We started off with a small gleam of hope to benchmark the best practices in the Indian Social Media ecosystem and today we realised that dream! All thanks to you our dear reader. You made it possible.

The first edition of Best Social Media Brands concluded today. 25 categories and over 130 nominations – picking out the best from this lot was indeed a tough task. It was under the constant guidance and support of our jury, that we set out to acknowledge and appreciate the social media warriors! This one’s for our jury – a big shout out to you for all the sleepless nights and nail biting evaluation processes.

“It’s good to see that the deserving brands have emerged winners. The quality of their work was good and the jury had a tough time choosing the winners. I congratulate all those who participated and particularly congratulate the winners, who have reasons to be proud of their accomplishments,” said Ashish Bhasin, Chairman & CEO South Asia Dentsu Aegis Network, Chairman Posterscope and MKTG Asia Pacific and Best Social Media Brand’s Jury Chair.

"I congratulate the winners in this year's BSMB awards. It was heartening to see the winning brands leveraging the power of social media, and that too, across industry categories. I hope that these brands serve as case studies to help other marketers understand the role social media can play in building brands," said,  Lata Subramanian, Brand Curator, Author of A Dance with the Corporate Ton: Reflections of a Worker Ant.

“I was so honoured to be part of these awards as I truly believed there was no award out there that supported true Social Media greatness. I cannot think of a better entity rather than Social Samosa to come up with this differentiator. Judging these entries were fun. Digital Advertising being a part of our daily lives, most of the entries seemed very familiar to me but I was enlightened by the thinking behind most of the winning campaigns. I particularly liked the Ola and the Zomato Campaigns. I wish Social Samosa all the success in the future editions of the awards and Congratulate them for this one,” shared, Carlton D’Silva, shared CEO & CCO, Hungama Digital Service.

“To see so many companies being so socially adept required time and effort but it was all worth it. In the end the best storytellers got our attention! Well done Social Samosa,” exclaimed, Roshan Abbas, Managing Director at Geometry Global Encompass Network.

The jury panel consisted of honchos from various walks of the industry, adding a balanced perspective to the entire process. Social Samosa extends deep gratitude towards each and every jury member – this wouldn’t have been possible without you.

As we conclude the first edition of Best Social Media Brands, we have to let you know, this is just the beginning of a very eventful year, laced with accolades, initiatives, and more. Stay tuned.