follow these leaders Every year the reporting staff at Ad Age devotes much of its time to spotting the best decision makers and the most influential thought leaders in the business. Media Mavens. Power Players. Women to Watch. Marketing 50. These franchises are designed to honor the achievers-and help our readers identify those whose work is worth watching or even emulating.

1,200 answers: A favorite project remains the Marketing 50 and Marketing 100. Having created this franchise back in 1992 and having seen 1,200 examples of the Advertising Age staff rooting out the brains behind great marketing, here are my favorite half-dozen. -mike ryan

Miata 1992

Drivers of a certain age know what I mean when I say that cars stopped being fun when convertibles were legislated away. Then nostalgia seeped in, and Jan Thompson created a baby-boomer market for the ragtop. Miata's success as a marketing magnet for Mazda lured dozens of carmakers back into the convertible business.

Starbucks 1997

Scott Bedbury left marketing giant Nike to lead efforts of Starbucks in 1995. Through rapid expansion, product tweaks, music and clever in-store efforts, the chain has become America's daily ritual and Mr. Bedbury a success at two blue-chippers.

Michael Jordan 1999

The first decade of the project produced a living, breathing marketing machine, an NBA star from North Carolina deftly groomed by David Falk, SFX Sports Group chairman who orchestrated multi-

million-dollar deals with marketers like Gatorade and Nike on the strength of an infectious smile.

The Blair Witch

Project 2000

Web-based and YouTube-linked movie campaigns are now de rigueur, but the flick that got viral marketing rolling was what Artisan Entertainment's marketing chief Emirate Jones knew was "a monster on our hands" in describing the film purchased for $1.1 million that had worldwide box office of $250 million.

iPod/iTunes 2003

Count on Steve Jobs to help make some sense of the muddled music rights scene. Great moments in marketing history: Mr. Jobs first offering the product to PC users, announcing the move at a presentation in front of an overhead that said, "Hell froze over."

Dove 2005

Billboards in eight cities started a phenomenon that got TV talk shows chatting and built a viral juggernaut as women, tired of watching waifs tell them what to buy, responded to this Phillippe Harousseau campaign designed for real women.

dollars-plus: Power Players looks beyond sheer ad spending to find the movers and shakers. The selection process also hones in on an executive's direct influence on the company's marketing success and response to challenges in its category.

marketing savvy

Though not among the top ad spenders, these execs still rise to Power Player status:

Kerri Martin

VW of America

In the space of a year at Volkswagen, Ms. Martin, as director-brand innovation, made a big enough mark to put herself and VW on the Power Players list in 2006 for the first time.

August A. Busch IV

Anheuser-Busch Inc.

Beer scion August A. Busch IV was president of the brewery operation when he made Power Players in 2003. Last month, Mr. Busch officially became CEO at parent Anheuser-Busch Cos.

Dean Mitchell

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.

Mr. Mitchell, while at Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., made his only appearance in Power Players. At the time in 2002, he was president-U.S. primary care. The pharma veteran is now president-CEO of Alpharma.

DoublE HonorS: Seven Media Mavens have won the honor twice since the awards began in 1995. These media stars are Beth Gordon, Irwin Gotlieb, Don Miceli, Steve Grubbs, Jean Pool, Charlie Rutman and Steve Sternberg.

Three-Hit wonders

Only two people have won the Maven award three times:

Robert Igiel

Retired

Mr. Igiel was lauded for his TV work in 1995 as exec VP-director of broadcast, Young & Rubicam, New York; for his radio work a year later; and then in 1998, as exec VP-U.S. director of broadcast and prorgramming at Media Edge. Mr. Igiel was president for broadcast for North America at Mediaedge:cia in 2001 when he retired.

Jon Mandel

CEO, NielsenConnect

Mr. Mandel is constantly reinventing himself. First honored in 1995 as a senior VP-director of national broadcast at Grey, New York, he was then honored twice as co-CEO, chief negotiation officer at MediaCom, the second time for lobbying for media-ownership rights. Now Mr. Mandel is running NielsenConnect, a new, data- collection and analysis unit.

82 million: They make up more than a quarter of the U.S. population -people between ages 20 and 40. Young enough to be starting careers and old enough to seismically shake things up. Just look at YouTube creators Steve Chen and Chad Hurley.

global reach

Not yet 40, these individuals already wield global responsibilities:

Priya Narang Elliott

Citibank N.A.

Ms. Elliott first made her mark on the agency and media sides, at Arnold Communcations, DeWitt Media and Vogue. Now she's taken her prowess to the marketer side at Citibank.

Guillaume Jesel

Estee Lauder Cos.

Mr. Jesel was educated at a school for French diplomats, but in fashion and beauty he "saw a much more creative world." Current mission: rejuvenate the $1 billion Estee Lauder makeup brand.

David Jones

Euro RSCG

Mr. Jones never quite broke through as a tennis pro, but that's OK. Instead, he's thought to be the youngest leader of a global agency in the history of the business. He spearheaded Euro RSCG's 2006 win of Reckitt Benckiser's $728 million global account.

'we can do it': There's still a glass ceiling, but women are hammering at it with increasing ferocity. Women to Watch strives to profile any one person only once, but many of these executives continue to garner media attention for their trailblazing achievements.

keep watching

Leaving an ever bigger mark in the agency, media and marketer worlds:

Donna Speciale

MediaVest

Ms. Speciale headed national/local broadcast at MediaCom when she was profiled in 2001. Now at MediaVest, she's president-investment and activation, overseeing print, video and out-of-home.

Ann Moore

Time Inc.

Ms. Moore was president of the People Magazine Group when she was named a Woman to Watch in 2001. A year later, she became the first woman chairman-CEO of Time Inc.

Julie Roehm

Destination: Unknown

Ms. Roehm's work as Ford Focus brand manager won her Woman to Watch status in 2000. Her role as change agent continued to win Ms. Roehm the spotlight, but backfired spectacularly with her sudden ouster from Wal-Mart. What's next?

still kicking: The cyber-literati may claim print-on-paper is dead, but magazine giants like Vogue's Anna Wintour and The New Yorker's David Remnick still have the clout to leave an imprint on popular culture. After all, when was the last time Meryl Streep portrayed an editor?

A+

The three top stars of Ad Age's annual A-List, based on how many times they've appeared and their rankings among that year's top 10 magazines, are:

Real Simple

It's been on every A-List, though in 2006 Real Simple sank to No. 9. The Time Inc. title isn't simply a magazine though, with the Real Simple brand having expanded into TV, radio and licensed products at Target.

Lucky

Many have copied the "Magazine About Shopping," but success isn't assured (just look at the short life of Cond? Nast sibling Cargo). Still, the format continues to work for Lucky and others titles, including successful Cond? sib Domino.

People

The old-timer of the top 3, but it's still got the juice for celebrity-crazed readers. In 2006, the Time Inc. magazine marked its highest average single-copy sales in a decade.

SpotLight Stars: Entertainment Marketers face the daunting task of trying to reach jaded consumers in novel ways, spanning from drawings for Broadway tickets to crazy publicity stunts. The possibilities are endless.

Where are they Now?

A sampling of honorees over the year who are still blazing a trail:

Linda Warren

Walt Disney

Ms. Warren, now exec VP-marketing and brand management for Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, was awarded for launching the colossal Animal Kingdom. Her current tasks include steering the parks' healthier-food efforts.

George Harrison

Nintendo

Now senior VP-marketing at Nintendo, Mr. Harrison first was lauded for "The Legend of Zelda"in 1999. Recent hits include 2006 "Marketing 50" winner DS Lite and the holiday sensation Wii console.

Peter Schneider

Lion King

The former president of Disney Studios, who turned the Lion King into Broadway gold, is directing and producing "Sister Act," which opened in Pasadena, Calif., in November and moves to Atlanta.

Agency of the Year

Marketer of the Year

Awards: Marketing 50

Awards: Power Players

Awards: Media Mavens

Awards: 40 Under 40

Awards: Women to Watch

Awards: Magazines

Awards: Etc