ITC and ITC Bingo! Mad Angles dominate at afaqs! Marketers' Excellence Awards 2024

The 4th edition of the afaqs! Marketers' Excellence Awards (MEA) marked a vibrant celebration of creativity and innovation in the marketing realm, showcasing remarkable achievements across numerous categories. 

With a total of 69 participating brands, including industry giants such as Amazon, Coca-Cola, Colgate, Hindustan Times, ITC, Jubilant FoodWorks, Nestle, and Swiggy Instamart, MEA 2024 brought together a diverse array of marketing visionaries under one roof.

With the support of our partners, MiQ, JioAds, and RedFM, whose support made this event possible, this year’s conference was a testament to the industry's resilience, creativity, and vision for the future. It celebrated the trailblazers and pioneers who continue to push boundaries, redefine norms, and shape the evolving landscape of marketing in India and beyond.

Diverse spectrums of awards and awardees

The afaqs! Marketers' Excellence Awards is a platform specifically crafted to recognise and celebrate the outstanding achievements and contributions of various entities in the marketing industry. It encompasses a broad spectrum of participants, including agencies, brands, creative studios, design studios, content creators, and production houses.

These diverse entities play crucial roles in shaping and driving innovation, creativity, and strategic excellence within the marketing landscape. The MEA acknowledges their unique and impactful contributions, highlighting their efforts in pushing boundaries, setting new standards, and making significant strides in the field of marketing.

It features a diverse range of awards categories such as All Media, Ambient Media, Brand Activation, Content, Design, Digital, Influencer Marketing, Print, Social Media, Television, Sector Awards, and Video, showcasing the comprehensive achievements and innovations in today's dynamic marketing landscape.

Recognising excellence

The entries first went to our distinguished jury, who meticulously evaluated each submission. Nearly 40% of the entries, representing only the most outstanding and innovative campaigns, surpassed this preliminary round, advancing to the grand jury for final review.

Company of The Year: ITC

ITC clinched the prestigious Company of the Year award, a testament to its exceptional performance and leadership. With multiple ITC brands securing wins at the event, including ITC Bingo! Mad Angles, ITC Foods, and ITC Mangaldeep, ITC has showcased its strength and innovation across various sectors.

Brand of The Year: ITC Bingo! Mad Angles

ITC Bingo! Mad Angles emerged as the star of the evening, winning the Brand of The Year award and securing an impressive tally of 7 metals, including 3 Gold, 3 Silver, and 1 Bronze awards, across multiple categories for the Bingo AI Meme Gallery campaign by Pixelfox, an integrated creative agency. This remarkable feat underscored their innovative approach and strategic prowess in crafting campaigns that resonated with audiences on a profound level.

Other notable winners

Not to be outdone, Viacom18 Media delivered a stellar performance, clinching 7 metals, including 2 Gold, 4 Silver, and 1 Bronze awards. 

KitKat India also stood out with a remarkable performance, securing 6 metals, including 1 Gold, 2 Silver, and 3 Bronze awards.

Shemaroo Entertainment showcased excellence with 6 metals, earning 2 Gold and 4 Silver. Creativeland Asia also took home 6 metals including 1 Gold, 2 Silver, and 3 Bronze awards.

ITC Foods demonstrated their brilliance with a total of 5 metals, including 2 Gold, and 3 Silver.

Similarly, Vodafone Idea and Adidas also made their mark, each clinching 5 metals, showcasing their prowess. 

These outstanding performances across various categories underscored the diversity and innovation prevalent in the marketing landscape, making the MEA 2024 a celebration of creativity and strategic excellence.

Joining the ranks of top winners were industry stalwarts such as Tata Power, Neo Stretch, Paisabazaar.com, Warner Bros, Sunfeast Mom's Magic, Croma, and more, each showcasing groundbreaking campaigns that captivated audiences and set new benchmarks in marketing excellence.

To view the comprehensive list of winners, click here.

Grand Jury and Jury

The MEA 2024 judging panel featured esteemed professionals from the marketing and advertising industry, each contributing their wealth of experience and expertise to the evaluation process. The Grand Jury included Oindrila Roy, managing director of Publicis India; Tanu Sinha, head of design at PepsiCo India and South Asia; Vanita Keswani, CEO of Madison Media Sigma at Madison World; Viral Oza, chief marketing officer at Mahindra Lifespaces; and Yatnesh Pandey, chief marketing officer at Greenply Industries.

Alongside them, the Jury comprised numerous other accomplished individuals whose insights and discernment added immense value to the awards, including Aakriti Bhargava, co-founder, Wizikey; Aparna Tadikonda, executive vice president, Interactive Avenues; Anjali Krishnan, director - India Consumer Experience, AMEA Media, Mondelez; Anuja Trivedi, CMO, Shemaroo Entertainment; Anuj Gosalia, founder and CEO, Terribly Tiny Tales; Anupama Ramaswamy, chief creative officer, Havas Worldwide India; Aruna Daryanani, director and business head, Amazon miniTV; Ashley Almeida, head - product and marketing, Axis Securities; Atul Shrivastava, executive director and CEO, Laqshya Media Group; Deepesh Dadheech, head brand and media strategy, Hyundai Motor India; Divya Agarwal, chief strategy officer, Creativeland Asia; Gaurav Ramdev, chief marketing officer, Protean eGov Technologies; Girish Narayandass, co-founder, Bare Bones Collective; Harikrishnan Pillai, CEO and co-founder, The Small Big Idea; Jit Sengupta, vice president - marketing, ZEE Biskope, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited; Khatija Lokhandwala, head- brand marketing, Zivame; Katha Pankaj Tara, VP marketing, Zupee; Narinder Mahajan, CEO and co-founder, ODN Digital Services; Nalin Jain, chief marketing officer, Godrej Capital; Nishant Nayyar, VP and head of marketing, Kaya Limited; Praanesh Bhuvaneswar, co-founder and CEO, Qoruz; Prashant Sukhwani, vice president, marketing, Burger King; Rahul Vengalil, chief executive office and co-founder, tgthr; Ramya Ramachandran, founder and CEO, Whoppl; Rakesh Thakur, B2B marketing head, The Times of India Group; Ratheesh MS, general manager, Motivator, GroupM; Saksham Jadon, founder and CEO, YoungGun; Sahil Shah, president - digital experience, Dentsu Creative India; Samir Sethi, head of brand marketing, Policybazaar.com; Shradha Agarwal, co-founder and CEO, Grapes; Siddhartha Singh, founder and director, BlackCab; Smriti Sekhsaria, marketing director, Moët Hennessy India; Sourav Patwari, VP growth and marketing, Truemeds India; Vanda Ferrao, chief marketing officer, WOW Skin Science; and Yogesh Tewari, Chief Marketing Officer, Guiltfree Industries Ltd.