IAA Leadership Awards: Mukesh Ambani is Business Leader of the Year

The International Advertising Association’s (IAA) India Chapter announced the winners for the fifth edition of the coveted Leadership Awards at Trident Hotel, Mumbai on Saturday, October 7, 2017. Powered by Colors, the event was flagged off by Reliance Industries Chairman & MD, Mukesh Ambani, and Deputy Minister of the diplomacy, PM’s office, Government of Israel, Dr. Michael Oren. Creating another momentous occasion at the awards was the unveiling of the book, ‘Gandhi - The Great Communicator’. The awards saw leaders representing advertising, marketing and media honoured by a group of pre-eminent guests. 

The Awards ceremony saw industry veteran, Srinivasan Swamy, Chairman and Managing Director, RK Swamy BBDO, inducted into the Hall of Fame Awards. The IAA Media Agency Leader and Creative Agency Leader Award went to Madison Communications’ Vikram Sakhuja and Sonal Dabral, DDB Mudra Group, India, respectively. The coveted IAA Media Leader Award went to Google’s Rajan Anandan, while Mukesh Ambani was adjudged IAA Business Leader of the Year. 

Excellence in Journalism was celebrated with Rahul Joshi of Network18 News winning the IAA Editorial Leader award and CNBC-TV18’s Shereen Bhan winning the IAA Leader – TV Anchor of the Year. The Brand Endorsement Leader award went to Amitabh Bachchan and Alia Bhatt. 

On being awarded the Business Leader of the Year award, Mukesh Ambani said, “On behalf of all of us at Reliance Industries, we would like to thank the jury and IAA for this recognition. I believe leadership is about setting new standards as demonstrated by our team at Jio. India was 155^th in mobile broadband rankings in the world when we launched Jio, but in a year it became No. 1 in the world. India is becoming a mobile first country and this is the future of our young nation.” 

Commenting on the occasion, Ramesh Narayan, the newly elected President of IAA, said, “We are privileged to have Shri Mukesh Ambani and Deputy Minister of Diplomacy, PM’s Office, Government of Israel Michael Orren with us. IAA Leadership Awards 2017 has been a memorable event thanks to the distinguished guests, esteemed jury and an exhaustive list of quantitative and qualitative parameters that have helped recognise outstanding campaigns and we have cherished our partnership with Colors.” 

Speaking of his maiden visit to India, Dr Michael Oren said, “India is revered, respected and loved by the people of Israel. Both countries are the cradle of great civilizations and religions. I can think of no two countries in the world that have had a greater impact on history and art. I would like to extend an invite to every Indian to visit Israel and experience our love for India and our hospitality.” 

Speaking about Colors’ association with the awards, Raj Nayak, COO, Viacom18 Media, said, “We have been associated with the IAA Leadership Awards since inception and are happy to see it grow in size and stature year after year. As a leader in the media and entertainment space, we feel privileged to partner with the International Advertising Association in recognizing and rewarding leaders in our country.” 

Winners List - 5th Edition of the IAA Leadership Awards 2017

Sr No	CATEGORY NAME	WINNER NAME
1	IAA Business Leader	Mukesh Ambani, Chairman & MD, Reliance Industries Limited
2	IAA Hall of Fame	Srinivasan Swamy, R K Swamy BBDO Pvt Ltd
3	IAA Media Agency Leader	Vikram Sakhuja, Madison Communications Pvt. Ltd.
4	IAA Creative Agency Leader	Sonal Dabral, DDB Mudra Group, India
5	IAA Media Leader	Rajan Anandan, Google
6	IAA Editorial Leader	Rahul Joshi, Network18 News
7	IAA Leader - TV Anchor	Shereen Bhan, CNBC-TV18
8	IAA Brand Endorsement Leader	Amitabh Bachchan
9	IAA Brand Endorsement Leader	Alia Bhatt
10	Marketer of the Year - Home Improvement	Amit Syngle, President - Sales & Marketing Asian Paints Ltd.
11	Marketer of the Year – Banking	Ashish Marone, Head Marketing Communication, HDFC Bank Ltd.
12	Marketer of the Year - Insurance	Shiv Prabhat, Executive Director - Micro Insurance Life Insurance Corporation of India
13	Marketer of the Year - FMCG -Food	Kishore Jhala, Chief Operating Officer, GCMMF(Amul)
14	Marketer of the Year - Consumer Durables – Electronics	Ranjivjit Singh, Senior VP – Marketing, Samsung India Electronics Pvt. Ltd
15	Marketer of the Year - Consumer Durables – Others	Ranjivjit Singh, Senior VP – Marketing, Samsung India Electronics Pvt. Ltd
16	Marketer of the Year - Auto (Two Wheelers)	Y S Guleria, Vice President – Marketing, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd.
17	Marketer of the Year - Auto (Four Wheelers)	Randhir Singh Kalsi, Senior Executive Director - Marketing & Sales, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd
18	Marketer of the Year - E-Commerce	Ravi Desai, CMO, Amazon India Seller Service Pvt Ltd
19	Marketer of the Year - FMCG -Beverages	Anjana Ghosh, Director – Marketing, Bisleri International Pvt Ltd
20	Marketer of the Year - FMCG - Homecare	Pradeep Wadekar, Head of Sales - Western Region , RSPL Limited
21	Marketer of the Year - FMCG - Personal care	Shalini Raghavan, CMO, L'Oréal India Pvt. Ltd
22	Marketer of the Year – Retail	Pawan Sarda, Group Head – Digital, Future Retail Limited
23	Marketer of the Year - Mobile Devices	Ranjivjit Singh, Senior VP – Marketing, Samsung India Electronics Pvt. Ltd
24	Marketer of the Year - Telecom	Adarsh Verma - Head - Marketing, Bharti Airtel Ltd.