MUMBAI: For the third consecutive year MindShare Asia Pacific has been awarded Media Agency of the Year at the Media magazine Asia awards.

The jury stated new business wins, client and staff retention and extensive training programs as the key reasons for the win. The agency has invested more than $5 million in training in 2005 and created an internal staff exchange program.

MindShare won a total of five awards. "No agency has got this twice in a row, leave alone three times. This caps a wonderful year in which MindShare India was also resoundingly chosen as the Indian Media Agency of the Year earlier in the year. Our network is our strength and it feels wonderful to see it being acknowledged," says MindShare South Asia managing director Vikram Sakhuja.

At the same event GroupM India's investment director Prasanth Kumar was also awarded Asia Pacific's Media Buyer of the year.

GroupM South Asia CEO Ashutosh Srivastava said, "The ability to consistently give clients the highest quality of service in markets as diverse as India, Australia, Vietnam, China etc., sets our network apart from every other agency network in Asia. And the award for Prasanth is a fantastic recognition for India based media talent."