Chennai: The inaugural edition of MediaNews4u.com GameChangers Awards was hosted in Chennai on 15th February 2018.
The awards honoured pioneering achievements in the advertising, media, content andmarketing universe, in the past calendar year.
A GameChangers South segment of the awards saw winners from the South markets being chosen by a MediaNews4u.com panel headed by V Umanath, Editor-in-Chief, MediaNews4u.com.
Besides which, Editorial Choice awards for industry-leading initiatives and one GameChanger 2018 award, whose winner was chosen by a handpicked set of jurors scoring independently, were presented.
The jury comprised: Entrepreneur and Seed Investor Ranju Mohan, Angel Investor and former APAC Marketing Head of HP Lloyd Mathias, Founder Chairman of The Social Street Pratap Bose, Ad veteran Ramesh Narayan, V Umanath and Principal of Provocateur Advisory Paritosh Joshi. Journalist and independent consultant GokulKrishnamoorthy officiated as jury convenor and process auditor.
The guiding principles for the choices were:
- Pioneering nature of initiatives
- Scale and recognition
- Impact on larger ecosystem/industry/society
- Odds against which achievement was accomplished
The winners and their respective citations are as follows:
Sanjay Reddy and Anil Pallala, Founder & Co-Founder ofSillymonks Entertainment, for theircontinued success as regional content specialists and expansion into sports entertainment.
Sillymonks became the first digital entertainment company in India to go public when it got listed on NSE-Emerge in January 2018, and was oversubscribed 17 times.
Founded in September 2013, SillyMonksis focusing on content aggregation, customisation and deployment in audio and video formats for mobile carriers, devices and music stores, in India and world markets.
Armed with a multitude of popular digital media properties like MonkStar Music and over 990+ YouTube channels with original content, Silly Monks identifies itself today, as an internet publishing, content creating, mobile distribution, and marketing, advertising and strategic consulting company.
The NSE Emerge-listed company clocked 31 % consolidated growth and 181 % standalone growth in FY 2017-18. It acquired over 1200 short films in various Southern languages and 150+ music videos in the same financial year.
Silly Monks forayed into the sports entertainment arena in August 2018 by acquiring Telangana Premier Kabaddi League (TKPL). Adopting the popular franchise route, the league is telecast live to Telugu audiences.
With Silly Monks, regional content is king.
Anand Sankeshwar, Managing Director of VRL Media for his continuing success with news media in Kannada.
Six years after creating from scratch the leading Kannada daily Vijay Karnataka, and selling it, Sankeshwar re-entered the fray with Vijayawani in April 2012. Within 24 months, it became the audited circulation leader and has remained as the highest circulated newspaper in Karnataka ever since.
In April 2017, he ventured into broadcast media with the launch of Digvijaya TV, a 24×7 Kannada news channel. It has emerged as one of the top five in its genre and claims rightful credit for predicting the seemingly unpredictable, by calling the 2018 Karnataka election results accurately.
In June 2018, he ventured into citizen journalism driven by digital with the launch of PowerNews app, through which the common man has turned reporter to air local grievances.
We salute the resilience with which Sankeshwar has established yet another number one Kannada daily brand, its continued leadership and expansion beyond print.
Dr R Sakthivel, Founder and CEO for his continuing contribution to the advertising industry in Tamil Nadu and beyond.
The first generation entrepreneur with more than two decades of expertise is driven by a clear insight of what regional advertisers need. His pivotal role in customizing solutions for retail and regional brands has seen the agency he founded , Challenge Advertising, become a trusted partner to entrepreneurs and media owners alike.
Sakthivel is rightly regarded as a pioneer in movie advertising on TV. He is credited with initiating and catalyzing the transition of movie promos from freely aired fillers to a key advertising dollar genre for regional Television today.
By establishing a presence in Singapore, Challenge has helped regional Indian brands reach the diaspora and Tamil-speaking audiences, and South East Asian brands foray into South India.
With an agile and hands-on approach, Sakthivel ensures that his agency is alive to every emerging challenge and opportunity.
K Madhavan, Managing Director (South) – Star Indiafor his peerless and continuing contribution to the regional Television genre in India.
Madhavan spearheads the South business of Star India, leading a veritable number of channels and their growing contribution to the network . He joined Asianet Communications in 1999 and took over as MD and CEO the very next year. He has been instrumental in the emergence of Asianet, now in its Silver Jubilee year, as the undisputed leader in Malayalam in multiple genres.
Under his watch, regional channels have led the game on programming, in original and international formats, for Hindi channels to emulate. Among others, he successfully launched Bigg Boss in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam, to spectacular results.
Madhavan was instrumental Star India’s #AllForKerala campaign in 2018 following the devastating floods, inspiring millions to contribute across TV, Hotstar and social media to the CM’s relief funds. Fifty channels of the network in eight languages and Hotstar carried the campaign, besides which the network chipped in with its own monetary contribution.
The Director of Indian Broadcasting Federation and the President of Kerala Television Federation leads from the front, and has truly changed the game.
ParthoDasgupta, CEO of BARC India was awarded with the GAMECHANGER 2018 Editorial Choice award for Industry Initiatives, for his outstanding contribution to the media universe through his leadership of BARC India, in 2018.
He has ably led the industry body, enabling the Indian TV industry to take giant leaps in audience measurement, in the year gone by. BARC has not just expanded the scope and intensified the science of audience measurement, it has also made access to this information simpler for stakeholders than ever before.
MediaNews4U.Com laud BARC’s contribution under his leadership to the media universe.
Srinivasan K Swamy, CMD RK SwamyHansa Group and Global President, IAAwas bestowed with the GAMECHANGER 2018 Editorial Choice award for his outstanding contribution to the advertising, media and marketing universe and beyond, in 2018.
MediNews4U.Com salute him on becoming the President of the global body comprised of media owners, agencies and marketers, the International Advertising Association (IAA). He became the first Indian to head this prestigious Association with members in 79 countries in 2018.
Alongside, he ably helms the RK SwamyHansa Group, a multi-faceted behemoth headquartered in India that needs no introduction.
Swamy continues to inspire the ad and corporate world, finding time for large scale philanthropy projects spanning education to healthcare.
Nandini Dias, CEO of Lodestar UM was conferred with the GAMECHANGER 2018 award for her outstanding contribution to the media and advertising universe and beyond, in 2018.
Besides leading Lodestar UM to the Abby’s Media Agency of the Year title, she has impacted the lives of working professionals in Mumbai by championing the IAA’S game-changing ‘Work To Live To Work’ initiative.
A jury comprising senior industry leaders has chosen her as their GameChanger 2018.
MediaNews4U.Com salutes her pioneering efforts to promote flexible work hours in maximum city.
