First edition of IAA Leadership Awards kicks off with a bang

The glittering event, sponsored by Colors, brought together marketing, advertising and media professionals from all over the country. Pradeep Guha was inducted into the IAA Hall of Fame; Piyush Pandey is Creative Agency Head of the Year, and Sam Balsara is Media Agency Head of the Year

Shachi Tapiawala | Mumbai | February 4, 2013

Pradeep Guha, Managing Director, 9X Media named the first ever recipient of the IAA Hall of Fame

Felicitating the best of the best, the first ever International Advertising Association (IAA) Leadership Awards were held on Saturday, February 2, 2013, in Mumbai. The well-attended, glittering event, sponsored by Colors, brought together marketing, advertising and media professionals from all over the country.

Celebrating innovative thinking and performance excellence, the awards aimed at indirectly seeking to acknowledge the fact that the disciplines of marketing, advertising and media have to come together for a brand's success. The dapper Manish Tewari, Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting,  handed over the trophies and scrolls to the winners of the first ever IAA Leadership Awards.

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan made his first-ever appearance at an awards function as a winner himself, winning the Brand Endorser of the Year – Male award for having bagged the maximum endorsements. Actress Katrina Kaif won the award for the Brand Endorser of the Year – Female.

Salman Khan wins the first ever Brand Endorser of the Year Award

YC Deveshwar of ITC won the award for the CEO of the Year while Piyush Pandey of Ogilvy & Mather India won the award for the Creative Agency Head of the Year.

There was a huge round of applause when Pradeep Guha, Managing Director, 9X Media was inducted into the IAA Hall of Fame.

Chief Guest Manish Tewari said, “I am delighted to be present at the IAA Leadership Awards. According to me, these unique awards recognise the efficiency, creativity, talent and hard work from the media and entertainment industry. In my opinion, the awards were wonderful and I hope it inspired others to create more such platforms.” He also assured the audience that there were many issues pertaining to the broadcast industry, especially with the ongoing digitalisation exercise, but “let me assure you, the government will not take any decision without consulting you all”.

Srinivasan Swamy, President of IAA India Chapter, said, “It gives me immense pride to be a part of the team responsible for getting the finest minds from marketing, advertising and media industry under one roof and honour them simultaneously. These awards wouldn't have been possible without the support of the 'soldiers of Colors'. I am very happy the first edition of the IAA ended on a high note.”

Speaking on the awards, Raj Nayak, CEO, Colors, said, “Leadership is an attribute Colors resonates with, and that is why the theme of these awards appealed to us. We realise that participating in the advertising, marketing and media community in a meaningful way is a great way of showing all the leaders how much value we place on the wonderful relationship we enjoy with each and every one of you. Congratulations to all the deserving winners.”

Anuradha Aggarwal of Vodafone India receiving Marketer of the Year Award in Telecom Products

Winner speak

Pradeep Guha, Managing Director, 9X Media, who entered the IAA Hall of Fame: “It's a good thing that IAA has started these awards. I am thankful to Colors for sponsoring IAA at this scale and the scale is an important factor as if it has started big and is bound to grow bigger. The IAA Leadership Awards is of significance as it is an event to recognise the people behind the brands; otherwise they are faceless people to the aam janta.”

Gayatri Yadav of Star India (Marketer of the Year - Media & Entertainment): “It is great that the IAA has got multiple platforms of media, marketing and advertising together so that all of us could together applaud leadership. With product changes every day and the infinite choices people have now due to digitalization, we at Star India have been focusing on our portfolio of channels catering to every need of our customers.”

Mayank Preek of Maruti Suzuki (Marketer of the Year - Auto Passenger Vehicles) commented, “The key reason why I think we won this award is because of our strong commitment to our customers. For the past 13 years we have been rated as No. 1 in customer satisfaction and we take extra care that nothing goes wrong with customers.”

Anil Dua of Hero Motor Corp (Marketer of the Year - Auto Two Wheeler): “What makes us stand out and win this award is the focus on customers in terms of mileage, the products we offer, composition and the way our brand connects with customers.”

Chandramouli Venkatesan, Cadbury Kraft India (Marketer of the Year: FMCG – Food & Beverages): “It is an honour to receive this award as you are nominated by senior professionals of the industry and the process involves them choosing you. I see this award coming as an edge over the others as we have a remarkable team which we have put together and do some magic!”

Sujit Ganguli of ICICI Bank (Marketer of the Year – Banking): “This award is for the work put in by the entire ICICI team and I am thankful to the team and ICICI Bank for this. Our focus has always been very simple – relevant consumer insights, what the consumer wants and what is important for our business. We never do anything for the sake of doing it.”

The following is the list of winners in the 19 categories:

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