Mumbai: The Market Research Society of India’s (MRSI) Golden Key Awards has rapidly become the foremost platform acknowledging and celebrating excellence in India’s Research and Insights industry since its establishment in 2019.
Upholding its tradition of honouring remarkable individuals whose contributions have significantly shaped the industry’s progression, MRSI is pleased to announce that it will confer Lifetime Achievement Awards to C. K. Sharma and Mr. Ashok Das at the upcoming Golden Key Awards 2024, scheduled to take place in Mumbai on Thursday, February 20, 2025. Furthermore, MRSI will bestow upon Dr. Lalit S. Kanodia a Special Award in recognition of his Transformational Impact on the Industry. MRSI extends its profound gratitude to Mr. Ashok Das, Mr. C. K. Sharma, and Dr. Lalit S. Kanodia for their unwavering support and pioneering guidance, which have played an instrumental role in elevating India’s market research and insights industry.
Over an illustrious career spanning more than four decades, Ashok Das has served as a critical architect of India’s market research landscape. He turned around Hansa Research as a formidable industry contender while championing groundbreaking initiatives including the Indian Readership Survey (IRS), the Rural SEC, and INTAM, India’s first television meter service. In addition, his leadership at IMRB, MARG, and ORG-MARG extended the frontiers of market research into Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal. A regular contributor at ESOMAR and MRSI forums, and a guest lecturer at esteemed institutions such as IIM Ahmedabad and IIT Bombay, Mr. Das influenced both the practice and the pedagogical evolution of market research.
Similarly, C. K. Sharma – affectionately known as CK – is among the pioneers of the marketing research profession in India with over four decades of experience. As co-founder of Marketing & Business Associates (MBA), he led a team that developed expertise in cutting-edge analytical methods, applying them judiciously to help clients solve problems. In the 1990s, he played a major role in partnering with The Gallup Organization to introduce the newly born and vastly important concepts of customer and employee engagement in India. He later led Gallup’s research and consulting team in Asia-Pacific before transitioning to the role of Thought Leader and Strategic Consultant. His influential contributions have included:
Working with the Public Affairs Centre to develop Citizen Scorecards widely used in India and in some Eastern European countries through the World Bank.
Developing sophisticated customer experience frameworks for global banks.
Building a conjoint measurement-based system to analyze farmer choices of herbicides across three Asian countries.
Mentoring new generations of industry leaders through teaching engagements at IIM Ahmedabad and MICA.
Dr. Lalit S. Kanodia is widely regarded as a visionary and father-figure of the Indian Tech industry, extending his expertise into transforming global research and insights organizations. He spearheaded the digitization of physical offline research and the integration of high-end data analytics to improve the quality and turnaround time of research insights. A distinguished alumnus of MIT (Massachusetts) and IIT Mumbai, Dr. Kanodia played a key role in establishing Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in 1967, laying the foundation for India’s IT revolution. He currently serves as Chairman of the Datamatics Group of Companies. Beyond business, his commitment to academia is evident in his teaching roles at MIT and the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, as well as his leadership roles at the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce and the IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Reflecting on the honours, Nitin Kamat, President at Market Research Society of India, remarked, “We are profoundly grateful to Mr. Ashok Das, Mr. C. K. Sharma, and Dr. Lalit S. Kanodia for their enduring support and visionary leadership. Their extraordinary contributions have shaped the very fabric of our industry, and their steadfast mentorship continues to guide professionals across the sector. We are privileged to recognize their outstanding achievements at the MRSI Golden Key Awards 2024.”
The Golden Key Awards 2024 will convene prominent thought leaders, seasoned veterans, and dynamic emerging talent from across the nation to celebrate excellence in market research and insights. This prestigious event honours the accomplishments of the fraternity and underscores MRSI’s unwavering commitment to advancing innovation and thought-leadership within the industry.
