Ekta Kapoor Tops IMPACT's List Of 50 Most Influential Women 2016

Ekta Kapoor, Joint Managing Director and Creative Director, Balaji Telefilms, has saved the number one position in the IMPACT's 50 Most Influential Women in Media, Marketing and Advertising in 2016.

Ekta Kapoor, Joint Managing Director and Creative Director, Balaji Telefilms, said, "Influence comes in many ways. It means a lot, it means making my parents proud, it means becoming more and more responsible because now you have to live up to the responsibility of being influential... it’s also overwhelming actually to be chosen by such a revered magazine."

Kapoor, who is not a newcomer to the list, catapulted to the top spot this year owing to her enduring influence on Indian Television over the years, for which she has rightly been crowned 'Queen of Indian TV', and her success in producing meaningful and entertaining cinema.

The fifth edition of IMPACT's Most Influential Women list was unveiled in Mumbai on Wednesday at a high level industry gathering. The event was presented by Colors and powered by Dainik Bhaskar, along with banking partner Kotak Mahindra Bank and associate partners SAB and 9X.

Kirthiga Reddy, Managing Director, Facebook India, was the leader of the list in 2015, who has slipped to ranked fifth this year.

Kirthiga Reddy, Managing Director, Facebook India, said, "Being on IMPACT’s 50 Most Influential Women in Media, Marketing and Advertising means a whole lot to me. As I reflect on my journey to get to this point, seeing other women take places in similar spots has been usually inspirational to me and given me a sense of ‘I can do it too.’ And now to be on the other side to be on the receiving side for the second time in a row means a lot."

Some of the other names on the list this year are Tanya Dubash (ranked 2), Executive Director & President, Marketing, Godrej Group, Priya Nair (ranked 3), Executive Director, Home Care, Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Sangeeta Pendurkar (ranked 4), Managing Director, Kellogg India, Geetu Verma (ranked 6), Executive Director, Foods & Refreshment, Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Sonali Dhawan (ranked 7), Brand Director, Procter & Gamble India and Barkha Dutt (ranked 8), Consulting Editor, NDTV & Co-Founder, The Print. There are 15 new entrants to the list. Also, for the first time this year, the jury has chosen to honour 15 women achievers with Special Mention, in addition to the list of 50 Most Influential Women.

The list was put together by a jury of most esteemed industry leaders, led by Sam Balsara, Chairman and MD, Madison World. Other eminent names on the ten-member jury this year were Ambi MG Parameswaran, Advisor, FCB Ulka, Arvind Sharma, Chairman, Cheetahsoft Technologies, I Venkat, Director, Eenadu, Rohit Gupta, President, Sony Pictures Networks, Sandeep Goyal, Chairman, Mogae Group, Shireesh Joshi, COO, Strategic Marketing Group, Godrej Industries, Sunil Gautam, Founder & Partner, Pitchfork Partners, Timmy Kandhari, MD, Sapphire Professional Services and Vikas Khanchandani, Director, Aidem Ventures.

Summing up the jury process, jury chair Sam Balsara said, "We've come a long way since Year One. Our processes are also far more robust. I'm delighted that this list has gained in popularity and in importance going by the number of phone calls most of the jury members and I received, and the number of nominations we received. I can say with some satisfaction that this list has now arrived and it's a much looked-forward-to list by both men and women in our industry."

Commenting on the list, Annurag Batra, Chairman and editor-in-chief of BW Businessworld and the exchange4media Group, said, "IMPACT's 50 Most Influential Women List is our attempt to showcase the Superwoman of today. It has become a highly coveted and sought-after list. This year's topper Ekta Kapoor is someone who is constantly reinventing herself. Despite coming from a very prominent and well to do family, Ekta has continued to break stereotypes and forge ahead. Some of the women on the list, I know, some I look up to and others I would like to get to know. I'm sure our readers are aware that the Media, Advertising and Marketing industry has a high number of women professionals and a large proportion of women leaders. By showcasing these women leaders and Superwomen, we are encouraging young entrepreneurs in the field to work to match their standards and expectations. We are creating icons to be followed."

Past winners of IMPACT's 50 Most Influential Women List include 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).

THE RANKING LIST

1 Ekta Kapoor, Joint Managing Director and Creative Director, Balaji Telefilms
2 Tanya Dubash, Executive Director & President, Marketing, Godrej Group
3 Priya Nair, Executive Director, Home Care, Hindustan Unilever Ltd
4 Sangeeta Pendurkar, Managing Director, Kellogg India
5 Kirthiga Reddy, Managing Director, Facebook India
6 Geetu Verma Executive Director, Foods & Refreshment, Hindustan Unilever Ltd
7 Sonali Dhawan, Brand Director, Procter & Gamble India
8 Barkha Dutt Consulting Editor, NDTV & Co-Founder, The Print
9 Nadia Chauhan, Joint MD and CMO, Parle Agro
10 Anuradha Aggarwal, Chief Marketing Officer, Marico Ltd
11 Jasmin Sohrabji, CEO, SE Asia and India, Omnicom Media Group
12 Malini Agarwal, Founder & Blogger-in-Chief, Miss Malini Media
13 Apurva Purohit, President, Jagran Group
14 Nandini Dias, Chief Executive Officer, Lodestar UM
15 Meena Kaushik, Executive Chairman, Quantum Consumer Solutions
16 Sunita Bangard, President - Marketing, Idea Cellular
17 Deepika S Tewari, General Manager, Marketing, Jewellery Division, Titan Company Ltd
18 Tanya Goyal, Executive Director, Mogae Media
19 Lara Balsara, Executive Director, Madison World
20 Shereen Bhan, Executive Editor, CNBC TV 18
21 Anamika Mehta, Chief Executive Officer, Initiative
22 Ritu Dhawan, CEO & Managing Director, India TV
23 Suparna Mitra, CMO, Watches and Accessories, Titan Company Ltd
24 Abanti Sankaranarayanan, Business Head, Luxury and Corporate Relations, United Spirits
25 Prema Sagar Vice Chair, Asia-Pacific, Genesis Burson Marsteller
26 Manisha Sharma, Executive Vice-President, Programming, Colors
27 Anurradha Prasad, Chairperson and MD, B.A.G Films and Media Ltd
28 Kalli Purie, Group Editorial Director (Broadcast & New Media), India Today Group
29 Richa Arora, COO, Consumer Products Business, Tata Chemicals Ltd
30 Preeti Reddy, President, IMRB International
31 Shaili Chopra, Founder, GolfingIndian.com and SheThePeople.TV
32 Shubha George, Managing Director - Asia & CEO, India, Red Fuse Communications
33 Sindhuja Rai, Associate Director, Media & Consumer Engagement, Asia-Pacific, Mondel?z International
34 Gayatri Yadav, EVP, Marketing and Communications, Star TV
35 Divya Karani, Chief Executive Officer, Dentsu Media
36 Oona Dhabhar, Marketing Director, Condé Nast India
37 Meenakshi Menon, Founder & Chairperson, Spatial Access
38 Sonia Huria, Head - Communications and CSR, Viacom18 Media Pvt Ltd
39 Anupriya Acharya, Group CEO, ZenithOptimedia
40 Vaishali Sharma, Senior VP, Marketing & Communications, Sony Max
40 Bidisha Nagaraj, Group President, Marketing, CCD
41 Gunjan Soni, Chief Marketing Officer, Myntra
42 Rakhshin Patel, Managing Director, Pi Communications
42 Sapangeet Rajwant, Vice President, Marketing, Colors
43 Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Executive Vice President & Business Head - Kids Cluster, Viacom18
44 Hephzibah Pathak, Global Clients’ Director, Ogilvy & Mather India
45 Ashwini Deshpande, Co-founder & Director, Elephant Design
46 Anita Nayyar, CEO, Havas Media Group, India & South Asia
47 M R Jyothy, Executive Director, Jyothy Laboratories
47 Preethi Herman, Country Lead, Change.org India
48 Nisha Narayanan, Chief Operating Officer, Red FM
48 Shalini Degan, VP - Personal Care Products, ITC
49 Tista Sen, National Creative Director & Senior VP, J Walter Thompson
50 Suchi Mukherjee, Founder and CEO, LimeRoad

SPECIAL MENTIONS
Ankita Dabas, Co-Founder, FabFurnish; Anupama Ahluwalia, Chief Marketing & Customer Services Officer, Reliance Retail; Basabdatta Chowdhuri, COO Starcom Mediavest Group; Charulata Ravikumar, CEO, India, Razorfish; Elizabeth Venkataraman, Executive Vice President - Marketing, Kotak Life Insurance; Harsha Joshi, Executive Vice President - Group Trading, Dentsu Aegis Network; Kanika Mittal, Head - Brand Marketing and Communications, Reebok India; Lulu Raghavan, Managing Director, Landor Associates; Manmeet Vohra, Director - Marketing and Category, Tata Starbucks Private Limited, Meghna Ghai Puri, President, Whistling Woods International, Purnima Lamba, Head, Innovation, Lakme; Rachna Lather, Marketing Head, Motorola Mobility, Radha Kapoor, Founder and Executive Director, ISDI; Rubeena Singh, COO, Moneycontrol, Network18 and Soma Ghosh, VP, Marketing – India & South Asia at Castrol.