At the recently unveiled 6th edition of IMPACT 50 Most Influential Women in Media, Marketing and Advertising, 2017 list, Malini Agarwal, Founder & Creative Director of MissMalini Entertainment, topped the list owing to the immense influence and popularity of her website, Missmalini.com, which has a social media following of over seven million and over four million organic monthly visitors from over 200 countries. Taking native advertising to an altogether different level, Agarwal is undoubtedly one of the biggest influencers in the digital space today.
The jury this year included eminent industry leaders, led by Sam Balsara, Chairman and MD, Madison World. Other eminent names on the jury this year were Sanjay Behl, Chief Executive Officer, Raymond Limited; Nakul Chopra, Chief Executive Officer, Publicis South Asia; Shalini Kamath, Independent Board Director and Executive Coach; Joy Chakraborthy, President-Revenue, TV18 & CEO, Forbes India; Avinash Pandey, COO, ABP News Network and Anil Uniyal, CEO, Bloomberg Quint.
Some of the other names on the Top 10 of the list this year are Tanya Dubash, Executive Director & Chief Brand Officer, Godrej Group; Priya Nair, Executive Director, & VP, Home Care, Hindustan Unilever; Geetu Verma, Executive Director, Foods, Hindustan Unilever & VP Foods, Unilever South Asia; Kalli Purie, Group Editorial Director (Broadcast & New Media), India Today Group; Sonali Dhawan, Brand Director, Procter & Gamble India; Barkha Dutt, ace journalist; Anuradha Aggarwal, Chief Marketing Officer, Marico Limited; Sunita Bangard, President - Marketing, Idea Cellular and Ekta Kapoor, Joint MD and Creative Director, Balaji Telefilms. There are 10 new entrants to the list.
Also, the jury has chosen to honour 14 women achievers with Special Mention, in addition to the list of 50 Most Influential Women 2017.
“I am delighted that this time we have 10 new names on the list. I look forward to the feedback from our advertising, marketing and media community on the list that we have put out”, stated Balsara.
Commenting on the list, Anurag Batra, Chairman and editor-in-chief of BW Businessworld and the exchange4media Group, said, “Breaking the chains of restraint, today we find ever-motivated and inspired women who look back at nothing and are riding on the wave of success. Today, as the discourses on women’s empowerment increase in general and become more widespread, we see a new revolution in the corporate ecosystem - a revolution guided and championed by women. Miss Malini, who shot to success with her famous blog, missmalini.com, ranks as IMPACT’s most influential woman in the Media, Marketing & Advertising space this year. A dynamic personality, Malini Agarwal is a common household name today in India. Whilst Miss Malini stands out, others who have found their names on the list are no less and are doing wonders in the field of Media, Marketing and Advertising.
Past toppers of IMPACT’s 50 Most Influential Women List include Ekta Kapoor (2016); Kirthiga Reddy, then Managing Director of Facebook India (2015); Rama Bijapurkar, market strategy consultant and acclaimed business author (2014); Shobhana Bhartia, Chairperson and Editorial Director HT Media Group (2013) and Vinita Bali, then Managing Director of Britannia (2012) .
