The seventh edition of e4m Influencer of the Year will be held in December at a star-studded ceremony in Gurugram. The award honours visionaries who have transformed the industry and inspired the next level of growth while progressively using innovative technology. The e4m Influencer of the Year 2023 title is set to honour the individual who has made a significant impact in the marketing and advertising world. The nominees for this prestigious award represent a diverse group of creators, each excelling in their niche. These individuals have driven meaningful conversations and demonstrated transformational leadership qualities and achievements over the years.
Last year, Prasanth Kumar, CEO, South Asia at GroupM, received the e4m Influencer of the Year 2022 Award. Raj Nayak, then COO, Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd, won the e4m Influencer of the year 2016 award. In 2017, CVL Srinivas, then CEO, GroupM South Asia, claimed the accolade. In 2018, Virendra Gupta, Founder & CEO, Dailyhunt, and Umang Bedi, Co-founder, Dailyhunt, shared the recognition. In 2019, Sanjay Gupta, Country Manager, Star & Disney India, received the award, and in 2020, Naveen Tewari, Founder & CEO, InMobi & Glance, was distinguished with the title.
The much-awaited list of nominees for e4m Influencer of the Year 2023 is finally out! The contenders include Anuj Khanna Sohum, Founder, Promoter & CEO at Affle; Anupriya Acharya, Chief Executive Officer at Publicis Groupe, South Asia; Anunay Arunav Pandey, Co-Founder at Inshorts; Azhar Iqubal, Co-founder and Chairman at Inshorts; Deepit Purkayastha, Co-Founder & CEO at Inshorts; Dr. Sandeep Goyal, Managing Director and Chairperson at Rediffusion; Gaurav Gandhi, Vice President, Amazon Prime Video, Asia-Pacific & Middle East-North Africa; Gour Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director, Tribes Communication; Kartik Sharma, CEO at Omnicom Media Group, India; Monika Shergill, Vice President - Content, Netflix India; and Raju Vanapala, Founder & CEO, way2news.
Anuj Khanna Sohum
Founder, Promoter & CEO, Affle
Anuj Khanna Sohum is the Founder, Chairman & CEO of Affle since 2005. A serial entrepreneur & innovator, Anuj has built 3 innovative tech companies over 20+ years. He has played a pivotal role in building and growing Affle and made it a leading mobile platform company. Under his leadership, the team has worked with several top marketers globally to help deliver end-to-end mobile advertising and data analytics-driven solutions through Affle’s products and platforms.
Anupriya Acharya
Chief Executive Officer, Publicis Groupe, South Asia
Anupriya Acharya, CEO, Publicis Groupe South Asia is a media and advertising professional with 27 years of experience across India and Singapore. In her role as the CEO, she oversees all Publicis Groupe’s agencies in the South Asia region across creative, media, PR, digital and tech including agencies like Leo Burnett, L&K Saatchi and Saatchi, BBH, Starcom, Zenith, MSL, Performics, Digitas. Anupriya Acharya is actively involved in the industry and is also the past President of the Advertising Agencies Association of India – the apex trade body for advertising agencies.
Azhar Iqubal, Anunay Arunav Pandey and Deepit Purkayastha
Inshorts
Azhar Iqubal is the Co-founder & Chairman of the short news app – Inshorts. He has also been a part of Shark Tank India since 2024. Azhar Iqubal led the company for 11 years as CEO and decided to step into the role of Chairman of the company in April 2024. Through Inshorts, the trio shaped the future of media consumption in India, making news accessible, engaging, and relevant for all age groups.
Anunay Arunav Pandey, the Co-founder of Inshorts, is a key figure in the digital media landscape. Inshorts, under his leadership, revolutionised how people consume news by offering concise, to-the-point summaries of news articles in just 60 words. Pandey along with Azhar Iqubal and Deepit Purkayastha founded Inshorts in 2013. The trio’s innovative approach has not only disrupted traditional news formats but has also created new trends in the digital content space.
Deepit Purkayastha is the Co-Founder and CEO of Inshorts. He has dual Degree in Computer Science & Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. Deepit started building Inshorts in the final year along with Azhar Iqubal and Anunay Arunav Pandey. Purkayastha is responsible for overseeing Product, Data and Strategy at the company. He has also made it to Forbes Asia ‘30 Under 30’- Media, Marketing and Advertising list for 2018 and Forbes India ’30 Under 30’’ list for 2016. Purkayastha, along with Iqubal and Pandey, catered to the fast-paced lifestyles of modern audiences, making Inshorts one of the most popular news apps in India.
Dr Sandeep Goyal
Managing Director and Chairperson, Rediffusion
Sandeep Goyal is the Managing Director of independent advertising agency, Rediffusion Brand Solutions. The media entrepreneur has been an integral part of the advertising and media ecosystem, possessing a work experience of around 37 years. Additionally, Goyal was also the Founder-Chairman and former JV partner of Dentsu in India and Middle East. The media veteran made a big mark in April 2021, after he completed a full acquisition of Rediffusion and Everest. Rediffusion is a 48-year-old independent ad agency known for its iconic campaigns for Jenson & Nicholson, Eveready, Lakme, Red & White and many more. On the other hand, Everest is more than 70 years old and has partnered with big names like Parle.
Gaurav Gandhi
Vice President, Amazon Prime Video, Asia-Pacific & Middle East-North Africa’
Gaurav Gandhi, Vice President, Asia Pacific & MENA for Amazon’s video streaming service, Prime Video, drives Prime Video’s business holistically in the region across SVOD, TVOD (Prime Video Store) and Prime Video channels. Gandhi’s role spans across the APAC and MENA region, which includes some of the biggest international locales for Prime Video like Japan and India, as well as countries like Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, where Prime Video expanded its footprint more recently. Gandhi joined Amazon in 2018 and served as the Country Head for Prime Video in India before taking his role as the head of Prime Video APAC. He is believed to be instrumental in pioneering industry-firsts like direct-to-service world premieres of Indian movies across languages, as well as co-productions and creation of original films.
Gour Gupta
Chairman and Managing Director, Tribes Communication
Gour Gupta, the Chairman and Managing Director of Tribes Communication, is a renowned leader in the advertising and communications industry. With a visionary approach to brand building and marketing, he has successfully guided Tribes Communication to become one of the leading agencies in the industry. His expertise spans across creative strategy, digital transformation, and integrated marketing solutions, making him a key player in shaping how brands connect with their audiences in today’s dynamic market. With over 20 years of rich experience in leading and managing integrated marketing agencies in the out-of-home, experiential and retail advertising space, he has a proven ability to identify market opportunities and convert them into active revenue centers. Tribes Communications has been investing in technology that enables customer experience across Out-of-Home (OOH), Events, Activation and Retail. Whether it is immersive retail experience through Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) or helping brands capture consumer leads and insights, the company has developed advertising and marketing solutions that integrate with core digital as well as experiential solutions.
Kartik Sharma
CEO, Omnicom Media Group, India
Kartik Sharma is the CEO at OMG, India. With over 29 years years of media experience under his belt, Sharma served in a leadership capacity at some of the largest agency networks, including Mindshare, Lintas Media, Madison Media and Maxus. At OMG, he has the multi-pronged responsibility of discovering and exploring new growth opportunities while sustaining a creative and bustling environment of cross-functional team work and data-driven decision-making, both internally and for stakeholders. Prior to joining OMG, Kartik Sharma spent two and a half years as CEO for South Asia, Wavemaker (Formed by the merger of Maxus and MEC). With a penchant for building robust client relationships, he has carried out extensive work across leading brands such as Unilever, Netflix, Mondelez, L’Oreal, Vodafone, Tata Sky and several others.
Monika Shergill
Vice President -Content, Netflix India
Monika Shergill is the Vice President of Content at Netflix India. She leads the development, creation and the acquisition of all Indian language content on the platform. Under her leadership, Netflix India has delivered several hit series and films. Shergill led Netflix India to become the fastest growing for the company amongst all markets with the highest net paid additions in 2022. In her previous stints, Monika has led India programming for some of the leading networks - Star, Sony and Viacom18.
Raju Vanapala
Founder & CEO, way2news
Raju Vanapala is an entrepreneur and the Founder and CEO of way2news, a hyperlocal vernacular news app that aims to bridge the information gap for regional language speakers. Launched to cater to the growing demand for localised news, Way2News provides users with news content in their native languages. Under Vanapala’s leadership, the platform has gained significant traction, becoming a key source of information for millions of users in India. Vanapala built Way2News with a strategic vision and is responsible for all functions with an aim to capture every single story from every village, delivering local news at a grassroots level, in vernacular language.
