Race Hots Up For Impact Person of The Year, 2014!

BY IMPACT Staff

Second phase of voting under way as countdown begins to award ceremony in Mumbai on December 5

The IMPACT Person of the Year award, or IPOY as it is known, has over the years gained credence as a major event in the annual calendar of the media industry. Not surprising, if you look at the esteemed list of winners who have been bestowed with this award. As 2014 draws to a close, IMPACT once again looks to acknowledge the achievements of the industry leader who has created the maximum impact in the media and advertising domain this year. Perhaps, the biggest impact this year in India was made by the general elections and the subsequent victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party with Narendra Modi at its helm. Some part of this victory can be credited to three illustrious men in the advertising industry.

First up, Sam Balsara, Chairman and Managing Director, Madison World who not only cracked the deal for the biggest media campaign this year, the BJP’s campaign for the Lok Sabha polls, but also won accolades for the meticulous implementation which resulted in the party’s landslide victory. A top contender, by all means.

Also playing a key role was Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman and Creative Director, South Asia, Ogilvy & Mather India who penned the now immortal line, ‘Ab ki baar Modi sarkaar'. In addition, Pandey was in the driver’s seat as Ogilvy’s sister agency, Soho Square brought out 200 commercials, 1,000 Print ads in all languages and 100 radio scripts in quick succession during the campaign phase. This, in addition, to the prolific work done by Ogilvy for its clients through the year, make Pandey a leading candidate.  

Prasoon Joshi, Chairman, McCann WorldGroup APAC & CEO, McCann Worldgroup India, a man of many avatars, was approached by BJP and he wrote the anthem ‘Saugandh is mitti ki…’ for the BJP’s political campaign. Another high point for him has been his elevation to an APAC role at McCann Worldgroup, besides being the first Asian to be Chairman of the Cannes Titanium Jury this year. Highly deserving of the award.

Punit Goenka, MD & CEO, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) has led ZEEL network from the front, not only making it profitable, but expanding its reach across the world. As Chairman of the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India, Goenka spearheads the industry’s ambitious drive to overhaul the crucial television audience measurement and ratings system in the country. A doer, if there was one.

Making a whole lot of news this year was Sachin Bansal & Binny Bansal, CEO & COO of Flipkart, who have been at the helm of the phenomenal rise of the e-commerce sector in India; 2014 was a big year for Flipkart as the company raised $1 billion in funding, taking its valuation to $5 billion, acquired India’s biggest fashion portal, Myntra, and became the exclusive retail platform for the Indian launch of the mobile phone Moto G in February. Young and already at the top, they definitely merit the prize.

Rounding up our nominees list is BD Park, President and CEO, Samsung S West Asia (also Samsung India) who despite intense competition in the mobile handset space, helped Samsung retain its leadership position in the overall mobile market with a market-share of 17%. With ambitious targets set in place for India, Samsung continues with its slew of launches in 2014, as Park proves himself a candidate worthy of the award.

IMPACT PERSON OF THE DECADE

In today’s world, a leader has to manage myriad complexities, not just have a vision but be able to translate that vision into substantial work and carry the team forward. More importantly, leadership cannot be taught - either you have it, or you don’t. Over the last decade, the media industry has seen phenomenal changes. With explosion of the digital domain, multitude of television channels and advances in technology, it’s been an exciting decade, to say the least. But, amidst this growth, the decade also witnessed an economic downturn which led to purse-strings being tightened across the industry. Despite these challenges, the industry has moved forward, led by strong leaders who steered the ship through all challenges and hurdles.

As IMPACT turns 10, the exchange4media Group is all set to honour that one individual whose contribution, leadership and influence has been remarkable over the last decade in the ad-media-marketing industry with the IMPACT Person of the Decade award. So, who do you think has re-defined leadership in the industry in the last decade and deserves to win the award? 

HOW WE SELECT THE IMPACT PERSON OF THE YEAR

Accolades always spur achievement, and vice versa. The world of Advertising, Media and Marketing in India has the coveted IMPACT Person of the Year (IPOY) Award as a benchmark of recognition. Instituted by the exchange4media Group in 2005, it aims to felicitate outstanding individual achievement and contribution to the domain in the past one year.

As we gear up for the big IPOY award night to be held in Mumbai on December 5 this year, here’s taking a close look at the selection process, handled by IMRB International. It is divided into three stages:

Phase I: Inviting nominations by way of an industry-wide poll carried through the exchange4media group of publications.

Phase II: The poll data was collected on the IMRB server. All responses received were validated by removal of duplicate votes and data cleaning. The result of all valid responses from the poll, throwing up a list of top contenders, was compiled and sent to IMPACT. The editorial team at IMPACT evaluated the list, and came up with the final list of nominees. IMRB and IMPACT agreed on a set of parameters on which the top contenders would be rated by respondents in the final phase.

Phase III: Final voting by a select few from across the Advertisement, Media and Marketing fraternity, on the basis of personal e-mail invites sent by IMRB. The respondents vote on the nominations on the basis of the pre-decided parameters – and pick one to three person(s) to be the IPOY. IMRB collates the data, giving due weightage to ranks 1, 2 and 3 and together with IMPACT’s editorial team, analyses it to arrive at the Impact Person of the Year.

Wait for December 5 to know the winner!

Tags : Spotlight