MUMBAI: November 23, the Indian advertising community woke up to the bitter truth that the veteran brand consultant and Chlorophyll founder Anand Halve or Andy, as he was lovingly called, is no more. Halve was not keeping well for long and finally succumbed to pneumonia the previous day.

It was Chlorophyll's MD and Halve’s dear friend Kiran Khalap who broke the news first on twitter, saying: "The Chlorophyll community grieves the untimely death of its co-founder, father of brand planning in India & friend to millions: Anand Halve."

Following this, the industry poured in with their messages of condolences, and Twitter was flooded with ‘Rest In peace’ messages addressed to him, some even quoting lines from verses he had penned.

Harsha Bhogle: Am in agony at the passing of Anand Halve,one of the finest minds in advertising & someone who was always very kind to me when I started out.

Journalist Sucheta Dalal ‏: Just heard the really sad news that our friend @anandhalve is no more. #RIP U will be sorely missed Andy ... and your guidance & support.

MasterCard head of MasterPass Monica Jasuja: R.I.P. Anand Halve, I miss his positive motivational friendly self on Twitter. Pls keep him in your prayers.

OgilvyOne SVP Namrata Balwani: Very sad to hear of the passing away of a legend. What a mind. Still remember Anand Halve teaching us at MICA. And his shairi tweets.

Addressing Halve as ‘first of the planning tribe’ Ambi Parameswaran also took to social media to express his shock.

Often credited as the pioneer of account planning in Indian advertising, Halve’s influence in the advertising world runs far and deep that even those who didn’t know him in person expressed their shock upon hearing the news.

“It is unfortunate that I didn’t know him too well in person but I can attest that his contribution to the advertising fraternity will be forever cherished. As a person, he was well-liked by his peers and he will be dearly missed,” shared Publicis south Asia CEO Nakul Chopra.

Before setting up Chlorophyll in 1999, Halve was associated with Enterprise Nexus for close to a decade. He has also closely worked with the legendary adman Mohammed Khan. Halve started his advertising journey way back in 1977 by joining Lintas, post that he spent a short time at the start-up Fulcrum with Kersy Katrak.
Lintas grieved his loss by releasing a creative tribute to remember the genius that Halve was.

"Andy was one of the finer minds in advertising, always ready to share his insights with both, the journalistic and the advertising community, whether junior, senior or peer. He was a futuristic thinker who embraced brand understanding, research and planning way ahead of others in that glorious period of advertising in the late eighties and early nineties. I remember Mohammed (Khan) relying on him greatly in those days. May his soul rest in peace," said Indiantelevision.com founder, CEO and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari.

The Advertising Club president Raj Nayak said: "Anand Halve was one of the first account planning person I had heard of during the early days of my career. Humility was his biggest asset. Was always warm and probably one of the best strategic minds in the advertising industry. We will miss him."