media Magazine names Piyush Pandey Creative Person of the Year

Hong Kong-based media Magazine has named Piyush Pandey, group president & national creative director, O&M India, as the Creative Person of the Year, Asia-Pacific, 2002. Pandey was conferred the award late yesterday evening at a ceremony in Hong Kong, which coincided with the publication's Agency of the Year Awards 2002 presentation. According to the publication's website, these annual awards recognize "the Best Agencies, Advertisers and Marketing Professionals in the Region".

The jury that picked Pandey as this year's creative light in the Asia-Pacific region includes Andrew Carmody (regional director, Asia-Pacific, Thompson Connect, Hong Kong), Ajay Mathur (Internet marketing manager, Intel, Hong Kong), Eddie Booth (chairman, Leo Burnett, Hong Kong), Christine Pong (chief creative officer, Market Catalyst, Hong Kong), Theresa Yeung (Pacific director, Newsweek International, Hong Kong), Chris Walton (CEO, MindShare, Shanghai), Gavin Heron (managing director, TBWA, Shanghai), Serina Lui (area communications manager, Benetton Retail, Hong Kong) and Torie Henderson (media director, Universal McCann, Hong Kong).

Moments after receiving the award, Pandey spoke to agencyfaqs!. "It's a great honour, and it feels really good to be accepted by your peers. It's a great start for the Indian ad industry," he said. Drawing allusions to India's performance in the Olympics, he added, "But more importantly, I really wish this doesn't turn out to be a one-off like Milkha Singh. I want every creative person back home to believe that all this is possible, and work towards it. I personally believe there are so many Indians who can achieve this and more. It's all in the believing."

Pandey, however, adds that these accolades weren't things he had planned for. "I never thought all this would be possible, and I never worked towards it. All I wanted to do was damn good work. And that's what I want to tell people. Just keep doing good advertising… aur duniya ko pata chal hi jaayega." © 2002 agencyfaqs!