MAM
Mobile Marketing Association India announces shortlist for SMARTIES™ Awards
MUMBAI: The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), today has announced the shortlisted entries for the 2018 SMARTIES™ Awards in India. From this list, the winners will be announced on 28th September at the MMA Forum to be held at Taj, Santa Cruz Mumbai.
90 entries were shortlisted from across industries from hundreds of entries. Back for its seventh season this year, the SMARTIESTM India Awards has grown rapidly, but remains focused on its core mission to accelerate the transformation and innovation of marketing through mobile in the region. The Awards is the world’s only global mobile marketing awards program that honours innovation, creativity, success and Business Impact.
Those shortlisted for this year’s Awards include global brands like Google, Unilever, 21st Century Fox, HSBC, Cadbury, Godrej, Patanjali, Coca-Cola, Diageo, PepsiCo amongst others leading national and international brands. The top agencies that worked with the 90 shortlisted brands include Mindshare India, Isobar, Interactive Avenues, Essence, Madison, and Omnicom Media Group etc. The full list of shortlisted entries can be found here. https://www.mmaglobal.com/india/smarties2018
A total of 12 senior level brand marketers made up the list of juries, namely, Siddharth Banerjee of Vodafone, Priya Nair of Unilever, Gaurav Suri of UTI, Shabnam Panjwani of Edelweiss Financial Services, Viral Oza of Lodha Group, Avinash Kumar of Patanjali, Sandeep Singh of Bira, Asha Kharga of Axis Bank, Kartik Jain of DBS Bank, Abhishek Joshi of SonyLiv, Vishikh Talwar of Millward Brown, and Nitin Agarwal of Hotstar.
“It was not easy judging the entries this year with new and innovative ideas put forth. The level of creativity brought to the table exceeded expectations as the standards of submission improve year on year.” said Priya Nair, Executive Director of Homecare Hindustan Unilever Limited, who was the jury chair at this year’s MMA SMARTIES™ Awards.
Across the categories like brand awareness, audio and video campaigns, brands had the opportunity to showcase their marketing and technological capabilities and compete amongst the best in the industry through the SMARTIES™ Awards. Entries were judged on creativity, execution, strategy, and most importantly, business impact.
“It’s not every day you get the best ideas and the brightest minds in the mobile marketing world in one room. The SMARTIES™ Awards is indeed one of a kind, with entries judged by senior level brand marketers and agency leaders. Through the awards and the Forum, we look forward to celebrating the powerhouse of talent in the industry,” said Moneka Khurana, Country Head, MMA India.
“As mobile continues to take a larger share of the marketing pie in India, we are seeing more marketers make the leap when it comes to reaching out to their customers. The SMARTIESTM Awards celebrates this move and acknowledge those who have taken the bold step to innovate and be creative in the space,” said Rohit Dadwal, Managing Director of MMA in Asia Pacific.
MMA has partnered with Millward Brown as the knowledge partner and observer for MMA SMARTIES™ India and will be presenting their insights of what it takes to win the esteemed metal at the SMARTIES™ Awards. Millward Brown will also present key insights at the MMA Forum to help marketers understand the key drivers in the ever-emerging landscape of mobile advertising and marketing.
“The annual MMA SMARTIES™ Awards is one of the biggest and most prestigious awards for marketers, and we are proud to have been a knowledge partner and observer over the years. Based on the quality of entries this year, I’m certain that we will be seeing the industry grow massively in the near future, “Vishikh Talwar, Managing Director South Asia at Millward Brown.
MMA has also partnered WARC to launch the first-ever Business Impact Index, to identify, rank and award agencies and brands delivering the highest level of business impact, by analysing winner and finalist data from all SMARTIES™ Awards globally. The results of these will be published early next year.
Brands
Jubilant FoodWorks faces Rs 47.5 crore GST demand, plans appeal
Tax authorities flag alleged misclassification of restaurant services
MUMBAI: Jubilant FoodWorks Limited has landed in a tax tussle after receiving a GST demand of Rs 47.5 crore from the office of the additional commissioner of CGST and central excise in Thane, Maharashtra.
The order, issued under the provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, relates to an alleged incorrect classification of certain services under the category of restaurant services. According to the tax authorities, this classification resulted in a short payment of goods and services tax for the period between the financial years 2019-20 and 2021-22.
The demand includes Rs 47.5 crore in GST along with an equal amount as penalty, in addition to applicable interest. The order was received by the company on March 13, 2026.
In a regulatory filing to the BSE Limited and the National Stock Exchange of India Limited, the company said it disagrees with the order and believes its arguments were not adequately considered.
The company is preparing to challenge the decision and plans to file an appeal. It added that once the redressal process is complete, the demand is likely to be dropped.
Despite the sizeable figure attached to the notice, the company said it does not expect any material impact on its financials, operations or other activities.
The disclosure was signed by Suman Hegde, EVP and chief financial officer, who confirmed that the company received the order at 19:06 IST on March 13 and has already initiated steps to contest it.
The development places the quick service restaurant major in the middle of a tax debate that could hinge on how certain restaurant-linked services are classified under GST rules. For now, the company appears ready to take the matter from the tax office to the appeals desk.
