral marketing.

Rishad Tobaccowalla, Chief Innovations Officer of one of the world's largest advertising agencies Publicis, encouraged South Asian media and marketing leaders to re-think conventional models for marketing with an eye on innovation, technology, and measurement of ROI. The Summit was held with support from the NYU Stern Media and Entertainment Association and Professor Al Lieberman, the Executive Director of the program. Power of the South Asian demographic With over 2 million South Asians living in the US (Census 2000) representing the most affluent audience in America; mainstream marketers are increasingly targeting South Asians in their marketing and advertising strategies in the US.

Executives from Nationwide, DirecTV and Rediff including Tariq Khan, Anu Babber, and Vivek Sharma respectively, pointed to South Asians as one of the most attractive opportunity for incremental revenue for US brands.

However, all panelists indicated the lack of research on South Asians as a key reason for US companies being slow in growing their investment in South Asian marketing. Anu Babber, head of International Programming at DirecTV indicated "we as an industry are not receiving our fair share of advertising dollars because we have not organized ourselves as South Asian media, until now because of SAMMA." SAMMA awarded its first "SAMMA 2007 Trailblazer of Year" to Nusrat Durrani, SVP/General Manager of MTV World for his contributions to the growth of South Asians in media as well as leading MTV Networks to recognize Asians as a key U.S. market, and launching highly acclaimed channels super serving Asians in the U.S. like MTV Desi and MTV Chi.

Marketing as the next wave Each of the panels and conversations during the panel had an underlying theme noting the collaborations and focus on India as one of the fasted growing media markets. Shailesh Rao, Managing Director of Google India and the Summit's opening keynote speaker, highlighted the huge opportunity in India's mobile market. Even with over 200 million mobile phone users in India, with five to seven million users being added monthly, only 19% of Indian consumers have mobile phones, representing a huge opportunity for growth across the board.