IMPACT unveils the Top 30 Under 30 list 2014, betting big on the future stars of the advertising industry
Our Top 30 Under 30 list, 2014 again brings to the fore the industry’s top talented youngsters under the age of 30. A distinguished jury led by Raj Nayak, CEO, Colors, had the difficult job of putting together the list from scores of very talented individuals who were the nominees. In the following pages, we bring you a detailed note on the strictly unbiased jury process, the parameters for judging and how the jury finally arrived at the list.
As the industry evolves and new-fangled roles and responsibilities emerge, our list too reflects this change... While the majority of youngsters on last year’s list had pure play creative or media agency roles, this year’s list includes more subsets of the industry’s core practices. So there are people who have a role in planning for mobile in a digital agency, a technology architect in a media agency and so on. Also, many people have extended digital roles, given the massive digital advances in the industry.
While this is not a ranking and all the 30 have equal standing in the list, the five youngsters who appear on our cover have been chosen on the basis of their extraordinary performance during the year and meritorious mentions by the jury. The profiles on the following pages appear in alphabetical order of first names. Six most talented youngsters who missed being on the list by a whisker feature in the ‘Honourable Mentions’ section.
THE SELECTION PROCESS
IMPACT’s aim is to identify and celebrate future leaders and promising young individuals in the creative and media agency space of India’s advertising industry. Therefore the Top 30 Under 30 initiative, to bring to the forefront young professionals who have already made a mark among seniors, clients and their peer group
JURY CHAIR
Raj Nayak, CEO, Colors
OTHER JURY MEMBERS
• Madhukar Sabnavis, Country Head, Discovery and Planning, O&M India
• Rohit Gupta, President, Multi Screen Media
• Gita Ram, Managing Director, South, OMD
• Govind Pandey, President, McCann Erickson Advertising
• Subhash Kamath, CEO & Managing Partner, BBH India
• Dnyanada Chaudhuri, Managing Partner, ZenithOptimedia
• Amer Jaleel, National Creative Director, Lowe Lintas & Partners
• Alok Jalan, Managing Director, Laqshya Media
• S Yesudas, MD, Indian Subcontinent, Vizeum
THE CONCEPT: Through a jury-led process, creating a listing of top 30 talented individuals of the Indian advertising and communication industry, who are under the age of 30.
THE OBJECTIVE: Identifying and celebrating future leaders of the Indian communication industry from both creative and media agencies, who have already made a mark on their seniors and clients they deal with.
THE INITIAL LIST: The exchange4media Group collated a list of 178 entries, for which a basic round of filtration was conducted. Entries that did not belong to the media and creative domains were eliminated, and the jury was presented with a list of 135 entries.
THE LISTING PROCESS: The jury process was divided into two rounds. The first round entailed the jury bringing down the number of entries to 52 by going through each and every entry and scoring it based on the parameters decided. The jury then went back to the selected 52 entries and scored them on the parameters for judging, through a silent scoring process, thus arriving at the final Top 30 Under 30.
PARAMETERS FOR JUDGING:
• Overall Entry Quality
• Body of Work
• Creativity
• Industry Recognition (Awards, recommendation letters etc.)
This is the second year that I am the jury chair and the process and quality of entries this year are much better. Agencies should come forward to get their best talents to showcase themselves. They are the next generation and our time is coming to an end. So don’t shy away from these awards and next time, make sure you send your entry.
Raj Nayak,
CEO, Colors
In every industry, it is important to recognize young talent as they are going to be the future leaders. It was amazing to see the outstanding work that people have done in such a short span. Within 3-4 years of joining the company, some have won so many awards!
Rohit Gupta,
President, Multi Screen Media
It’s a great idea to recognize young talent in the industry because they usually don’t normally get enough recognition. By and large the quality of entries is pretty good, but it might be a good idea to create separate evaluation parameters for media planners and account managers.
Govind Pandey,
President, McCann Erickson
It was an extremely well spent Tuesday afternoon. It is a good forum to see how media, creative and planning professionals are bringing brand insights into their daily work. It is also a great way to understand who will be the potential winners in the years to come.
Gita Ram,
Managing Director, South, OMD
I think people under 30 must be celebrated. I saw quite a few profiles of youngsters who I wish were in Lowe. For next year, it would help a great deal if applicants put in a little personal touch to their profiles.
Amer Jaleel,
National Creative Director, Lowe Lintas & Partners
Seniors get enough recognition so this is a great platform to recognize the young stars. I would have liked to see more representation from across agencies. My one advice to the young is — if you are true to yourself, things will fall in place and work.
Madhukar Sabnavis,
Country Head – Discovery and Planning, Ogilvy & Mather
Our business is a young business so it is good to celebrate young achievers. The entries could have been written with a lot more emphasis on story-telling. Seniors in organizations should coach the young on how to write the entries. I saw some very encouraging testimonials from clients and seniors.
Subhash Kamath,
CEO & Managing Partner, BBH India
I was delighted to be a part of the jury, some of the presentations amazed me and it was a great learning for me. Today’s youngsters can clearly express and present themselves. Clarity of thinking is one of the greatest assets of a professional, particularly for leaders.
S Yesudas,
MD, Indian Subcontinent, Vizeum
Youngsters need to be encouraged as they bring along a lot of new thinking and fresh ideas. There is a lot of good work that is being done at a very young age. People who have 3-4 years of experience have been a part of winning awards.
Dnyanada Chaudhuri,
Managing Partner, ZenithOptimedia
Alok Jalan,
Managing Director, Laqshya Media Group
