Chanakya Awards 2010: Brand-comm is PR Agency of the Year; Coca-Cola India adjudged ‘Organisation of the Year’

Winners of the Chanakya Awards 2010 were announced recently. Integrated communications firm Brand-comm was adjudged PR Agency of the Year. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola India was adjudged the Organisation of the Year for PR Excellence. Deepak Jolly, Vice President, Public Affairs and Communication, Coca-Cola India received the Award.

In its fourth year, the Chanakya Awards have been instituted by the Public Relations Council of India (PRCI). The PRCI is a leading platform for public relations professionals for global exchange of ideas in Corporate Communications, Image & Reputation Management, Advertising and Public Relations.

Among other winners are Barkha Dutt, Managing Editor, NDTV (Media Personality of the Decade), Dr Mahesh Joshi, Senior Director, Bangalore Doordarshan (Business Excellence in PR), Yogesh Joshi, President, ABC, Mumbai (Communicator of the Year - PR), and PR Voice, Hyderabad (PR Magazine of the Year).

In his keynote address at the awards ceremony held at the India Habitat Centre in Delhi on April 3, Ramanujam Sridhar, Founder & CEO of Brand-comm, said, “The award truly reflects what Brand-comm stands for – the most insightful and professional integrated firm in the business of brand consulting, public relations and advertising. What has kept Brand-comm as first among equals is our ability to understand what exactly the consumer wants and our finely tuned instinct and conviction to deliver across India’s diverse consumer demography, be it in PR, brand consulting or advertising.”

Coca-Cola India was also recognised for leveraging its ‘Environment Wall Calendar’ and the ‘Little Drops of Joy Campaign’ to connect and engage with stakeholders. The company received accolades for rolling out the Mir Iqbal Trophy Tournament, a grassroot level championship to discover promising young footballers and for leveraging the ‘Limca Book of Records’ amongst stakeholders. Continuing its winning streak, Coca-Cola India was also acknowledged for coming out with the ‘Environment Report – Towards Sustainability’.

Some of the other corporates who were acknowledged for effectively leveraging public relations included, IDBI Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Chemicals. In the end, Bhishma Narain Singh, former Union Minister and Governor, along with Dr Matthew Hibberd, Professor, Sterling University, London and MB Jayaram, Chairman Emeritus & Chief Mentor, National Governing Council, PRCI honoured Coca-Cola India with the ‘Overall Champions Award’.

Based on the theme ‘Emerging Avenues in Specialised Communication’ the 4th Global Meet witnessed a convergence of over 10 guest speakers along with several eminent communication professionals. These included top communication practitioners of national as well as international distinction. Serving as a platform for knowledge exchange, the business sessions involved discussions on emerging trends especially with respect to digital communication. Some of the other key topics covered were, Evolution of PR and Specialized PR, Technology PR and Social Sector PR.