MUMBAI: In a rare feat of intellectual achievement, Ogilvy & Mather India Discovery vice president Kunal Sinha has won the top honour in WPP Group plc's annual Atticus awards for original published thinking in the marketing services, for the second time.
His entry -- The Future of Technology and its Impact on our Lives -- was chosen unanimously by the judges – HSBC group general manager marketing Peter Stringham, Market Leader editor Judie Lannon and Sunday Times business editor William Lewis – as the best contribution. He will receive the specially minted Atticus statuette and a cash award of $10,000 from WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell in London, later in the year.
Sinha's thesis is an exercise in anticipating the future, as it explores the web of interconnections between technology creators, users and forecasters, to uncover those possibilities that hold the key to making technology brands successful.
All this leads to a driver-model for technology brands. He last won the Grand Prix in 1996 for his paper -- Communication Effect – A Reevaluation of Beliefs -- and is the only person in WPP history to have won it twice. Sinha's previous Grand Prix was won when he was with Thompson Social.
Ogilvy Worldwide chairman Shelly Lazarus said, "Beating 285 entries from all across WPP to win the Atticus Grand Prix is no easy feat, but to have done it twice is extraordinary. It speaks of the brilliant work Kunal and the Ogilvy India Discovery team does every day. With this award they bring glory to all of us at Ogilvy."
Ogilvy India and South Asia CEO John Goodman said, "This is an amazing achievement and brings great honour on Ogilvy India. We are truly proud of his achievement."
This is a second for Ogilvy India as well. In 1999, Venkitachalam Balasubramanium (now with Group M – ATG/MCI) had picked up the Grand Prix.
O&M India was the only WPP agency in India to be recognised at the Atticus Awards this year. It won a Certificate of Merit in the corporate category, for its compilation of award-winning communication effectiveness case studies - Effective Ogilvy. Incidentally, this casebook was edited by Sinha and designed by Sameer Sojwal and Yogesh Pradhan.
Ogilvy Discovery is the account planning, consumer insight and knowledge management unit at O&M India.
