The Indian Advertising Association (IAA) leadership awards ceremony early this month saw the cr?me de la cr?me of the marketing communications business congregating to fete the winners. There were 19 categories of awards and each of these were presented by the minister for information and broadcasting Manish Tewari. Conversation flowed freely, along with Chardonnay and Smirnoff at the Grand Hyatt Mumbai where the event was held. Vikram Sakhuja, global chief executive of Maxus; Meenakshi Madhvani, managing partner of Spatial Access; Shashi Sinha, chief executive, IPG Mediabrands; Madhukar Kamath, chief executive and managing director, Mudra and I Venkat, director, Eenadu were all part of the awards ceremony. Colors was the presenting sponsor and its chief executive Raj Nayak said that the theme of the awards, i.e., leadership, appealed to them, and had synergies with Colors as a brand.
Gayatri Yadav, executive vice president – marketing and communications, Star India was awarded marketer of the year in the media and entertainment category while Arun Srinivas, vice president ? skincare, Hindustan Unilever Ltd, was awarded in the personal care category. Anuradha Aggarwal, vice president?? brand communication and insights, Vodafone India won an award in the telecom category, while Mayank Pareek, chief operating officer at Maruti Suzuki India was felicitated in the auto passenger vehicles category. Actor Salman Khan was the male endorser of the year while Katrina Kaif was the top female endorser.
Piyush Pandey, executive chairman and national creative director of ad agency Ogilvy & Mather India was acknowledged as the head of the year (creative agency) while Sam Balsara, chairman and managing director, Madison Media was the head of the year (media agency). On receiving his award, Balsara said that leadership as a title cannot be given or bestowed. “It can only be earned,” he said, “You don’t consciously become a leader. There are certain actions of yours, which make others recognise you as a leader.” Balsara says he would like young people to earn the mantle of leadership rather than chase after a leadership role.
Srinivas from HUL said that he did not look upon the award as a personal achievement. “We have worked as a team. We’ve responded to the consumer’s needs, put her at the centre of our efforts and constantly reinvented.” Srinivas feels that he has also been helped by the category, which is truly dynamic. As people become more affluent, personal care penetration in small towns and rural areas will be on the rise. “Even in urban centres, on a per capita basis, the consumption is well below the kind of consumption that takes place in global markets. So in the personal care category, marketing is really about growing the category and increasing consumption.” Even in a lacklustre year such as 2012, HUL says that its ad-marketing budgets have only increased. There has been no crimping of spends, said Srinivas.
Anil Dua, senior vice president at Hero Moto Corp, who had been awarded in the two wheeler category, said that the brand had faced huge challenges in branding, after it decided to part ways from its erstwhile joint venture partner Honda. “We created a new brand Hero and launched a campaign ‘Hum mein hain hero’ which saw remarkable success. Even though we were in transition, we did not stop for a breather. We continued to launch new models, put our resources in research and development and entered global markets and technology partnerships. It is this plethora of action that has got us here.”
Other marketers said that they were engaging with consumers online, and were consciously a part of conversations. Vodafone’s Anuradha Aggarwal said, “The Indian consumer is evolving and one of the biggest changes is the advent of the internet. The medium empowers the consumer and the entire world’s information is available on her fingertips. Only 10% of India’s population is currently on the internet, but those who have caught on are on it very aggressively. For these people, we need to offer more engagement and interactivity, so that they can talk to us as brands. We cannot just broadcast to them, as we do on other media.” Aggarwal added that there was a mobile revolution waiting in the wings. The internet is going mass with the penetration of mobile phones. “Soon many of the consumers will have their first internet experience on the mobile phone. The biggest challenge is to ensure that we are there – where the customers are. We have to make sure that the online medium is not just about selling,” she said.
