We are all winners: CVL Srinivas, CEO, Group M South Asia

Your position would be like that of Serena and Venus Williams' father – to have one daughter win and the other lose, isn't it? 

For me, I think, we are all winners. All [the agencies have] done extremely well and at the end of the day, one agency has to come out as a winner, and it happened to be Mindshare. Maxus, I thought, put up a tough fight and ended up in the Top Three. What's heartening to know is that we did well across agencies and across clients. Overall, it's been a fabulous night and we're going to party hard. 

What do you think led to Mindshare gaining the No 1 spot?

Mindshare had a fabulous body of work, not just across clients, but also across all the different categories. They've really managed to institutionalise excellence across the entire agency. Mindshare is India's No 1 standalone agency. But when you become No 1 and keep winning, it's also challenging to keep the team motivated and continue to do well, year after year. That's something that's there in the DNA of Mindshare. They have a new leader in Prashant Kumar who took over the reins at Mindshare a few months ago, and I think that has brought in a lot more energy and passion. They're growing from strength to strength.

Madison gave a pretty good fight at the end?

The Emvies night is really the big night for all of us in the media industry and it’s the most looked-forward-to event in the year for all the boys and girls who toil very hard in the office every day. There's been a lot of build up and anticipation in the last few weeks. Of course, Mindshare had a lot of shortlists, so they were expecting to do well. But as we've seen in the past, it's not necessary that the agency with a lot of shortlists will win the Agency of the Year title. But I think they managed to pull through in the end by quite a healthy margin. Madison also did pretty well. In fact, there was great work, not just from Madison, but some of the other agencies as well. So we need to ensure that we don't get complacent. We have to come back next year and try to do even better.

What would be your message to the team at Maxus?

Maxus has won many titles in the past and continues to do well in many other awards. I'm sure they'll be a tad disappointed for having come close and still not winning the Agency of the Year title. But knowing Maxus, I'm sure they're going to go back and put shoulder to the wheel and try and come out Number One next year.

In Arrangement with MxMIndia.com