MxMIndia

Category: ADVERTISING

  • Laqshya Advertising is the latest venture from the Group and is being set up as a New-age advertising agency

    Sai Nagesh joins Laqshya Advertising as CEO

    By A Correspondent

     

    Advertising veteran Sai Nagesh has joined Laqshya Media Group as Chief Executive Officer. In addition to this, he has also been given the responsibility of heading Strategy for the Group as the Chief Strategy Officer. Laqshya Advertising is the latest venture from the Group and is being set up as a New-age Advertising Agency to provide cutting edge solutions through Digital Media as well as communication solutions that cut across the fast blurring lines between paid, owned and earned media.

     

    The new appointment comes at a time when Laqshya Media Group has diversified and expanded its services to include activations, event IPs and advertising. Talking about the move to appoint Sai Nagesh as CEO of Laqshya Advertising & CSO of Laqshya Media Group, Alok Jalan, Managing Director of Laqshya Media Group said, “The kind of expertise and experience Sai brings to the table is immense and we are excited to have someone of his calibre on board with us. I am certain that Sai will offer valuable insights at a time like this when our company is exploring new opportunities and avenues for growth.”

     

    Sai Nagesh said “Having been an intimate part of the Digital Ecosystem for the last couple of years, I have realized the awesome value addition that an Agency with integrated offerings can deliver. Our solutions will be embedded in an Omnichannel approach straddling all screens and will give our clients a 360 degree view of Marketing and Advertising campaigns (both Digital & Offline) as well as customer behavior, lifecycles and lifetime value. I have known the Laqshya group for the last 15 years; this familiarity combined with their vast network and expertise is a huge advantage that we are starting off with”.

     

    In a career spanning a quarter of a century, Sai Nagesh has sold advertising space for newspapers, helped launch television channels and worked with leading advertising agencies. He was also a part of the team that launched Group M in India. His last assignment was as CMO for bedbathmore.com

     

  • The India leg of the 12th edition of the annual Portfolio Night happened last evening in Mumbai

    Starry night for creatives

     

    By Shobhana Nair

     

    Okay, so the chief host was missing. So deep is his commitment to projects he takes on, that R Balki, Chief Creative Officer and Chairman, Lowe Lintas and Partners stayed away from the starry Portfolio Night that his agency was hosting this year.

     

    Portfolio Night is a global event where, as the event’s website notes, aspiring young advertising copywriters, art directors and designers meet with several renowned advertising creative directors in a fast-paced evening of advice, networking and recruitment. “While the evening has been jokingly called “speed-dating for creatives”, it’s really much more than that. In the eleven years since its inception, Portfolio Night has grown to a global event, reaching creative hubs in every continent in an evening where the best of the present meets the best of the years to come.”

     

    In its 12th year, Portfolio Night brings together thousands of young minds on a single night at various top cities across the world. This year, Portfolio Night 12 was held in Mumbai’s Four Seasons Hotel, and Lowe Lintas was the host. Last year, Portfolio Night 11 was hosted in Mumbai and Delhi. While the Mumbai edition was hosted JWT, Leo Burnett got the act together in the capital. This year’s edition saw 13000 participants in what’s often also dubbed as one the world’s biggest “Job Mela”. The work is reviewed on the basis of geniality, creativity and execution.

     

    Apart from the obvious nervous energy in the crowd, the host had put together a fun video on the star judges and their predictable reactions after hearing a creative idea which evoked a great amount of laughter from the audience. Bobby Pawar, Chief Creative Officer, Publicis reacted to the video on him by saying, “I loved it. It’s hilarious and they had a great material to play with.”

     

    Talking about the quality of work expected at the Portfolio Night, advertising veteran and Executive Chairman and Creative Director South Asia, Ogilvy & Mather Piyush Pandey said, “It’s not about wrong. It’s about picking up little nuggets and encouraging them.” Amer Jaleel, National Creative Director, Lowe Lintas and Partners, who’s also the host, was seen in despair and wished he had this kind of platform when he had started out. “These 15 minutes are a big deal and it’s not about advertising but about an experience.”

     

    K S Chakravarty (Chax), National Creative Director, FCB Ulka, known as Chax was however not very lucky as the participants who he met were clueless about advertising in the first place. He explains, “You meet all kinds of people. It’s always luck of draw. Out of this entire lot, the chances are that only 5 participants will be really good and not necessary that I meet the brighter lot.”

     

    Arun Iyer, National Creative Director, Lowe Lintas and Partners shares that the team did miss R.Balki who was at that moment shooting for his movie but kept a close track on what’s happening. He further added, “It’s a fun evening. Of course, a responsibility but not a burden. Portfolio Night is a great platform for everyone and its getting evolved over the years.”

     

    “I feel like a celebrity,” exclaimed Deepanjali Singh, after being announced as All Star Nominee. Deepanjali was among those 75 participants who got a lifetime’s opportunity to present their portfolio in front of the biggies of the business.

     

    Bengaluru-based Mayank Bhayana was adjudged Portfolio Night – All Star from India. “I am still soaking in the news. It’s a terrific feeling indeed,” he said, adding: “And let’s not call it an award. It’s rather recognition that I can do a lot better than that.” The winner of Portfolio Night gets a chance to fly down to New York to take part in a week-long creative challenge on a specific brief.

     

    Hmmmm.

     

  • Paul Berney, Co-Founder & Managing Partner EMEA of mCordis to speak on World Goes Digital

    mCordis’ Paul Barney to speak at IAA webinar series today

    Paul Barney

    International Advertising Association (IAA) India Chapter has invited Paul Berney, Co-Founder & Managing Partner EMEA of mCordis for its webinar on 22nd  May 2014 at 4:00 pm. Mr. Barney has over 25 years experience in a wide variety of sales, marketing, business development and commercial roles spanning several different industries and market sectors including automotive, printing, internet development and management consultancy. He was recently invited to join the editorial Board of the IDM and was voted one of the Top 50 influencers in mobile marketing in the UK by The Drum magazine 2013.

     

    Abhishek Karnani, Director, Free Press Journal and Manish Advani, Head – Marketing and Public Relations, Mahindra Special Services Group, are co-chairing the IAA Webinar series.

     

    Questions for Paul Berney could be submitted through the IAA India Chapter facebook page – www.facebook.com/IAAIndiaChapter.

     

    The hangout will be broadcast live on our YouTube channel – www.youtube.com /iaaindiachapter on 22nd May, 4pm IST.

     

    International Advertising Association (IAA) India Chapter has recently hosted speakers like Sajeev Kapoor, CMO, Citi (India); Ashish Hemrajani, Founder and CEO, Bookmyshow.com; Rajan Anandan, MD, Google (India); Nishant Rao MD, Linkedin (India); Ajit Balakrishnan, Founder, Rediff.com; Julie Roehm, Chief Story Teller, SAP and Neeraj Roy, MD and CEO of Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.

     

  • Quick views from ad captains Piyush Pandey, Sam Balsara, Prasoon Joshi, Anuraag Khandelwal and brand gurus Jagdeep Kapoor & Harish Bijoor

    How advertising helped Modi get on road to PM

     

    By Shobhana Nair

     

    It’s a campaign that’s sure to enter India’s advertising hall of fame. A blitzkrieg that marketing boys from across the country are drooling over. The advertising mania around Brand Modi began a few months ago in right earnest. The seeds had been sown by way of a belligerent presence on the social media ended on the counting day.

     

    Piyush Pandey

    While the victory of Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi has been attributed to many factors, one can’t overlook the advertising muscle put behind promoting a great brand. As Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman and Creative Director for Ogilvy & Mather India and South Asia says, “You can only position and market something which is good and based on what the product is all about. Nobody has ever been able to sell a bad product. Nobody can as people are not stupid. So a good product is presented with its attributes and the marketing of the brand which was done by Soho Square is only a presentation of what is good in its intrinsic value.” A team of 25-odd creatives, planners and account management were working round the clock for three months in Mumbai and Delhi on the job. Soho Square, a part WPP’s Ogilvy & Mather India, bagged the account after nine rounds of pitching.  “The brief was to firstly, address the common man’s key issues through a comprehensive agenda and secondly, project Mr Modi as the next PM this country deserves,” shares Anuraag Khandelwal, Executive Creative Director and Creative Head, Soho Square, Mumbai.

     

    Ad campaigns like Abki Baar Modi Sarkar, Janata Maaf Nahin Karegi and Achche Din Aane Waale Hain were able to convey both – the current sentiment of the country and the BJP mandate – powerfully and effectively.

     

    Prasoon Joshi

    There was also Prasoon Joshi and his team from McCann’s TAG too who were involved to articulate the philosophical aspect of the party. Desh Ki Pukaar, Modi Sarkaar and Desh Nahi Jhugne Doonga were some of the campaigns which Joshi was involved in. “It is very important to know what your product has to offer and what people need. Only then will it resonate with the people. One of my biggest learning is that you need to have a right product, the right ingredients and you can’t confuse people with 10 things.”

     

    “Modi was portrayed as a single-minded person of the party with one single mandate. There has to be clarity of focus & product has to be superior. A great campaign in isolation will not work,” says Joshi.

     

    Ask the brand gurus on why the campaigns worked in favour of Modi and here comes the reply. Jagdeep Kapoor, Brand Guru & CMD, Samsika Marketing feels that the communication and advertising was simply strategic. “It entered the minds and heart, but more important was the great performance of Brand Modi over the decade, which helped them communicate.”

     

    Harish Bijoor

    Well-known brand expert and CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc gives a thumbs up to Modi’s marketing, “Modi is the ultimate political marketer. He had able support, and he was decisive in the way he managed his campaign. His campaign was a 360-degree campaign that had everyone else watching with awe. The best of product marketing gyaan was brought into this campaign. And it worked. Modi is a product. And this product promised what the people wanted. And in him people saw a strong and decisive leader, someone who was an anti-thesis of sorts to the persona India was used to in the past decade with Manmohan Singh at the helm of affairs.”

     

    The media buying and planning was handled by Sam Balsara’s Madison World and he admits that a campaign as large as this came with its set of challenges. “Outdoor in UP posed huge challenges because of unfair play by the ruling party in granting permissions for putting up hoardings. The other challenge was negotiations with media, some of whom artificially inflated their rates for political campaigns! Random numbers floating around in the media of the budget of our campaign made our task more difficult.”

     

    While it may appear to have been all hunky-dory as one looks back at the BJP’s advertising campaign, Piyush Pandey adds: “No brand is built in a few months; a brand is built over a period of time. What Narendra Modi has done in the last 10 years has been valuable to him.”

     

    Pandey also hastens to add that good advertising wasn’t the only reason for the Modi’s success. “No election is ever won or lost because of advertising. Advertising is only an element. Advertising only presents it. With a great product, I can do great marketing.”  Indeed.

     

  • The WPP agency will be responsible for the media planning and buying for India's first and only international standard theme park that was launched early last year

    Mindshare bags media mandate of Adlabs Imagica

    By A Correspondent

     

    Adlabs Imagica has handed over its media mandate to GroupM’s flagship agency Mindshare.

     

    The WPP agency will be responsible for the media planning and buying for India’s first and only international standard theme park that was launched early last year.

     

    Ravi Rao

    Ravi Rao, Leader- South Asia, Mindshare said, “We are very excited to work with Adlabs Imagica which is truly one of a kind. The theme park comes at an opportune time to meet the growing demand for new and exceptional family entertainment avenues. We look forward to helping help them grow the brand further with the use of new and innovative media strategy.”

     

    Kapil Bagla, CEO, Adlabs Entertainment Ltd. said, “Mindshare topped our list when it came to choosing a media partner. We are confident theywill help us help extend the brand and engage wider audiences.”

     

  • Indians registered the strongest relationship with brands globally, reports a Havas Media Group study

    Indian consumers most passionate & grateful

     

    :: 68% Indians generally trust brands

    :: 82% Indians think brands should play a role in improving our quality of life and well-being

     

    The results from Havas Media Group’s 2013 Meaningful Brands statistically demonstrate that Meaningful Brands outperform the stockmarket by 120 percent. It demonstrates in hard financial terms, how the relationship between people and brands can benefit from measuring, communicating and delivering increased well-being.

     

     

    Top 12 Meaningful Brands 2013

     

    India:

    Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), Britannia, Cadbury, Sony, Samsung, Parle-G, Unilever, Tata Motors, Airtel, Hyundai, LGE and Maruti

     

    Global:

    Google, Samsung, Microsoft, Nestle, Sony, IKEA, Dove, Nike, Wal-Mart, DANONE, Philips and P&G

     

    Sector trends

    India Top 3 Sectors : F&B, Auto and IT & Consumer Electronics (ITC)

     

    Global Top 3 Sectors : Retail, F&B, ITC

     

    Brands can break sector limitations and emerge outliers disrupting all categories as Life Insurance Corporation in India. 2013 shows a marked increase in the importance of ITC globally, half of the top ten brands are technological; these act as enablers to empower us to achieve our potential.

     

    Indian Brands having greatest Attachmen (highest percent of people who would care if they disappeared): LIC, Cadbury, Unilever

     

    In its sixth year, the 2013 findings show Indians as the ‘most passionate and grateful’ customers across the globe, believing brands ‘can and should’ contribute positively to their overall quality of life. People in India tend to believe the overall intentions of brands yet are a bit sceptical of their communication creating huge opportunities for brands to make a real, tangible meaningful difference. India is increasingly expecting brands to enhance personal well-being as brands become aspirational symbols of their improved standard of living.

     

    The study measures 13 dimensions: impact of the brand’s ‘Marketplace’ benefits alongside its impact on 12 different areas of ‘Well-being’ (Personal and Collective), for a comprehensive view of its effect on quality of life. Unique in scale – 700 brands, over 134,000 consumers and 23 countries, it measures the benefits brands bring to people’s lives. The Meaningful Brand Index (MBi) forms the core of the Meaningful Brands framework allowing a view of brand results in terms of consumer perception over time.

     

    Anita Nayyar

    Speaking on the study, Anita Nayyar, CEO, Havas Media Group, India & South Asia, said, “The India findings highlight deep customer involvement with brands, making ‘meaningful’ the sweet spot of brand strategy in India. Meaningful – today is real business, delivering what matters when, in the truest economic and social sense. It drives brands to establish relationship connections with their customers directed towards sustained personal, societal and financial success.”

     

    India findings

    Consumers in India not only trust brands more but also expect more. Key figures include:

     

    :: 68% people in India generally trust brands (Asia 58%, US 36%, Global avg. 45%)

    :: 71% believe that brands can play a role in improving their quality of life and well-being (Asia 65%, US 41%, Global avg. 50%)

    :: 82% think companies and brands should play a role in improving our quality of life and well-being (Asia 77%, Global avg. 70%)

    :: 79% agree that large companies should be actively involved in solving social and environmental problems (Asia 75%, Global avg. 71%)

     

    What Indians Want? – Modern-day life and livelihood pressures dominate the psyche of Indians:

    :: 3 key issues Indians cannot live without:

    People who care, Save money & better manage spending, Adopt a healthy lifestyle

     

    :: 3 key issues Indians want to devote more time to:

    Learn new skills, Adopt a healthy lifestyle, Simplify and organise life to gain more time

     

    Mohit Joshi

    “More meaningful global brands are likely to come from emerging than western markets where brands need to reinvent themselves to reconnect with people, to avoid getting commoditized. This presents huge opportunities for existing and new brands to establish meaningful connections with their customers in India. Here consumers are still warming up to brands and core categories like F&B brands are seen as meaningful. The study is scalable and throws up rich inferences for a strategic outlook. LIC is an outlier being in the insurance category yet completely in sync with Indian touch points, thus its India’s 2013 top meaningful brand”, continued Mohit Joshi, Managing Director, Havas Media India.

     

  • Alan Collaco to retire as ASCI's Secretary General; Shweta Purandare named as successor

    ASCI reshuffles top cadre

    By a correspondent

     

    The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has announced that Alan Collaco, ASCI’s Secretary General will be retiring from the organization effective May 30, 2014. He will remain with ASCI through May 2014 to ensure a smooth and successful transition to his successor Shweta Purandare, currently Chief Operations Officer of ASCI. Shweta will assume the role of Secretary General as of June 01, 2014.

     

    Shweta has over 22 years of industry experience, having worked with some of the eminent companies such as Cipla, Merind, P&G and L’Oreal. She has been actively associated with ASCI as the Chief Operations Officer since past one year. In her new role, she will continue to handle Consumer Complaints process. In addition, Shweta will be leadingMarketing, Public Relations and Social Mediainitiatives for ASCI.

     

    Ashutosh Geedh joined ASCI in the newly created post of Chief Administrative Officer on May 5th, 2014. He has done his MBA from the Asian Institute of Management, Manila. His experience spans over 19 years in such companies as Patni Computers, LIC, Securex Capital Advisors and Towering Heights Telecommunications. He will broadly be responsible for Administration, Finance & Accounts, HR, Legal, I.T. and internal & external Communication.He will report to the Secretary General.

     

    Commenting on this occasion ASCI’s Chairman, Mr Partha Rakshit said, “Alan will be greatly missed by ASCI members for his tremendous commitment to excellence. While we are indebted to him for his exemplary service to ASCI’s mission, we are also confident that his successor, Shweta,will demonstrate strong leadership skills and analytical insights, further supporting the association’s vision and mission.”

     

    “Also, the appointment of Ashutosh will further strengthen the association’s operations, thereby ensuring seamless functioning across various departments and external bodies”. Partha further added.

     

    “I am grateful tothe ASCI team for offering me the desired platform to get associated with India’s largest self-regulatory voluntary organization of the advertising sector. I am deeply honoured to have had the opportunity to be in the core team of ASCI, supporting the association’s vision of protecting the interests of the consumers,” said Alan Collaco.

     

    About Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI)

    Advertising Standard Council of India is a voluntary organization self-regulating advertising content for the advertising industry. The Role and Functioning of the ASCI & its Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) is in dealing with Complaints received from Consumers and Industry, against Advertisements which are considered as False, Misleading, Indecent, Illegal, leading to Unsafe practices, or Unfair to competition, and consequently in contravention of the ASCI Code for Self-Regulation in Advertising.

     

    For further information, please contact

    The Advertising Standards Council of India

    Ms. Shweta Purandare – Secretary General, ASCI 23512371/23521066

     

    Ketchum Sampark Public Relations Pvt. Ltd.

    Vikas S: 919892629404

    Shivangi J: 9167106693

     

  • What IPL advertising badly needs is another shot of ZooZoo-like creative by many more brands

    Why hasn’t IPL blossomed into a marquee opportunity for creative agencies?

    By Shephali Bhatt

     

    One is a three-hour long football match; the other is a game of cricket played between various teams over a period of 45 days. One is a 48-year-old event, the other will conclude its seventh year in a couple of days. There’s absolutely no comparison between the US’ National Football League aka Super Bowl and controversy’s favourite child IPL (Indian Premier League).

     

    Yet, at some level, IPL is India’s answer to American Super Bowl. Purely basis the level of popularity that a single sport can enjoy in a country as diverse as theirs and ours. For marketers, these are two games that give them the golden chance of reaching out to a whole nation at once. Now would be a good time to throw in some numbers: Super Bowl XLVII had garnered 108 million viewers last year whereas IPL 6 registered 100 million viewers. This year, Super Bowl XLVIII was viewed by 112 million people on TV. Those figures are a strong testimony of why a 30-second spot for the game aired on 2 February was priced at $4 million. IPL and Super Bowl mirror each other in another aspect – there are natural breaks between the game, allowing marketers to sneak in their message. And that makes advertising around the two games supremely significant.

     

    There’s hardly any Super Bowl viewer who wouldn’t smile at the sight of a Budweiser Clydesdale or not get gooseflesh after watching Clint Eastwood in Chrysler’s ‘It’s halftime in America.’ Super Bowl ads are looked forward to as much as the game itself, if not more. Even the digital natives of our land keep scouting for Super Bowl ads during the first week of February. Why then have Indian advertisers not been able to create a similar buzz for advertising around IPL. The first year of IPL witnessed the birth of ZooZoos, a character Vodafone created specifically for the game. Post ZooZoos, one hasn’t seen any brand going an extra mile to produce an iconic piece of communication solely for an IPL season. It’s not that the ROI is weak, the numbers are for everyone to see. To add to that, IPL is one sport event that makes for family viewing.

     

    “People still remember the Max New York Life ad we released during IPL-1 (the one where a wife enters her house frantically looking for her husband Sanju, only to find him lying on a recliner in the balcony and assuming he’s dead). I don’t think it would’ve had this huge an impact on the audience had it not been released during IPL,” recounts Satbir Singh, CCO and managing partner of Havas Worldwide (India), the then agency for Max Life.

     

    What’s amiss is perhaps the euphoria among the advertisers and agencies to use this event as an opportunity to showcase their best. Time is not really a hindrance here as opposed to the regular assignments. “The slots are booked 6-7 months in advance so the agencies have enough time at hand to create outstanding ads,” states Rohit Gupta, president of MSM (Set Max and Sony Six are official broadcast partners for IPL). One thing that Stuart Elliott, ad columnist with The New York Times, observed during Super Bowl this year was that brands were releasing their ads online, days before the game. Good way of creating build up rather than keeping the suspense like the previous years. As a result, the social mentions had a marked rise – multiple Facebook shares and Twitter allowed the hashtags to thrive a lot longer than two hours post the game.

     

    Maybe there’s a lesson for Indian advertisers who fail to release their ads in time even when they have a full 45 days to leverage on. “Brands releasing their ads when IPL is 15 days into the game has become a norm now. Delay doesn’t do anyone any good,” T Gangadhar, MD of MEC India points out.

     

    To keep the creative fresh and unique year-on- year is a challenge, says Ronita Mitra, SVP – brand communication and insights at Vodafone India. Yet they’ve been trying to do distinctive activities on-ground which includes enabling people to nominate their fan friends and give them a chance to meet the winning captain. What would make a brand stand apart though is not offers, for there will be a dozen other brands doing the same. What IPL advertising badly needs is another shot of ZooZoo-like creative by many more brands. If IPL is India’s answer to Super Bowl, it’s only fair that advertising around it match up.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2014, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

    Licensed to republish

     

  • Prasoon Joshi, Agnello Dias, Alok Nanda, Sonal Dabral and Ashish Chakravarty to head juries for Creative Abby

    Jury chairs for Creative Abby announced, more than 3000 entries received overall

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Awards Governing Council (AGC) of the Abbys at Goafest 2014 has announced the names of jury chairpersons for the Creative Abbys. The jury chairpersons for various categories are as follows:

     

    o Integrated Advertising: Prasoon Joshi, President, South Asia, McCann World Group

    o Films: Agnello Dias Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, Taproot

    o Design: Alok Nanda- Director Alok Nanda Communications

    o Outdoor Advertising & Ambient: Sonal Dabral, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, DDB Mudra Group, India

    o Radio Advertising:  Ashish Chakravarty, National Creative Director, Contract Advertising

     

    Pratap Bose

    Commenting on the jury, Pratap Bose, Chairman of the Awards Governing Council and President of the Advertising Club, said “We are delighted to have such a remarkable line-up of jury chairpersons this year. All of them are creative stalwarts and I am pleased that they will be judging the Creative Abbys this year.  The judging process will be transparent and fair. KPMG will be monitoring the judging procedure.”

     

    Shortlists for Goafest 2014 are being displayed at www.abbyshortlist.com. Issues related shortlisted entries should be brought to the attention of jury chairperson in writing. The matter with proof submitted will be tabled in the second round for the jury to make a final call on. The metals awarded by the Jury after the second round of judging will be final.

     

    Meanwhile, according to a communiqué, over 3,000 entries have been received overall by the Awards Governing Council.

     

  • While the number for the creative and digital awards is 988 at Kyoorius, the flagship design awards will see around 700 entries, if last year's tally is an indicator

    Kyoorius boasts of 988 entries, Goafest curiously still mum on numbers

    By A Correspondent

     

    The D&AD-backed Kyoorius Advertising and Digital Awards have received 988 entries across 14 categories from a variety of agencies, studios and clients. At the time of writing, the Goafest committee and the Advertising Club in particular have not revealed the number of entries received or announced the names of the jury heads. Despite various attempts by MxMIndia over the last week, the apex adfest has curiously not revealed the number of entries officially. The aggregate number of entries given to MxMIndia by Goafest committee members was 2700.

     

    According to a report in Business Standard today, the “approximate” number of entries received by the Advertising Club for Creative and Digital are 2000 and an additional 619 are for the Media Abby. The total number of entries received is “estimated to be about 2700”.  On the other hand, while the number for creative and digital is 988 at Kyoorius, the flagship design awards will see around 700 entries, if last year’s tally is an indicator. The last date for receiving entries for design is June 5.

     

    Meanwhile at Kyoorius, Ogilvy (O&M), OgilvyOne, Grey Worldwide, Creativeland Asia, Alok Nanda & Company, Bates, BBDO, BBH, Contract Advertising, DDB Mudra, GroupM, L&K Saatchi & Saatchi, DigitasLBi, DraftFCB Ulka, Happy Creative Services, Hungama Digital Services, Indigo Consulting, Isobar, Linen Lintas, Publicis, RK Swamy BBDO, SapientNitro, Scarecrow, TBWA and Webchutney are amongst nearly 200 entrants nationwide. According to information received although JWT may not have officially participated, over a dozen entries listing JWT as the client have been entered in the Awards by production houses.

     

    Several clients such as Zee, HBO, Hindustan Times, ixigo.com, Merck Serono India, HP, Mynta.com, Piramal, Times Television Network, Times City and Viacom18 have also sent in entries directly. Participation has come from over 20 location in India including Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Baroda, Bhopal, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi & NCR, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Nagpur and Pune, according to a communiqué.

     

    It may be noted that last week, MxMIndia reported that Leo Burnett India has also entered the Awards. While the information was true at the time of writing, our sources say that the agency withdrew the entries after our report appeared. Leo Burnett also issued a formal statement asserting that it is not entering any awards show this year.

     

    “Our entire process is entirely transparent,” said Rajesh Kejriwal, Founder and CEO, Kyoorius.

    “This holds good for the number of entries received as well as the way each entry was validated. All jury members gather on ground in Mumbai to review, discuss and elect the best of the best over an intensive three-day session. The entire process over the first two days is open to the public, the fraternity and the media.” The third day of judging where the final winners will be discussed will however not be open, Mr Kejriwal informed.

     

    According to the communiqué issued, Sajan Raj Kurup, Founder and Creative Chairman, CreativeLand Asia will also join the Kyoorius creative jury. Mr Raj Kurup joins jury foreman Neil Dawson of Dawson Pickering alongside Sonal Dabral of DDB Mudra, Abhijit Avasthi of O&M, Carlos Anuncibay of Saatchi & Saatchi, Graham Kelly of Isobar, Senthil Kumar of JWT and Woon Siew Hoh of Hakuhodo.

     

  • Even the winners won't feel the joy of winning as half of the industry is not going to be there, says Piyush Pandey

    Top agencies like O&M, Lowe, McCann, Creativeland to skip Creative Abbys

    By Pritha Mitra Dasgupta

     

    The seventh edition of India’s advertising festival, Goafest, will be happening minus some big names. Seven of the country’s top advertising agencies – Lowe Lintas, Ogilvy & Mather, Creativeland Asia, McCann Worldgroup, BBDO, Grey and Leo Burnett will not be participating in 2014.

     

    Entries to the festival this year are down 50 percent – last year Goafest had received 4,800 entries across creative and media, but this year it has received around 2,500 so far. That’s despite the introduction of two new categories Promo-Activation and PR, and opening up the awards to entries from broadcasters and publishers.

     

    Srinivasan Swamy

    “I expected the numbers to be down this year,” says Srinivasan Swamy, chairman, Goafest 2014 and chairman & MD of RK Swamy BBDO. “But I believe 2,500 is also a good number to have. I agree that agencies like O&M and Leo Burnett send large number of entries and their absence would bring the numbers down. But we are not badly off,” he adds.

     

    While some of the non-participating agencies have decided to send delegates to the festival, a senior Goafest committee member confirms that this year the number of delegates will be also down by at least 50per cent. While Swamy maintains, “Let’s celebrate people who are participating,” Piyush Pandey, executive chairman, Ogilvy & Mather says, “Even the winners won’t feel the joy of winning as half of the industry is not going to be there.”

     

    Piyush Pandey

    One factor that has played a role in the low participation rate is the timing of the festival. Says a source on the Goafest committee, “Agencies usually got at least two months between Goafest and Cannes Lions to work on their budgets, to decide which entries to send and to decide the team that would represent the agency. But this year since the festival is happening in the last week of May there is hardly any time for agencies to plan.”

     

    All this has only resulted in more flak for the Abbys, the country’s oldest advertising awards which was integrated into Goafest a few years ago. “I think the Abbys was running beautifully till they combined it with Goafest,”says MrPandey. He says that the principle on which the award show was merged with festival was that Ad Club would run the awards and AAAI (Advertising Agencies Association of India) would organise the festival. “But it got muddled somewhere down the line,”he says.

     

    K V Sridhar

    KV Sridhar, the outgoing chief creative officer India subcontinent at Leo Burnett, agrees, saying, “While the festival may have become bigger, there is no doubt that Abbys has lost its credibility.” Mr Pandey in turn believes that Goafest should have taken a break for a year, restructured and reorganised itself and then returned with a bang in 2015. The deadline for entries has been extended to April 28 from April 25, so there doesn’t seem to be much chance that participation will ramp up. But Swamy says that the Goafest committee will be meeting with heads of the non-participating agencies immediately after the festival, to discuss and address their concerns and clear the way for next year’s event.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2014, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

    Licensed to republish

     

  • The deadline for receiving entries for both awards have been extended

    Final entry deadlines extended: Goafest Abbys to April 23, Kyoorius to April 28

    By A Correspondent

     

    The final deadlines for the Goafest Abbys 2014 and the D&AD-backed Kyoorius Awards have been extended.

     

    The Awards Governing Council of Goafest 2014 has extended the last date for submitting entries in the Creative, Media, Digital, Direct, Design, Promo & Activations, PR, Publishers & Broadcasters Abby categories to Wednesday, April 23, before 5 pm.

     

    The entry forms can be downloaded from www.theadvertisingclub.net. Goafest 2014 will be held from May 29 to 31 at The Grand Hyatt, Bambolim, North Goa.

     

    Meanwhile, the Kyoorius Awards which are bringing in the well-known D&AD Awards to the country, have also extended their final deadlines to April 28. The details for the awards are at http://awards.kyoorius.com. The Kyoorius Advertising Awards will be presented on Thursday, June 12 in Mumbai.