BestMediaInfo announces winners of the first edition of Rising Star Awards 2021

BestMediaInfo has announced the winners of its much-awaited first edition of India TV Presents Rising Star Awards 2021.

The one-and-a-half-hour virtual awards gala was held in the evening of August 10, 2021, amid the presence of over 200 live audiences at any given point in time.

Generally, it is the senior management of media agencies who are presented with top honours at any awards function. But for the first time in the history of advertising and marketing, BestMediaInfo curated an award IP that specifically honours young and budding achievers working in the field of media strategy across brand marketing teams and agencies (media, digital, consulting firms).

The esteemed jury consisting of 11 industry heads and media strategy veterans picked up winners across 12 business categories and 7 special categories. The jury selected one Winner and 'Finalists' in each category. While the Winners went home with a ‘High Chair’ each, the Finalists were given away certificates as a token of appreciation. The Finalists were close enough but couldn’t win the coveted title by a tiny margin.

Below is the list of the Winners and Finalists in each category:

Young professionals from Wavemaker India bagged the maximum (6) number of High Chairs. While Wavemaker’s Faheem Merchant scored highest across categories for his “Making India Generous Again - One Thank You at a Time”, Nitasha Seth of Netflix was the winner of three High Chairs. On the other hand, Abhishek Goyal scored better than Nitasha but won two High Chairs in two categories.

After the intense debate during the judging session on selecting the winner of the Rising Star of the Year, the jury zeroed in to award the coveted title of The Rising Star of the Year to Abhishek Goyal for Gramophone Uday for owning a media within limited resources.

On winning the Rising Star Awards, Goyal said, “It is hard to express this feeling in words. I am deeply honoured by this recognition. I would like to thank my bosses for believing in me and giving me a platform and opportunity to do some great work. Our sole purpose here is to find a solution to a marketing problem that not just benefits the brand but also impacts society at large. I thank the judges and BestMediaInfo for being the stage where work like this can be recognised, showcased and celebrated.”

In the inaugural year itself, given the long-standing credibility of BestMediaInfo, the contest received more than 250 entries from media strategy professionals (under 35 years). The jury shortlisted 68 of these entries to be considered for the awards.

Niraj Sharma

Niraj Sharma, Founder and Editor-in-Chief at BestMediaInfo.com, said, “Congratulations to the young achievers on winning this highly competitive award in the media strategy field. The awards hold immense value for so many reasons. Firstly, it is India’s first award, especially curated for young professionals in media strategy. Secondly, the esteemed jury and the advisory board associated add depth to the awards. Thirdly, the awards logo and trophy are designed by India’s best creative agencies, Taproot Dentsu and Scarecrow M&C Saatchi. Lastly, the quality of entries received is amazing. All this together makes every High Chair win aspirational.”

The jury for the award committee consisted of prominent industry names such as Ajit Varghese, CCO, Sharechat; Anjali Krishnan Head of Media, Mondelez India; Archana Aggarwal, Head of Media, Airtel; Atit Mehta, Marketing Head, Byju’s; Bhavana Mittal, Vice-President, Media and Digital, RPSG Group; Jaikishin Chhaproo, Head Media and PR at ITC; Krishnarao S Buddha, Senior Category Head, Parle Products; Maithreyi Jagannathan, Vice-President, Brand and Brand Function Leader, Personal Health Care AMA, P&G Raj Nayak, Founder & Managing Director, House of Cheer Networks; Rajiv Dubey, Head of Media, Dabur India and Shashank Srivastava, Executive Director, Maruti Suzuki.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com