Industry Leaders Honored as the Most Influential CMO's List Unveiled at IMA, 2014

In the pursuit to find out the best CMOs in the country, exchange4media partnered with Traverse Research n' Consulting to look at the strength of a brand in the industry as well as the influence of a CMO.

To set the benchmark of marketing excellence in the country and honor the most outstanding campaigns, exchange4media initiated the prestigious Indian Marketing Awards. As a matter of pride, with in-depth research, Traverse Research n’ Consulting associated with the Indian Marketing Awards 2014 as “Knowledge Partner”, India’s first marketing awards event.

With the emerging markets and the cognizant consumers, now the trend seems to be more consumer centric. CMOs used to have an important role and a big office. Now, they have an interface. They have stopped talking – instead, they engage in “social listening.” What they are hearing is the voice of the customer.

About Traverse Research n' Consulting Traverse Research n' Consulting is a boutique market research and consulting company providing a research arm to its clients globally. Our 'we listen to you and customize our approach to meet your needs' philosophy is the key to the successful long term partnership with our global and local clients. Right from expert reports and informed analysis on global market, business, industries and trends to the trendiest, dynamic and fresh searches and exclusive write-ups in content development, we are a one stop shop for your value addition.

Mr. Bhoorender Panwar, Founding Partner and Director- Client Services, Traverse Research n’ Consulting said, “Successful CMOs morph into their customers and become their voice. And consumers have taken control of the brand. Telling one story is not enough – it is about understanding the consumers’ path to purchase; being there at the right time and bringing these stories together in a seamless and relevant way. Marketing is moving from a persuasion to an influencer model.”

Therefore, to honor the brilliance, the “Most Influential CMO” list charted out by Traverse Research n’ Consulting in association with exchange4media was inaugurated by the Chief Guest at the event, Hon’ble MoS for Information and Broadcasting, Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore; Benoy Roychowdhury, Executive Director, HT Media; Anurag Batra, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, exchange4media Group and Nawal Ahuja, Co-founder and Director, exchange4media Group.

“Using a multi-pronged approach to the research conducted in order to achieve utmost accuracy, various methodologies were put to test that included but were not limited to primary & secondary. The results of the study were validated by a thorough one-on-one session with industry leaders and experts from diverse industry segments. The analysis was done using various statistical tools in order to compile the final report” said Mr. Anupam Sen, Founding Partner and Director- Marketing, Traverse Research n’ Consulting.

Only consumer brands were considered by Traverse Research n’ Consulting for the purpose of this research and the eligibility criteria was that the CMO should have been with the company in the CMO position for at least a year.

The goal was to identify those key characteristics of the inter-linkage leading to that winning combination of the brand and the CMO. The methodology and the process involved behind the formulation of “India’s Top 10 Most Influential CMOs” report was based on data taken for last 12 months which broadly covered the two parameters - influence of CMO and strength of brand in the industry.

These parameters were further divided in 10 sub categories namely - mention in media; credibility of outlet; influence in industry; involvement in other projects/campaigns etc; integration between traditional and new media; success in digital media; building new competencies; brand performance; brand value; brand equity and dip-stick survey.