IAA announces nominees of Leadership Awards

The award function is to be held on February 2 in Mumbai.

The shortlist of nominees for the first International Advertising Association (IAA) Leadership Awards has been announced. Organised by IAA-India chapter, the annual award is bestowed to individuals for their outstanding contribution in marketing, advertising and media.

The nominees have been announced for 10 categories such as Media Agency Head of the Year; and Marketer of the Year in verticals including FMCG - Food and Beverages, FMCG - Personal Care, FMCG - Consumer Durables, Household Products, Telecom Products, Auto 2 Wheelers, Travel and Hospitality, Banking, and Insurance.

The nominees under Media Agency Head of the Year include five names - Lodestar India's Shashi Sinha, Sam Balsara of Madison World, Rajesh Jain of Prachar Advertising, GroupM's Vikram Sakhuja and OMD's Jasmin Sohrabji.

In the FMCG-Food and Beverages category, the nominees are Deepika Warrier of PepsiCo, Cadbury Kraft India's Chandramouli Venkatesan, Dabur's Krishan Kumar Chutani, Anuradha Narasimhan of Britannia and Geetu Varma of HUL.

Srinivasan Swamy, president, International Advertising Association, says, "The IAA Leadership awards are an attempt to honour the contributions of individuals in the field of marketing, advertising and media. Each nominee from across categories has burned the midnight oil to make a positive difference for the brands they work for. May the best professionals win."

The winners will be selected in two rounds. The first round comprises nominations and shortlisting by veteran marketing, media and advertising professionals, while the second round consists of zeroing in on the winners from the nominees through voting by respective senior industry peers.

IAA has roped in A C Nielsen, the market research company, to oversee the nomination and voting process, and ensure transparency and fairness. Also, Ernst & Young will audit and validate the whole procedure.

The awards will be given out by Manish Tiwari, minister of state for information and broadcasting at a ceremony in Mumbai on February 2. More than 350 professionals are expected to attend the award function. Meanwhile, Viacom18's flagship general entertainment channel (GEC) Colors will be the presenting sponsor of the event.