Khali rules at Kyoorius

By Anuka Roy

As any advertising veteran will tell you, there are always a lot of elephants in the room at awards shows. At the Kyoorius Awards 2016, there were only two: a Blue Elephant and a Black Elephant. The pachyderms are actually the top prizes at the Kyoorius Awards which, in their third year, are again being hosted in association with D&AD.

But the main event at this year’s edition of Kyoorius (its third), was watching Ogilvy & Mather and BBDO grab top honours across categories. While Ogilvy won 17 Elephants, including the coveted Black Elephant, the topmost honour, BBDO racked up an impressive tally of 13 Blue Elephants.

Two Black Elephants were awarded for groundbreaking work in a category that intended to create new conversations with its audience, or have a transformational impact on the industry. While Ogilvy & Mather won it for their creative, Beauty Tips by Reshma, Early Man Films won it for their Ambuja Cement ad that featured plus-sized wrestler Khali. Indeed, the Khali ad was much-talked-about that evening, as Bobby Pawar, Managing Director and Chief Creative Officer of Publicis Worldwide, which created the ad, also acknowledged. “It is one of the most talked about works and I am very proud of it,” Pawar later said. “At it’s most basic level it is a human story of a man who is born too big and strong for this world, and added to that is the element of humour of watching (Khali) him crash into and break things.”  The Khali ad had also won the biggest prize at the Goafest Abby in April.

The Reshma ad, too, clearly touched a chord with people. As Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman and Creative Director of Ogilvy and Mather India and South Asia, said: “I think the main reason is Reshma’s bravery. I salute her bravery — and my team’s way of thinking about it and working closely with Reshma. It is a very sensitive way of handling, and hats off to each one of them for collaborating for a cause.”

This year’s Kyoorius, held at Mumbai’s NSCI Indoor Stadium, had some firsts. To begin with, there were three categories of awards — Advertising, Media and Digital – which reflect the reality of today. And, as the organisers said, there was at least a 30 per cent increase in the number of entries. A total of 1,863 entries were submitted this year, and each category was judged by its own jury, headed by chairmen/foremen Ralph Barnett, National Creative Director, SapientNitro (for digital), R Balki, Group Chairman, MullenLowe Lintas (for advertising) and Mike Florence, Head of Planning, PHD Media (for media). Some 164 entries were shortlisted as winners of the Baby Elephant (in-book winners), of which 69 were awarded the Blue Elephant, across the advertising, digital and media categories, and two were awarded the exclusive Black Elephant. Other winners included DDB Mudra, The Glitch, Dentsu India, River Advertising, SapientNitro, AIB Vigyapanti, Happy Creative and others.

The awards event was attended by more than 1,500 professionals, including CEOs, marketing directors, brand managers, creative and media gurus from the advertising, digital and media industries across the country. Hosts Lekha Washington and Colvyn Harris kicked off the evening by taking a friendly jibe at AIB comic Tanmay Bhat, whose recent Snapchat video had stirred a controversy. Harris, former JWT South Asia CEO, making his debut as an emcee: said “I have to do something new every year, I was asked by them and I said why not. I really enjoyed myself.”

For advertising and media folk, no evening is complete – not even an awards one – is complete without some high-octane revelry. Addikt, which was in charge of ‘setting the mood’, had put up 180-degree LED screens to go with house beats and psychedelic displays. “What we try to do here is to create celebration instead of ceremony. It should be fun, wild and loud. That is why we switch on the big LEDs, add bright colours and loud music,” said Barry Schwarz, Creative Director of Addikt. When the advertising and media industry parties it up, nothing can be considered OTT.  Hmmm.

First appeared in dna of brands dated June 6, 2016