Adland Sweeps The CEO Magazine Executive Of The Year Awards

Adland Sweeps The CEO Magazine Executive Of The Year Awards

The CEO Magazine has revealed the winners in the fourth annual Executive of the Year Awards hosted by Eddie McGuire, held at the Crown Melbourne last night.

Media executives took out three categories including start-up executive, runner-up CEO of the Year and media executive.

With more than 600 entries, the awards identify the achievements of aspiring and established leaders in 22 categories. The judges examined the business acumen of applicants on their personal achievements, the contribution and differences the individual has made to the company where they work, financial highlights, and new initiatives that they have established.

CEO and Founder of The CEO Magazine Chris Dutton said “The superb business acumen displayed by applicants across all categories is truly inspiring. The winners across all categories are individuals who are working to build the Australian economy. They share those defining attributes of leadership, innovation, and the courage to take risks, and have also shown that they are willing to drive strategic change.”

Runner-Up for CEO of the Year went to Jason Dooris, CEO of Atomic 212. B&T chatted with Dooris recently about Atomic 212’s robot which caught global attention during the Apple iPhone 6S launch. 

In 2014, Atomic 212 chief executive Dooris oversaw the transformation of the agency from a digital-only business into a full service media agency, with competencies across media buying, strategy, digital, search, data and analytics, custom publishing, and content.

In the space of a year, staff numbers, revenue, and profits grew considerably. The agency was the fastest growing media and marketing company in Australia in 2014, and is now the largest independent media agency in Australia. Key client wins from blue-chip brands like Dick Smith, Origin Energy, TAB, Progressive Insurance, Nike, and Think Education have bolstered this success.

The Start-Up Executive of the Year award went to Anurag Chakradhar, founder and CEO, Blrt. A digital marketer with 15 years’ experience, Chakradhar was frustrated with the state of collaboration technology available in the face of the global shift towards distributed teams and freelancing. He invented Blrt – a groundbreaking communications platform that enables meeting-like collaboration to happen in an asynchronous fashion. Blrt lets participants talk, point and draw over images, documents and websites in their own time, and provides a high quality video-like user experience at a fraction of the bandwidth.

Media Executive of the Year was awarded to Luke Littlefield, CEO, Dentsu Aegis Network.

Dentsu Aegis Network is a $2.5bn organisation: 3,000+ clients, 1,550 staff, 25 agency businesses with six locations across Australia & New Zealand.  Dentsu Aegis Network is the largest, most diverse and successful marketing and communications business in Australia. Littlefield’s philosophy is one of a collaborative, ‘values based performance culture’. Under his leadership grew turnover, revenue and PBMC at 5.1 per cent, 58.8 per cent and 80.2 per cent respectively.  The business evolved through its founder’s departure, major acquisitions and transitions, emerging as Australia’s largest and leading marketing communications company.

Full list of winners:

  • CEO of the Year: Christine Holgate, CEO of the publicly listed Blackmores Group,
  • Runner-Up for CEO of the Year: Jason Dooris, CEO of Atomic 212.
  • Highly Commended in the CEO of the Year: Vaughn Richtor, CEO of ING DIRECT.
  • Chairperson of the Year: Barbara Yeoh, Board Chair, Monash Health.
  • Runner-Up for Chairperson of the Year: Julien O’Connell, Chairman, Mercy Health.
  • Managing Director of the Year: Andrew Stewart, Managing Director, Australia and Asia Wood Group PSN
  • Runner-Up for Managing Director of the Year: Chris Ridd, Managing Director, Xero Australia
  • CIO of the Year: Ajay Bhatia, Chief Product and Information Officer, Carsales
  • Runner-Up for CIO of the Year: Mandy Ross, CIO, Tatts Group.
  • CFO of the Year: Michael Da Gama Pinto, CFO, Swisse Wellness Pty Ltd.
  • Runner-Up for CFO of the Year: Darren Smith, CFO, Sirtex Medical.
  • HR Executive of the Year: Robyn Batson, Group People & Development Manager, Sportsgirl/Sussan Group
  • Marketing Executive of Year: Michael Howard, Director of Marketing, Swisse Wellness Pty Ltd.
  • Sales Executive of the Year: Matthew Kates, Sales Director ANZ of Zerto
  • Start-Up Executive of the Year: Anurag Chakradhar, Founder and CEO, Blrt
  • Not for Profit Executive of the Year: Louise Baxter, Chief Executive, Starlight Children’s Foundation
  • Young Executive of the Year: Adam Schwab, CEO and Co-founder, AussieCommerce Group.
  • The Executive Assistant of the Year: Dimitra Zographos, Executive Assistant to the Executive and Leadership team, Western Union Business Solutions.
  • Financial Services Executive of the Year: Chris Ridd, Managing Director, Xero Australia (cloud-based accounting software
  • Retail Executive of the Year: Michael Ford, CEO, The Good Guys.
  • Innovation and Design Executive of the Year (including Manufacturing): Frank Seeley AM, Executive Chairman, Seeley International Pty Ltd.
  • Construction Executive of the Year: Jonathan Hallinan, Managing Director, BPM.
  • Energy and Resources Executive of the Year: Ian Murray, Executive Chairman, Gold Road Resources Limited.
  • The Hospitality and Tourism Executive of the Year: Barry Robinson, President and Managing Director, Wyndham Hotel Group South East Asia and Pacific Rim and Wyndham Vacation Resorts Asia Pacific.
  • IT and Telecommunications Executive of the Year: David Dicker, Chairman and CEO Dicker Data Limited.
  • Health and Pharmaceutical Executive of the Year: David Cade, Global Medical Director, Sirtex Medical.
  • Transport and Logistics Executive of the Year: Kerrie Mather, Managing Director and CEO, Sydney Airport.
  • Media Executive of the Year: Luke Littlefield, CEO, Dentsu Aegis Network.

Winners were judged by an expert panel of highly regarded business professionals including Libby Roy,Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand, PayPal; James Ajaka, former CEO, Nudie; Ron Santiago, Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand, Europcar; John Karagounis, Managing Director and CEO, The CEO Circle; along with The CEO Magazine’s judges, Chris Dutton, Founder and CEO, and Daniel Di Loreto, Publishing Director.




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