MAM
IAA announces India’s first ever IAA Leadership awards
MUMBAI: The International Advertising Association‘s (IAA) India chapter has established the IAA Leadership Awards to honour individuals in the fields of marketing, advertising and media, who have made enormous professional contributions and delivered business success to their companies.
The first edition of these annual awards will be held in an on-ground function scheduled for February 2013 in Mumbai. Union Minister of State (independent charge) of Information and Broadcasting Manish Tewari will be present at the inaugural awards ceremony as chief guest.
The IAA Leadership Awards celebrates the individual‘s innovative thinking and performance excellence that lead to outstanding success of the product/brand. The awards also indirectly seek to acknowledge the fact that the disciplines of marketing, advertising and media have to come together for the brand‘s success, by having all three functional disciplines honoured simultaneously.
International Advertising Association president Srinivasan Swamy said, “The IAA Leadership Awards salutes the brilliance of top professionals whose contribution makes our industry what it is. These annual awards, over time will be seen as the most coveted recognition an industry practitioner will receive for all his hard work and leadership qualities, which brought about success to the product/brand.”
IAA has appointed the experienced marketing research company A C Nielsen to execute the nomination and voting process. Further Ernst & Young has been appointed to conduct audit and validate the entire process. The winners will be decided in a two-stage selection process; the first stage will include nominations and shortlisting by seasoned marketing, media and advertising professionals; and the second stage will be the final selection of winners by a voting process among the shortlisted nominees, by respective senior industry peers.
MAM
Huella Services appoints Pankajj Rai as vice president – Ad sales
Media veteran with 18 years experience to lead monetisation and partnerships.
MUMBAI: When the ad game gets smarter, companies often look for someone who knows how to sell the story behind the screen. Huella Services has appointed Pankajj Rai as vice president for Ad sales, a move aimed at strengthening the company’s advertising and monetisation strategy as it expands its technology-led media offerings.
Rai brings over 18 years of experience across broadcast and digital media and will oversee monetisation initiatives for Newsroom AI, while also helping shape Huella’s next phase of development in interactive and AI-led advertising solutions.
Based in Delhi NCR, he will work closely with the founders and leadership team to align product capabilities with market needs, while driving partner development and go-to-market strategies for the company’s advertising platforms.
Rai’s career spans senior roles across some of India’s prominent media organisations. Before joining Huella, he served as business head for Wion and Zee Business at Zee Media Corporation. Earlier, he was national sales head at QYOU Media, where he led commercial partnerships and advertising growth.
His experience also includes managing commercial operations for major television brands such as Zee TV, Zee Cinema and Zee Bollywood, with responsibilities spanning North and East India.
Commenting on the appointment, Huella, co-founder and CEO Prrincey Roy said the company is strengthening its leadership team as it prepares for the next phase of growth.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Pankajj at a time when Huella is expanding both its portfolio and ambition. His depth of experience and strategic lens make him an invaluable addition as we build not just better products, but better outcomes for our partners and brands,” Roy said.
Huella Services is currently building technology driven advertising platforms that integrate AI powered content ecosystems with brand engagement, reflecting a broader shift in the media industry towards data driven and interactive advertising formats.
With Rai now leading ad sales and monetisation, the company aims to deepen relationships with advertisers while scaling its AI driven media products in an increasingly competitive digital advertising landscape.
