Tag: Aditya Birla Group

  • Idea petitions TDSAT against TRAI; price war set to escalate

    Idea petitions TDSAT against TRAI; price war set to escalate

    MUMBAI: Idea Cellular has petitioned TDSAT seeking to stop Reliance Jio from continuing free services till 31 March. In December 2016, India’s largest telco Bharti Airtel had moved the tribunal over the same issue.

    TDSAT had, in its last hearing, directed TRAI to come to a conclusion in “reasonable time”.

    Jio’s free services have set off a price war. After Reliance proposing investment of Rs 30,000 crore by end of this fiscal, the war is set to escalate. The recent cut-down — by approximately 66 per cent — in data rates impacted Idea’s stock prices. Airtel’s stock too was in the list of the losers on Nifty.

    India’s third largest wireless operator Idea Cellular, run by the multi-billion dollar conglomerate Aditya Birla Group, has now filed a petition in the appellate telecom tribunal (TDSAT) against the telecom regulator TRAI. According to an unidentified TRAI official, the authority has sought opinion of attorney-general Mukul Rohatgi on the matter related to Jio’s extension of free services.

    TRAI chairman R.S. Sharma said that everybody in India was free to move court. The Constitution provided them the right. TRA was looking into the matter of Jio’s promotional services and the presentations / arguments made by other operators, and would decide the issue very soon.

    Airtel had said that TRAI was allowing Jio to continue with its free internet services beyond the stipulated 90-days time period. It had accused TRAI of acting as a “mute spectator” and killing competition in the sector by allowing Jio to offer free services. Rival telcos had said the free services were predatory in nature.

    Also Read:

    Jio may use US$4.4bn to lay OFC, expand network to stifle competition

    Rs 30k cr to enhance Jio coverage; A-G clears DoT’s power to penalise telcos

    Q3-17: Reliance: Jio busts records, organized retail op profit grows 55 percent

    BSNL launches FMT & Ditto TV; 4G planned this year

     

  • Idea petitions TDSAT against TRAI; price war set to escalate

    Idea petitions TDSAT against TRAI; price war set to escalate

    MUMBAI: Idea Cellular has petitioned TDSAT seeking to stop Reliance Jio from continuing free services till 31 March. In December 2016, India’s largest telco Bharti Airtel had moved the tribunal over the same issue.

    TDSAT had, in its last hearing, directed TRAI to come to a conclusion in “reasonable time”.

    Jio’s free services have set off a price war. After Reliance proposing investment of Rs 30,000 crore by end of this fiscal, the war is set to escalate. The recent cut-down — by approximately 66 per cent — in data rates impacted Idea’s stock prices. Airtel’s stock too was in the list of the losers on Nifty.

    India’s third largest wireless operator Idea Cellular, run by the multi-billion dollar conglomerate Aditya Birla Group, has now filed a petition in the appellate telecom tribunal (TDSAT) against the telecom regulator TRAI. According to an unidentified TRAI official, the authority has sought opinion of attorney-general Mukul Rohatgi on the matter related to Jio’s extension of free services.

    TRAI chairman R.S. Sharma said that everybody in India was free to move court. The Constitution provided them the right. TRA was looking into the matter of Jio’s promotional services and the presentations / arguments made by other operators, and would decide the issue very soon.

    Airtel had said that TRAI was allowing Jio to continue with its free internet services beyond the stipulated 90-days time period. It had accused TRAI of acting as a “mute spectator” and killing competition in the sector by allowing Jio to offer free services. Rival telcos had said the free services were predatory in nature.

    Also Read:

    Jio may use US$4.4bn to lay OFC, expand network to stifle competition

    Rs 30k cr to enhance Jio coverage; A-G clears DoT’s power to penalise telcos

    Q3-17: Reliance: Jio busts records, organized retail op profit grows 55 percent

    BSNL launches FMT & Ditto TV; 4G planned this year

     

  • Idea Cellular  to offer live TV, music services

    Idea Cellular to offer live TV, music services

    MUMBAI: It’s the charge of the telco brigade. First Airtel and Reliance Jio hared into the content space by announcing their Wynk, Wynk Video and Wynk Games and JioGames, JioCinema, JioTV, JioPlay, JioOnDemand services offering an array of video, music, game chat apps. Now it’s the turn of another telco major – the Aditya Birla group owned Idea Cellular – to do the same. In an investor presentation, the company says it is planning its own range of mobile digital services right from live television to videos to music to games to music to news/magazines to chat and even money transfers.

    First off the blocks will be Idea Game Spark (Q3 FY 2017), Idea Videos and Idea Music before the last quarter of FY 2017 (January-March 2017). Idea TV, Idea News/magazines, Idea storage and Idea chat will follow in FY 2018 (April 2017 onwards).

    In the presentation, Idea says it expects mobile data usage to sky rocket just like voice over mobile did in the growth phase of wireless telephony. About 1.1 billion Indians will get access to wireless broadband by 2019-2020 (250-300 million in March 2015), and the subscriber base of 3G/4G services is expected to rapidly swell from 130 million in March 2016 to 540 million by 2021. Idea expects data consumption per user to more than treble from the current 475 MB per month in the same period.

    In March 2016, it had 22.8 million wireless broadband subs each of whom consumed 642 MB of data per month. Idea explains that its broadband services today are available to 400 million Indians; it is targeting to expand that 500 million by March 2017. It’s on course to have nearly 100,000 data sites active in 17 circles by the end of FY-2017.

    With the launch of its digital content and other apps, mobile subscribers are likely to be spoiled for choice and competition is expected to hot up between Jio, Airtel, Vodafone and Idea. For television channels and content creators, however, it’s going to open up new worlds of opportunity.

  • Idea Cellular  to offer live TV, music services

    Idea Cellular to offer live TV, music services

    MUMBAI: It’s the charge of the telco brigade. First Airtel and Reliance Jio hared into the content space by announcing their Wynk, Wynk Video and Wynk Games and JioGames, JioCinema, JioTV, JioPlay, JioOnDemand services offering an array of video, music, game chat apps. Now it’s the turn of another telco major – the Aditya Birla group owned Idea Cellular – to do the same. In an investor presentation, the company says it is planning its own range of mobile digital services right from live television to videos to music to games to music to news/magazines to chat and even money transfers.

    First off the blocks will be Idea Game Spark (Q3 FY 2017), Idea Videos and Idea Music before the last quarter of FY 2017 (January-March 2017). Idea TV, Idea News/magazines, Idea storage and Idea chat will follow in FY 2018 (April 2017 onwards).

    In the presentation, Idea says it expects mobile data usage to sky rocket just like voice over mobile did in the growth phase of wireless telephony. About 1.1 billion Indians will get access to wireless broadband by 2019-2020 (250-300 million in March 2015), and the subscriber base of 3G/4G services is expected to rapidly swell from 130 million in March 2016 to 540 million by 2021. Idea expects data consumption per user to more than treble from the current 475 MB per month in the same period.

    In March 2016, it had 22.8 million wireless broadband subs each of whom consumed 642 MB of data per month. Idea explains that its broadband services today are available to 400 million Indians; it is targeting to expand that 500 million by March 2017. It’s on course to have nearly 100,000 data sites active in 17 circles by the end of FY-2017.

    With the launch of its digital content and other apps, mobile subscribers are likely to be spoiled for choice and competition is expected to hot up between Jio, Airtel, Vodafone and Idea. For television channels and content creators, however, it’s going to open up new worlds of opportunity.

  • Ad Club new committee appointed

    Ad Club new committee appointed

    MUMBAI: At the recently concluded annual general meeting, The Advertising Club unanimously elected Colors CEO Raj Nayak as its President for the second consecutive term.

    The new managing committee is as follows:

    • President| Raj Nayak, CEO, Colors, Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd.

    • Vice President| Vikram Sakhuja, Group CEO, Media and OOH, Madison Communications Pvt. Ltd.

    • Secretary | Ajay Kakar, Chief Marketing Officer, Financial Services, Aditya Birla Group

    • Jt. Secretary | Bhaskar Das, Group CEO, Zee Media Corporation Ltd.

    • Treasurer| Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Mediabrands

    • Office Bearer | Ashish Sehgal, COO, Zee Unimedia Ltd.

    • Member |Mitrajit Bhattacharya, President and Publisher, Chitralekha Group

    • Member | Partha Sinha, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, McCann

    Worldgroup

    • Member | Pradeep Dwivedi, Chief Corporate Sales & Marketing Officer, Dainik Bhaskar Group | DB Corp Ltd.

    • Member | Ramesh Narayan, Managing Director, Canco Advertising Pvt. Ltd.

    • Member | Vikas Khanchandani, Chief Business Officer, Reliance Broadcast Network Limited

    • Member | Viral Jani, Head TV Partnerships, Twitter India

    • Co-opted Member | Partho Dasgupta, CEO, Broadcast Audience Research Council

    • Co-opted Member | Punitha Arumugam, Director, Agency Business, India and South East Asia, Google India Pvt. Ltd.

    • Co-opted Member | Ajay Chandwani, Director, Percept Limited

    • Immediate Past President | Pratap Bose, Founder, Social Street

    Expressing his pleasure at his re-election, Nayak said, “I am extremely honored & humbled at the love bestowed upon me by the industry. I hope to continue working even more vigorously to realize The Ad Club’s agenda of acting as a catalyst in developing our vibrant and dynamic industry.”

    Publicis Worldwide CEO South Asia and AAAI president Nakul Chopra welcomed the announcement saying, “I am delighted that Raj has been elected President Ad Club for another term. A dear friend, a respected colleague – Raj has always worked for the good of the industry via various forums. I look forward to working closely with him to further the already strong relationship between The Ad Club and AAAI.”

    Zee MD and CEO and IBF president Punit Goenka added, “I am most certain that with his rich experience, acumen and industry knowledge, Raj will continue to take ‘The Advertising Club’ to greater heights. The very fact that he is re-elected, speaks abundantly about his contribution made to the club and to the industry. Over the last year, the club has certainly been a catalyst in developing the industry and with its interactive platforms and properties, it has served as a brilliant platform for industry professionals to interact and exchange thoughts. I wish Raj all the success in this role.”

    Showing his excitement about the announcement, K Swamy BBDO Chairman,MD and IAA president India chapter, IAA Global Senior Vice President Srinivasan Swamy said, “I was delighted to hear that Raj was reelected to lead The Advertising Club. His passion and energy levels are infective. He has brought in many senior names‎ to join the committee and I eagerly look forward to next phase of accelerated growth for the Club under his stewardship.”

    Industry stalwart Madison world chairman Sam Balsara also expressed his pleasure by saying, “I am delighted that Raj has agreed to continue as The Ad Club President. This augurs well for the members of the advertising, media and marketing community in general and members of The Ad Club in particular. Raj is everybody’s favorite person and is uniquely positioned to discharge this onerous responsibility which he has kindly agreed to, despite his hectic and I am sure taxing work schedule”.

    Industry veteran GroupM South Asia CEO CVL Srinivas commented, “Its great news for the industry that Raj Nayak has been re-elected President of The Advertising Club. Raj brings a lot of style and substance to whatever he does. His boundless energy, passion and commitment is so amazing. I wish him the very best and look forward to another great year with him at the helm”.

  • Ad Club new committee appointed

    Ad Club new committee appointed

    MUMBAI: At the recently concluded annual general meeting, The Advertising Club unanimously elected Colors CEO Raj Nayak as its President for the second consecutive term.

    The new managing committee is as follows:

    • President| Raj Nayak, CEO, Colors, Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd.

    • Vice President| Vikram Sakhuja, Group CEO, Media and OOH, Madison Communications Pvt. Ltd.

    • Secretary | Ajay Kakar, Chief Marketing Officer, Financial Services, Aditya Birla Group

    • Jt. Secretary | Bhaskar Das, Group CEO, Zee Media Corporation Ltd.

    • Treasurer| Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Mediabrands

    • Office Bearer | Ashish Sehgal, COO, Zee Unimedia Ltd.

    • Member |Mitrajit Bhattacharya, President and Publisher, Chitralekha Group

    • Member | Partha Sinha, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, McCann

    Worldgroup

    • Member | Pradeep Dwivedi, Chief Corporate Sales & Marketing Officer, Dainik Bhaskar Group | DB Corp Ltd.

    • Member | Ramesh Narayan, Managing Director, Canco Advertising Pvt. Ltd.

    • Member | Vikas Khanchandani, Chief Business Officer, Reliance Broadcast Network Limited

    • Member | Viral Jani, Head TV Partnerships, Twitter India

    • Co-opted Member | Partho Dasgupta, CEO, Broadcast Audience Research Council

    • Co-opted Member | Punitha Arumugam, Director, Agency Business, India and South East Asia, Google India Pvt. Ltd.

    • Co-opted Member | Ajay Chandwani, Director, Percept Limited

    • Immediate Past President | Pratap Bose, Founder, Social Street

    Expressing his pleasure at his re-election, Nayak said, “I am extremely honored & humbled at the love bestowed upon me by the industry. I hope to continue working even more vigorously to realize The Ad Club’s agenda of acting as a catalyst in developing our vibrant and dynamic industry.”

    Publicis Worldwide CEO South Asia and AAAI president Nakul Chopra welcomed the announcement saying, “I am delighted that Raj has been elected President Ad Club for another term. A dear friend, a respected colleague – Raj has always worked for the good of the industry via various forums. I look forward to working closely with him to further the already strong relationship between The Ad Club and AAAI.”

    Zee MD and CEO and IBF president Punit Goenka added, “I am most certain that with his rich experience, acumen and industry knowledge, Raj will continue to take ‘The Advertising Club’ to greater heights. The very fact that he is re-elected, speaks abundantly about his contribution made to the club and to the industry. Over the last year, the club has certainly been a catalyst in developing the industry and with its interactive platforms and properties, it has served as a brilliant platform for industry professionals to interact and exchange thoughts. I wish Raj all the success in this role.”

    Showing his excitement about the announcement, K Swamy BBDO Chairman,MD and IAA president India chapter, IAA Global Senior Vice President Srinivasan Swamy said, “I was delighted to hear that Raj was reelected to lead The Advertising Club. His passion and energy levels are infective. He has brought in many senior names‎ to join the committee and I eagerly look forward to next phase of accelerated growth for the Club under his stewardship.”

    Industry stalwart Madison world chairman Sam Balsara also expressed his pleasure by saying, “I am delighted that Raj has agreed to continue as The Ad Club President. This augurs well for the members of the advertising, media and marketing community in general and members of The Ad Club in particular. Raj is everybody’s favorite person and is uniquely positioned to discharge this onerous responsibility which he has kindly agreed to, despite his hectic and I am sure taxing work schedule”.

    Industry veteran GroupM South Asia CEO CVL Srinivas commented, “Its great news for the industry that Raj Nayak has been re-elected President of The Advertising Club. Raj brings a lot of style and substance to whatever he does. His boundless energy, passion and commitment is so amazing. I wish him the very best and look forward to another great year with him at the helm”.

  • Flipkart’s Myntra acquires Jabong for USD 70 million

    Flipkart’s Myntra acquires Jabong for USD 70 million

    MUMBAI: Flipkart’s Myntra has acquired Jabong in a cut-price deal at USD 70 million, thereafter claiming the number one spot in India’s fashion e-commerce marketplace in the face of an onslaught by Amazon India.

    Beating strong contenders like Snapdeal, Snapdeal, Future Group, Aditya Birla Group and Amazon which also bid to buy Jabong, Flipkart will pay cash for the acquisition, according to a statement by Jabong’s parent company Global Fashion Group (GFG).

    GFG has been looking for a buyer for Jabong for more than a year now. “Fashion and lifestyle is one of the biggest drivers of e-commerce growth in India. We have always believed in the fashion and lifestyle segment and Myntra’s strong performance has reinforced this faith,” said Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal.

    “This acquisition is a continuation of the group’s journey to transform commerce in India. I am happy that we will now be able to offer to millions of customers a wide variety of styles, products and a broad assortment of global as well as Indian brands,” he added, as reported by media.

    The sale marks one of the most dramatic declines in India’s online retail business. At the end of 2013, Jabong was worth as much as €388 million (about $508 million). In that financial year (year ended March 2014) Jabong reported sales of Rs438 crore. Even though its sales increased to Rs 869 crore in the last financial year, Jabong’s value collapsed because of a combination of leadership issues, market share losses and a funding crunch.

    For Flipkart-Myntra, the acquisition of Jabong will boost sales at a time when Flipkart is struggling to revive growth, and struggling to protect its leadership in a market where Amazon has made rapid strides.

  • Flipkart’s Myntra acquires Jabong for USD 70 million

    Flipkart’s Myntra acquires Jabong for USD 70 million

    MUMBAI: Flipkart’s Myntra has acquired Jabong in a cut-price deal at USD 70 million, thereafter claiming the number one spot in India’s fashion e-commerce marketplace in the face of an onslaught by Amazon India.

    Beating strong contenders like Snapdeal, Snapdeal, Future Group, Aditya Birla Group and Amazon which also bid to buy Jabong, Flipkart will pay cash for the acquisition, according to a statement by Jabong’s parent company Global Fashion Group (GFG).

    GFG has been looking for a buyer for Jabong for more than a year now. “Fashion and lifestyle is one of the biggest drivers of e-commerce growth in India. We have always believed in the fashion and lifestyle segment and Myntra’s strong performance has reinforced this faith,” said Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal.

    “This acquisition is a continuation of the group’s journey to transform commerce in India. I am happy that we will now be able to offer to millions of customers a wide variety of styles, products and a broad assortment of global as well as Indian brands,” he added, as reported by media.

    The sale marks one of the most dramatic declines in India’s online retail business. At the end of 2013, Jabong was worth as much as €388 million (about $508 million). In that financial year (year ended March 2014) Jabong reported sales of Rs438 crore. Even though its sales increased to Rs 869 crore in the last financial year, Jabong’s value collapsed because of a combination of leadership issues, market share losses and a funding crunch.

    For Flipkart-Myntra, the acquisition of Jabong will boost sales at a time when Flipkart is struggling to revive growth, and struggling to protect its leadership in a market where Amazon has made rapid strides.

  • 4th edition of IAA Leadership Awards to the best in respective industry

    4th edition of IAA Leadership Awards to the best in respective industry

    MUMBAI: The 4th edition of IAA  Leadership Awards was a glorious affair where the who’s who of the marketing, advertising and media industry got together to facilitate the best work amongst their peers and recognise the stalwarts who are leading their teams best in this dynamic ecosystem.  Union Minister of States of Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju was the chief guest and presented the awards to the best creative minds.

    The evening also lent itself to many learnings and forward thinking discussions for the industry at large. Viacom 18 group CEO Sudhanshu Vats in his opening address defined the three ‘I’s and an ‘A’ as ‘ Inference’, ‘influence’, ‘intuition’ and ‘agility’. Elucidating, Vats said a great leader must infer from the emerging trends that he sees around, must take his contacts and networking seriously and be ready to influence with the resources he has at his disposal, be intuitive with the current changing dynamics and be able to translate his judgement into action quickly.

    Speaking on the occasion, IAA’s India Chapter   president Srinivasan K Swamy said, “The IAA Leadership Awards are testimony of the inspirational work that industry leaders and creative minds accomplish during the course of the year. Today, we are celebrating the extraordinary work and journey of the industry at large from the year gone by. The campaigns have achieved much success in the brand’s positioning and perception. I congratulate the winners and hope to see such incredible work for years to come.”

    Seconding him, IAA Leadership Awards committee chairman Sam Balsara said, “This year, at the 4th IAA Leadership Awards, we have seen some tough competition that has been carried out by teams across industries. The decision-making process has been robust and after deep deliberation, we have finally arrived on the list of winners who have been honoured today. As the evening draws to a close, I would like to extend my heartiest congratulations to the winners and look forward to some great work from them in coming years”.

    While Aditya Birla Group CEO Kumar Mangalam Birla took away the CEO of the Year award, ICICI Prudential digital business and marketing EVP and head Manish Dubey, Hindustan Unilever;s Samir Singh, Lenovo marketing director Bhaskar Choudhuri and  Maruti Suzuki’s Randhir Singh Kalsi were amongst the few who won the much coveted The Marketer of the Year Awards that were given away  in 14 categories. Birla credited his win to his impeccable team which is forward thinking and intuitive to the market changes.

    Dentsu Aegis Network South Asia CEO and chairman Ashish Bhasin was awarded with The Media Agency Head of the Year Award. Sharing his joy for being acknowledged for the hard work, Bhasin added, “As late entrants in the industry, it gives me immense joy and pride in the organization’s efforts. We sort of challenged the market with a target to be the second best in the field by 2017. Acknowledgements  such as this from such a  well recognised body makes me feel that we are on the right track and gives us the confidence to move forward.”

    Upon bagging the Creative Agency Head of The Year, BBDO India chairman and CCO, Josy Paul said, “”This is not just a leadership award, it’s a leadership ‘team’ award. I am receiving it on behalf of my partner Ajai Jhala and the amazing leaders at BBDO India who create the outstanding work that gives me this moment of glory. I share it with them. I’m nothing without them.”

    In television, Colors CEO Raj Nayak was awarded the Media Person of the year, while India TV chairman and editor in chief Rajat Sharma was recognised as the Television Anchor of the Year. In the special categories, Bharat Patel was included in the Hall of Fame, while actor Varun Dhawan was awarded as the Brand Endorser of The Year.

    The 4th edition of the IAA Leadership Awards recognized the achievements of diverse groups of individuals for their incredible contribution in designing path-breaking and high impact marketing initiatives to strengthen their respective brand’s promise and standing amongst  consumers.

    Congratulating the winners,  Rijiju said, “I am impressed with how the evening and awards have been conceived. IAA is an important body when it comes to championing the marketers. As India is taking its rightful place in the world, the marketing and advertising world is catapulting India even faster. A decade ago, we used to have respect but we were never perceived as leaders. However, today, we receive tremendous recognition abroad. We have begun recognising our leaders – news is getting anchor-specific and editor-centric. Even Narendra Modi is a brand! This is the moment that belongs to India.”

    Click here for the complete list of winners.

    Winner List for the 4th Edition of the IAA Leadership Awards

    CATEGORY NAME

    WINNER NAME

    Marketer of the Year – Banking

    Karthi Marshan, Kotak Mahindra Bank

    Marketer of the Year – Insurance

    Manish Dubey, ICICI Prudential

    Marketer of the Year – FMCG – Food

    Varun Berry, Britannia

    Marketer of the Year – FMCG – Beverage

    Nadia Chauhan, Parle Agro

    Marketer of the Year – FMCG – Home Care

    Ajay Dang, Godrej

    Marketer of the Year – FMCG – Personal Care

    Samir Singh, Hindustan Unilever

    Marketer of the Year – Auto: Two-Wheelers

    Yadvinder Singh Guleria, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter

    Marketer of the Year – Auto: Passenger Vehicles

    Randhir Singh Kalsi, Maruti Suzuki

    Marketer of the Year – Consumer Durables

    Ranjivjit Singh, Samsung

    Marketer of the Year – Mobile Devices

    Bhaskar Choudhari, Lenovo

    Marketer of the Year – Mobile Services

    Srinivasan Gopalan, Bharti Airtel

    Marketer of the Year – E-Commerce

    Amit Agarwal, Amazon

    Marketer of the Year – Home Improvement

    Amit Syngle, Asian Paints

    Marketer of the Year – Retail

    Sanjay Behl, Raymond

    CEO of the Year

    Kumar Mangalam Birla, Aditya Birla Group

    Media Person of the Year

    Raj Nayak, COLORS

    Television Anchor of the Year

    Rajat Sharma, India TV

    News Editor of the Year

    Sanjay Gupta, Dainik Jagran

    Media Agency Head of the Year

    Ashish Bhasin, Dentsu

    Creative Agency Head of the Year

    Josy Paul, BBDO

    Hall of Fame

    Bharat Patel

    Brand Endorser of the Year

    Varun Dhawan

  • 4th edition of IAA Leadership Awards to the best in respective industry

    4th edition of IAA Leadership Awards to the best in respective industry

    MUMBAI: The 4th edition of IAA  Leadership Awards was a glorious affair where the who’s who of the marketing, advertising and media industry got together to facilitate the best work amongst their peers and recognise the stalwarts who are leading their teams best in this dynamic ecosystem.  Union Minister of States of Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju was the chief guest and presented the awards to the best creative minds.

    The evening also lent itself to many learnings and forward thinking discussions for the industry at large. Viacom 18 group CEO Sudhanshu Vats in his opening address defined the three ‘I’s and an ‘A’ as ‘ Inference’, ‘influence’, ‘intuition’ and ‘agility’. Elucidating, Vats said a great leader must infer from the emerging trends that he sees around, must take his contacts and networking seriously and be ready to influence with the resources he has at his disposal, be intuitive with the current changing dynamics and be able to translate his judgement into action quickly.

    Speaking on the occasion, IAA’s India Chapter   president Srinivasan K Swamy said, “The IAA Leadership Awards are testimony of the inspirational work that industry leaders and creative minds accomplish during the course of the year. Today, we are celebrating the extraordinary work and journey of the industry at large from the year gone by. The campaigns have achieved much success in the brand’s positioning and perception. I congratulate the winners and hope to see such incredible work for years to come.”

    Seconding him, IAA Leadership Awards committee chairman Sam Balsara said, “This year, at the 4th IAA Leadership Awards, we have seen some tough competition that has been carried out by teams across industries. The decision-making process has been robust and after deep deliberation, we have finally arrived on the list of winners who have been honoured today. As the evening draws to a close, I would like to extend my heartiest congratulations to the winners and look forward to some great work from them in coming years”.

    While Aditya Birla Group CEO Kumar Mangalam Birla took away the CEO of the Year award, ICICI Prudential digital business and marketing EVP and head Manish Dubey, Hindustan Unilever;s Samir Singh, Lenovo marketing director Bhaskar Choudhuri and  Maruti Suzuki’s Randhir Singh Kalsi were amongst the few who won the much coveted The Marketer of the Year Awards that were given away  in 14 categories. Birla credited his win to his impeccable team which is forward thinking and intuitive to the market changes.

    Dentsu Aegis Network South Asia CEO and chairman Ashish Bhasin was awarded with The Media Agency Head of the Year Award. Sharing his joy for being acknowledged for the hard work, Bhasin added, “As late entrants in the industry, it gives me immense joy and pride in the organization’s efforts. We sort of challenged the market with a target to be the second best in the field by 2017. Acknowledgements  such as this from such a  well recognised body makes me feel that we are on the right track and gives us the confidence to move forward.”

    Upon bagging the Creative Agency Head of The Year, BBDO India chairman and CCO, Josy Paul said, “”This is not just a leadership award, it’s a leadership ‘team’ award. I am receiving it on behalf of my partner Ajai Jhala and the amazing leaders at BBDO India who create the outstanding work that gives me this moment of glory. I share it with them. I’m nothing without them.”

    In television, Colors CEO Raj Nayak was awarded the Media Person of the year, while India TV chairman and editor in chief Rajat Sharma was recognised as the Television Anchor of the Year. In the special categories, Bharat Patel was included in the Hall of Fame, while actor Varun Dhawan was awarded as the Brand Endorser of The Year.

    The 4th edition of the IAA Leadership Awards recognized the achievements of diverse groups of individuals for their incredible contribution in designing path-breaking and high impact marketing initiatives to strengthen their respective brand’s promise and standing amongst  consumers.

    Congratulating the winners,  Rijiju said, “I am impressed with how the evening and awards have been conceived. IAA is an important body when it comes to championing the marketers. As India is taking its rightful place in the world, the marketing and advertising world is catapulting India even faster. A decade ago, we used to have respect but we were never perceived as leaders. However, today, we receive tremendous recognition abroad. We have begun recognising our leaders – news is getting anchor-specific and editor-centric. Even Narendra Modi is a brand! This is the moment that belongs to India.”

    Click here for the complete list of winners.

    Winner List for the 4th Edition of the IAA Leadership Awards

    CATEGORY NAME

    WINNER NAME

    Marketer of the Year – Banking

    Karthi Marshan, Kotak Mahindra Bank

    Marketer of the Year – Insurance

    Manish Dubey, ICICI Prudential

    Marketer of the Year – FMCG – Food

    Varun Berry, Britannia

    Marketer of the Year – FMCG – Beverage

    Nadia Chauhan, Parle Agro

    Marketer of the Year – FMCG – Home Care

    Ajay Dang, Godrej

    Marketer of the Year – FMCG – Personal Care

    Samir Singh, Hindustan Unilever

    Marketer of the Year – Auto: Two-Wheelers

    Yadvinder Singh Guleria, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter

    Marketer of the Year – Auto: Passenger Vehicles

    Randhir Singh Kalsi, Maruti Suzuki

    Marketer of the Year – Consumer Durables

    Ranjivjit Singh, Samsung

    Marketer of the Year – Mobile Devices

    Bhaskar Choudhari, Lenovo

    Marketer of the Year – Mobile Services

    Srinivasan Gopalan, Bharti Airtel

    Marketer of the Year – E-Commerce

    Amit Agarwal, Amazon

    Marketer of the Year – Home Improvement

    Amit Syngle, Asian Paints

    Marketer of the Year – Retail

    Sanjay Behl, Raymond

    CEO of the Year

    Kumar Mangalam Birla, Aditya Birla Group

    Media Person of the Year

    Raj Nayak, COLORS

    Television Anchor of the Year

    Rajat Sharma, India TV

    News Editor of the Year

    Sanjay Gupta, Dainik Jagran

    Media Agency Head of the Year

    Ashish Bhasin, Dentsu

    Creative Agency Head of the Year

    Josy Paul, BBDO

    Hall of Fame

    Bharat Patel

    Brand Endorser of the Year

    Varun Dhawan