MxMIndia

Category: Awards

  • The campaign won a $5,000 prize as five of 17 awards were from Made-in-India entries

    No Ullu Banoing this. Lowe bags Warc Grand Prix award for Idea

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    There was no hooting like we have in the Effies and the Emvies and also the Abby and Kyoorius. There were no men in black from Ogilvy. And even when the grand cash prize of USD 5000 (Rs 3 lakh-plus) was given away, there were just some loud claps.

     

    But, then, it was a closed door affair. Playing host to the evening was Madhukar Kamath and his team from DDB Mudra in Mumbai. It was held in the reasonably large hall on the sixth floor of Mudra House. There were plenty of nibbles and assorted liquids that you could just pick up.

     

    There were many reasons to celebrate the evening. For, as the market is getting tougher and advertising needs to deliver, the emphasis is on how strategy can work for your client.

     

    The Warc Prize for Asian Strategy celebrates the very best in strategic marketing in Asia. Entries are judged on the quality of strategic thinking and the results it delivers.

     

    More than 135 campaigns from across the region entered the 2015 Prize, with half of the shortlisted entries hailing from India.

     

    Entries were judged by a panel of senior marketers and agency-side strategy experts, chaired by BV Pradeep, Unilever’s global vice-president of consumer and market insight.

     

    A campaign for telecom major Idea Cellular won the Grand Prix at the Warc Prize for Asian Strategy awards.

     

    “Idea Cellular’s campaign ‘No ULLU Banoing’ was outstanding because it was based on a powerful and universal cultural insight that worked across the whole of India, across urban and rural populations and across socio-economic classes. The strategy expanded the market, strengthened brand equity and drove growth of sales revenues. To achieve all three deliverables with one campaign was really amazing,” said Pradeep in a statement.

     

    Seventeen campaigns from across the region picked up gold, silver and bronze awards at the Prize event in Mumbai. Five award-winning campaigns came from India with work from Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines also represented in the prize list. The Grand Prix, as we mentioned earlier, went with a $5,000 cash prize. Five other entries won Special Awards, each worth $1,000.

     

    The full list of winners can be viewed on the Prize website, www.warc.com/asiaprize, but we also have them here. A visit to the Warc site is recommended where you can get a look at the shortlisted stuff, some even without a paid subscription.

     

    Winning entries (Agency / Client / Market of Origin)

    Cash prize winners

     

    Grand Prix ($5,000 cash prize)

    Idea Cellular: The ‘fool-proof’ internet service
    (Mullen Lowe Lintas Group India / Aditya Birla Group / India)

     

    Market Pioneer Special Award ($1,000 cash prize)

    Government of People’s Republic of Bangladesh: Anti-urinal campaign ‘language matters’
    (Grey Advertising Bangladesh / Ministry of Religious Affairs Bangladesh / Bangladesh)

     

    Research Excellence Special Award ($1,000 cash prize)

    Visa: Get Lost challenge
    (BBDO China; Proximity China; OMD China / Visa China / China)

     

    Channel Thinking Special Award ($1,000 cash prize)

    MasterCard: The Priceless Engine
    (TBWA\Digital Arts Network, Carat / MasterCard / Singapore)

     

    Local Hero Special Award ($1,000 cash prize)

    Havells: A woman is not a home appliance
    (Mullen Lowe Lintas Group India / Havells India / India)

     

    Asia First Special Award ($1,000 cash prize)

    Whisper: Touch the pickle
    (BBDO India / Whisper / India)

    Regional winners: Multi-Market

     

    Silver

    MasterCard: The Priceless Engine
    (TBWA\Digital Arts Network, Carat / MasterCard / Singapore)

    Regional winners: East Asia

     

    Gold

    Visa: Get Lost challenge
    (BBDO China; Proximity China; OMD China / Visa China / China)

     

    Silver

    Volkswagen: Project Polo – turning probationary drivers into professional ones
    (DDB Group Hong Kong / Volkswagen Hong Kong / Hong Kong)

     

    Bronze

    McDonald’s Hong Kong: Repairing a relationship in 12 weeks
    (DDB Group Hong Kong / McDonald’s Hong Kong / Hong Kong)

    Bronze

    AIDS Concern: Can coffee melt stigma?
    (TBWA Hong Kong / AIDS Concern / Hong Kong)

    Regional winners: South Asia

     

    Gold

    Idea Cellular: The ‘fool-proof’ internet service
    (Mullen Lowe Lintas Group India / Aditya Birla Group / India)

     

    Gold

    Government of People’s Republic of Bangladesh: Anti-urinal campaign ‘language matters’
    (Grey Advertising Bangladesh / Ministry of Religious Affairs Bangladesh / Bangladesh)

     

    Gold

    Whisper: Touch the pickle
    (BBDO India / Whisper / India)

     

    Silver

    Voluntary Compliance Encouragement Scheme: A crash course in recovering taxes from stubborn defaulters
    (McCann Worldgroup / Government of India / India)

    Silver

    Havells: A woman is not a home appliance
    (Mullen Lowe Lintas Group India / Havells India / India)

     

    Bronze

    Mawbima: The newspaper that stopped dengue in its tracks
    (Leo Burnett Solutions / Ceylon Newspapers / Sri Lanka)

     

    Bronze

    Tata Tea: From packaged good to packaging good
    (Mullen Lowe Lintas Group India / Tata Global Beverages / India)

     

     

    Regional winners: Southeast Asia

     

    Silver

    CebuanaLhuillier: Re-meet
    (Ace Saatchi & Saatchi / CebuanaLhuillier / Philippines)

     

    Bronze

    OMO: Reunion champions
    (Lowe + Partners / Unilever / Vietnam)

     

    Bronze

    Tiger Beer: How a brand that had lost its way found its way home
    (BBDO Singapore / Asia Pacific Breweries / Singapore)

     

    Bronze

    McDonald’s Singapore: Wake me up before you go go… for breakfast
    (DDB Group Singapore / McDonald’s Singapore / Singapore)

     

    Bronze

    IKEA: 2015 Bookbooklaunch
    (BBH / IKEA / Singapore)

  • More on the five special prize-winning strategies at last week's Warc Asian Strategy Awards

    No ‘ullu banaoing’, only strategy

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    It’s been India Shining on the strategy front in Asia. Last week, Mullen Lowe Lintas India had a great showing at the recent Warc Prize for Asian Strategy awards. While it picked up the 2015 Grand Prix, the grand prize and a Gold for its Idea Cellular campaign, ‘No Ullu Banoing’, it also got the Local Hero Special Award and a Silver for its Havells’ campaign, ‘A Woman is not a Home Appliance’, and a Bronze for Tata Tea’s ‘From Packaged Good to Packaging Good’.

     

    The Warc Prize celebrates the best in strategic marketing in Asia, and entries are judged on the quality of strategic thinking and the results they deliver. The Grand Prix comes with a cash prize of $5,000.

     

    More than 135 campaigns from across the region entered this year’s competition, with half of the 39 shortlisted entries coming from India. They were judged by a panel of senior marketers and agency-side strategy experts, chaired by BV Pradeep, Unilever’s global vice-president of consumer and market insight.

     

    Apart from the Mullen Lowe Lintas Group, BBDO India also picked up the Asia First Special Award and a Gold for its ‘Touch the Pickle’ spot for Whisper and McCann Worldgroup got a Silver for its Government of India campaign relating to Voluntary Compliance Encouragement Scheme, entitled ‘A Crash Course in Recovering Taxes from Stubborn Defaulters’.

     

    “Idea Cellular’s campaign was outstanding because it was based on a powerful and universal cultural insight that worked across the whole of India, across urban and rural populations and across socio-economic classes,” Pradeep said in a statement. “The strategy expanded the market, strengthened brand equity and drove growth of sales revenues. To achieve all three deliverables with one campaign was really amazing.”  Other than the five special cash awards, 17 campaigns from across the region picked up gold, silver and bronze awards at the prize event held in Mumbai, at an evening hosted by DDB Mudra Group.

     

    Idea Cellular: The ‘fool-proof’ internet service

    (Mullen Lowe Lintas Group India / Aditya Birla Group / India)

    Grand Prix

     

    This case study shows how Idea, an Indian telecom company, made the mobile Internet more popular with a humorous campaign.

    • The mobile internet category in India faces the barriers of price and relevance, with many telecoms attempting to increase usage through discount trial packs, but many users still not seeing mobile data as relevant to their lives.
    • The campaign strategy tapped into the unsavoury, seamier side of the country, where being economical with the truth in order to scam others is popular.
    • Hence the creative execution suggested that using the mobile Internet made people less likely to be ‘made a fool of’.
    • The campaign used TV, print, radio and out of home ads, along with social media.
    • Then the rate of growth of data subscribers for Idea was nearly twice the rate of growth of data subscribers for Airtel, a rival telecom

     

    Government of People’s Republic of Bangladesh: Anti-urinal campaign ‘language matters’

    (Grey Advertising Bangladesh / Ministry of Religious Affairs Bangladesh / Bangladesh)

    Market Pioneer Special Award

     

    This case study discusses a campaign from the Bangladeshi government that tackled the problem of public urination by encouraging behavioural change.

    • The challenge was that 20% of the residents of Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital city, are pedestrian commuters, with many of the men urinating on the way to and from work.
    • The campaign strategy was based on a cultural insight: as people in the Muslim majority nation respected ‘holy’ things the anti-urinal messages, previously written in Bangla, were replaced with Arabic messages with directions to the nearest mosque and public toilet.
    • The campaign purely relied on the outdoor signs and did not use TV or print, however it was covered by both online and print newspapers, earning free PR.
    • Utilisation of public toilets in mosques rose by 50% during the campaign period.

     

    Visa: Get Lost Challenge

    (BBDO China; Proximity China; OMD China / Visa China / China)

    Research Excellence Special Award

     

    This case study describes how Visa China appealed to the new generation of Chinese travellers to encourage the use of its credit cards on their trips abroad.

    • Visa faced an uphill struggle, because China UnionPay, the Chinese government-owned payment system, holds 80% market share of outbound transactions by Chinese tourists.
    • First, Visa identified a new target group of travellers who, while abroad, preferred to explore less obvious landmarks away from the big Chinese tourist groups.
    • Then, with its ‘Get Lost Challenge’, the credit card issuer encouraged them to take more chances, but with a Visa card in their pocket.
    • Visa used video, print and online media to spread the message and drive consumers to its website.
    • The Visa Get Lost Challenge reached 9 million people, or about 10% of Chinese overseas travellers, becoming Visa’s most successful China campaign ever.

     

    MasterCard: The Priceless Engine

    (TBWA\Digital Arts Network, Carat / MasterCard / Singapore)

    Channel Thinking Special Award

     

    This case study describes how MasterCard, the second largest credit card brand, launched a marketing platform that generated business from social media in Asia Pacific.

    • MasterCard is considered the second largest credit card brand in Asia Pacific after Visa, but Visa outspends MasterCard four-to-one on marketing.
    • MasterCard launched The Priceless Engine: an innovative marketing platform that turns big data into usable data, and provides its partners with deeper insights, allowing them to deliver the right offers and messages to the right people at the right time.
    • The Priceless Engine powered MasterCard’s ‘New Year’s Eve’ campaign, featuring Hugh Jackman, across six markets; it encouraged people to share who they would want to spend their New Year’s Eve with and why, providing MasterCard with valuable data and insights.
    • This campaign resulted in never-before-seen business results for MasterCard, turning social media into an actual business-generating channel.

     

    Havells: A woman is not a home appliance

    (Mullen Lowe Lintas Group India / Havells India / India)

    Local Hero Special Award

     

    This case study describes how Havells, one of India’s most respected electrical products companies, launched and executed a communications campaign aimed at Indian (female) homemakers in order to increase consideration and raise sales of its home appliances.

    • The task was made difficult by the buyers’ set shopping habits: buy a reputed brand, and preferably the one they already had a good experience with.
    • In order to break into this market, Havells, a newcomer, ran a campaign on TV and online that broke away with an image of a woman tied to her kitchen and her home appliances so she could take better care of her husband.
    • Havells unequivocally said “the woman is not an appliance” and it will foremost “respect the woman”.
    • The company managed to hit all its objectives, including increased consideration scores and a +150% sales increase six months after the launch of the campaign.

     

    Content strategy summaries source: Warc.com

     

  • As many as 150 entries from across Ogilvy's India offices vied for the 25 awards chosen by top creative professionals, none of them from Ogilvy

    Ogilvy celebrates its own at Envies 2015

    By  A Correspondent

     

    Until four years back, the Boys in Black would dominate proceedings at the Abby. The then only national awards for creativity and assorted advertising. The Abby, run by the Advertising Club Bombay and held annually part of Goafest (conducted jointly by the Ad Club and the Advertising Agencies Association of India), continues to be the biggest awards event endorsed by most industry associations.

     

    However, all of this changed in 2013. As Piyush Pandey told the media in attendance on Tuesday, Ogilvywallahs would dominate the Abby so comprehensively, that he kinda found his colleagues according no respect for the metals received. They would often be placed on the floors. Strewn all over.

     

    Even as Pandey was saying this, our inboxes received a missive saying Publics Worldwide boss Nakul Chopra was appointed chairman of the Goafest Organising Committee.

     

    It was clear that Ogilvy isn’t going to participate in the Abby at Goafest. Or is in no hurry to do so.

     

    But it will take all of Ad Club President Raj Nayak’s much known persuasive skills to bring Ogilvy back to send in entries. You can Salman and Shah Rukh together, why even India and Pakistan to try and sort their differences, but not Ogilvy or Lowe to the Ad Club awards. Hmmm.

     

    But, heck, this isn’t a story about all the mess, controversies and politics about Indian advertising awards.

    For the third year in a row, Ogilvy India conducted its Envies Awards.

    Some 150 entries vied for 25 honours.

    They were awarded in various categories, with just one in print.

    The event had some interesting accompaniments, including this brilliant session by former Ogilvywallah Hanif Kureshi and his Kyoorius-awardwinning Street Art work.

    The entire Ogilvy Mumbai office was in attendance, along with large contingents from elsewhere.

     

    Good fun. Fantastically emcied by Sumanto Chattopadhyay.

     

    Now check the xls.

  • Launches their recent integrated campaign promoting the bank's digital offerings

    HDFC Bank awards creative duties to Leo Burnett

    By A Correspondent

     

    HDFC Bank has awarded its creative mandate to Leo Burnett. The HumanKind approach of Leo Burnett helped it win the business.

     

    HDFC Bank is one of India’s premier banks providing a wide range of financial products and services to its 32.6 million customers across hundreds of Indian cities using multiple distribution channels including a pan-India network of branches, ATMs, phone banking, net banking and mobile banking.

     

    Leo Burnett is currently working on an integrated campaign titled “Har Zaroorat Poori Ho Chutki Mein, Bank Aapki Muthi Mein,” to reinforce the brand’s position as India’s premier digital bank in India. The new campaign talks about HDFC Bank’s products and offerings, from banking service to loans, investments, one click payments and one click shopping – all digitally accessible to customers through the bank’s mobile application.

     

    Confirming the win, Kartik Jain, Executive Vice President and Head – Marketing, HDFC Bank, said, “Customer centricity is key to our marketing success. Going forward we want to intensify our focus on highlighting how digital banking is enabling customer convenience. We have been at the forefront of launching services that use the latest technologies to benefit our customers. We wanted to partner an agency that understands consumer behaviour effectively and uses the power of integration to communicate Har Zaroorat Poori Ho Chutki Mein, Bank Aapki Muthi Mein positioning amongst our existing and potential customers.”

     

    Saurabh Varma

    Saurabh Varma, Chief Executive Officer, Leo Burnett India, added, “As a HumanKind agency, we believe in unleashing the true potential of a brand by defining its purpose and creating communication that is strategic, meaningful and effective. We have a clear mandate to bring our multidisplinary approcah for creating an integrated narrative for HDFC Bank that would shine the spotlight on their digital offerings. This will help us partner HDFC Bank in achieving the change they are looking for in their business.”

     

  • STORM Regionalization Platform Wins 2015 Innovative Project Award

    Amagi bags ASBU BroadcastPro Middle East Award

    By A Correspondent

     

    Amagi has won the ASBU BroadcastPro Middle East 2015 Innovative Project Award for successfully monetizing NDTV’s global feeds. Amagi’s STORM regionalization platform enabled NDTV to regionalize advertisements in the Middle East without disrupting the existing workflow and satellite infrastructure or incurring significant CAPEX and OPEX. The award was presented to Amagi during a special ceremony held on November 10th at the ASBU BroadcastPro Summit in Dubai.

     

    “We are honored to receive this prestigious industry award,” said Srividhya Srinivasan, co-founder of Amagi. “Today’s TV networks need an efficient and cost-effective solution for content regionalization. The NDTV project is a great example of how broadcasters can monetize their channel on a global scale, without setting up a separate and expensive satellite feed.”

     

    This is the second industry award for Amagi’s STORM regionalization platform this year. STORM was also honoured with the IBC2015 Innovation Award in September for enabling Sundance Channel Global to deliver localized channels at a fraction of the cost of traditional broadcast models.

     

    As part of the STORM solution, Amagi inserts unique, invisible and inaudible watermarks on ads that need to be replaced in the Middle East. Using trickle satellite bandwidth, NDTV can deliver local replacement ads and the playlist on the common satellite feed. Installed at various headends in the region, Amagi’s STORM IRDs receive the common satellite feed, recognize the watermarked ads, and then replace them with the local ads as per the local playlist. Amagi’s innovative solution enables NDTV to regionalize ads in the Middle East without disturbing the existing workflow and satellite infrastructure.

     

  • Getty Images partners with Next Photographer Award for the second year running

    F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi design creative campaign for Next Awards

    By A Correspondent

     

    Iconic photographs & film works from Nirvana, Guinness, Honda and Spike Jonze have made it to the 2016 D&AD Next Awards campaign. These works have been creatively re-imagined by F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi into a series of graphic posters. Capturing the essence of what makes them unique using words and emotive illustrations, they are designed to inspire and excite the next generation of photographers and directors to enter their work into the awards. F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi are themselves D&AD Award winners, most recently taking home a Yellow Pencil for graphic design in the 2015 Awards.

     

    Pedro Prado, Creative Director F/Nazca Saatch & Saatchi commented: “D&AD, along with the biggest names in direction and cinematography are always a source of inspiration for us. I hope we’ve managed to create a campaign that touches the soul of future great names in the industry.”

     

    Tim Lindsay, D&AD CEO added: “One of the great things about D&AD is the chance it gives us to work directly with great agencies on our own campaigns. It’s no surprise that we’ve gone back to Brazil once again to access that brilliance. The work that F/Nazca have created gets to the heart of what the Next Awards are all about; an inspiring celebration of talent and potential.”

     

    The posters will be supported by a social campaign, animations and films, the latter of these will be released in 2016.

     

  • Veteran adperson Ramesh Narayan on the takeaways from AdAsia 2015 that was held in Taipei last week

    Ramesh Narayan: Eight takeaways from AdAsia 2015

     

    By Ramesh Narayan

     

    The forum is the message. If you go to DigiAsia, you feel that technology has overtaken human endeavours. If you go to AdAsia, the Empire strikes back. Good old-fashioned marketing is alive and well, as we found in at the meet held in Taipei recently. Here are some takeaways from the event:

     

    1. Technology is important. In fact, automation is seen as one of the key trends going forward, but it is just an enabler. Fundamentally, people have not changed; the ways to reach out to them have.

     

    2. The TedX platform was used during two sessions at AdAsia. Initially people wondered why content was being outsourced. After all, these were not the usual suspects who speak at large international fora. It was different, and it worked really well. The inputs from creative people outside the immediate pale of advertising, was refreshingly new. So you had sound technologists, dramatists and electronic music-makers telling us what clicks with the audience. And there were valuable learnings to be had.

     

    3. Programmatic is not something to be feared after all, the experts would have us believe. Apparently it should be seen as just a new way to do an old job. Yes, it does entail focus, training and big investment, but anything new would entail that. Personally, I’m still grappling with understanding what it really is. Problematic.

     

    4. Human resources are still a big problem for our industry. We are just not able to get enough of the ‘right’ people. And large networks are now throwing the recruitment net wider than usual, seeking specialist talent like PhDs in math and editors from specialist content to manage content.

     

    5. Piyush Pandey still sells, big time. Maybe he retrofits his presentation to suit the topic, but hey, when you create and present great work, who’s complaining.

     

    6. Clients would be well advised to forget the ‘creative’ briefs they provide agencies. They would be better served by defining a business problem, spelling out the commercial deliverables expected, and challenging the agency to present the solutions. These would be business deliverables, not media-specific deliverables.

     

    7. The case study is still a wonderful way to provoke a conversation among panelists. It is very real, puts the panelist on the spot, and brings out good responses that could then form the basis of meaningful debate. This AdAsia, in a particular session, had a research analyst present case studies that had worked, and then a distinguished panel dissected the cases for the benefit of the audience. It was a great way to learn.

     

    8. Finally, the AdAsia Brand in India still shines strong. With a great leader of the delegation like Raj Nayak, a 140-plus force from India kept the tricolour flying high. Encomiums to the leadership of Pradeep Guha (who completed his term as Chairman Asian Federation of Advertising Associations) did the country proud. And the incoming Vice Chairman Srinivasan Swamy, with his proven track record, should be able to push the envelope even further.

     

    This article first appeared in dna of brands dated November 30, 2015

     

  • Modifies format to keep up with the changing advertising landscape

    The Ad Club announces the Effie 2015 Awards

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Advertising Club announced the Effie 2015 Awards Gala Ceremony, to be held on Wednesday, 27th January, 2016 at 6.30 p.m. at the Seaside Lawns, Hotel Taj Lands End, Bandra, Mumbai. Campaigns that ran in India from 1st October, 2014 to 30th September, 2015 (12 months) are eligible for entry.

     

    In tune with the changing times, The Advertising Club has drawn up a slew of changes to the Effies 2015. For the first time, entries can now be submitted online. As an acknowledgement to the increasing importance of the startup ecosystem in our country, a new category called New Product or Service – Best Campaign for a Start-up, has been introduced. The Digital Campaign category too was redefined into the Integrated Marketing Category – a tacit nod to the evolution of the digital platform as an inclusion rather than extension of an ad campaign. The growing economic influence of small town India came to the fore as the erstwhile Rural Marketing category got rechristened to Small Town and Rural Marketing Category. Though not renamed, the Healthcare Category also underwent a redefining exercise, to account for the increasing diversity of the segment. Barring the Best Ongoing Campaign, all other categories will now be eligible to compete for the Grand Effie.

     

    Raj Nayak

    Commenting on the changes, Raj Nayak, President of The Advertising Club said, “The Effies is the award that recognizes advertising effectiveness. To be able to do justice to its purpose, it is imperative that we recognize and integrate the changing landscape of advertising in India with the rules of the award. I am confident that the modifications that we’ve introduced this year will further streamline the purpose of Effies with the ground realities of advertising in India.”

     

    Ajay Kakar

    Ajay Kakar, 2015 Awards Chairman said, “The advertising industry has grown from strength to strength since its inception in India. Not only has our industry grown in volume but also in terms of geographical spread. It is in recognition of this reality that, for the first time, Effie India will be organizing the first round of judging at Bangalore besides Mumbai & Delhi.”

     

     

    Vikram Sakhuja

    Vikram Sakhuja, 2015 Awards Co-Chairman showed his excitement when he said, “What’s new in Effies is your work. Celebrate the fact that you did something creative, analytical, but always accountable. We love madness but love the method underlying even more. If you’ve done something that made you proud chances are we would love to see it. Let it rip.”

     

  • LinTeractive would work towards positioning Stuffcool as the partner of choice for digital wares and also enhance its reach as a trustworthy player throughout India

    LinTeractive bags digital mandate of Stuffcool; unveils brand campaign titled #LilThingsMatter

    By A Correspondent

     

    To further drive its message as being the leader in the space, accessories player Stuffcool has appointed LinTeractive, the digital agency of Mullen Lowe Lintas Group as its digital partner. LinTeractive would work towards positioning Stuffcool as the partner of choice for digital wares and also enhance its reach as a trustworthy player throughout India.

     

    Commenting on the appointment, Hemang Budhdeo – Director, Nissan Enterprises Ltd said: “The smartphone market in India is witnessing an unwavering growth which obviously spells more opportunities for us. We are glad to have LinTeractive partner us at this exciting phase as we look to expand our territories and further build up our customer base in India. We look forward to striking a meaningful relationship with the team and hope to chart out new frontiers in our quest of being the best in the space.”

     

    Vikas Mehta

    Part of Nissan Enterprises Limited, Stuffcool caters to those looking to source essential gear like mobile cases, screen protectors, cables, chargers, selfie-sticks and other enhancements for their smartphones. The firm is known to have cultivated the branded accessories market in India and pave the pathway for easy availability of quality accessories to end consumers.   Sharing his views on winning the business, Vikas Mehta, Group CMO | President, Group Marketing Services, Mullen Lowe Lintas Group said, “Devices are a bigger part of our lives today than most things we own. Stuffcool makes cool accessories for these devices, making it an inspiring brand to work with. The market is flooded with accessories but few great accessory brands. We are glad on the opportunity presented to LinTeractive to partner Stuffcool and hope to get the little things right for them.”

     

    Flagging off the partnership, LinTeractive has drawn up an extensive online campaign under the theme #LilThingsMatter. It has engaged in a whole lot of initiatives on and off line to drive home the core theme of #LilThingsMatter. Contests were run on social media – Facebook & Twitter where users were asked to share their experiences about the little things that make a difference to their lives, encourage discussions around the theme without revealing anything about the brand proposition. Following this, a brand film was launched along with a 5-day-contest on FB/Twitter where Stuffcool.comgot customers to engage with the brand over its online platform.

     

    Hemang Budhdeo

    Sharing his views on the integrated digital campaign that has been planned, Hemang Budhdeo said: “Our products play the role of a catalyst in the life of the consumer in a little way but have great impact. We approached LinTeractive with this brief, and they came up with #LilThingsMatter that says how little things (tech accessories) make a huge difference to the gadgets that people use and interspersed the same with life-situations around consumers. We are glad with the initial response that has been generated on the back of the new campaign.”

     

    The video campaign builds the brand philosophy through real life instances in a very artistic manner. Simple things like running out of battery, enjoying your time with friends while taking a selfie and other such nuances involving a mobile phone have been brought out in an imaginative manner. The background score in the campaign is a catchy one and has been incorporated to establish an emotional connect with the consumers. The film touches upon the values of love, care, friendship, trust while highlighting how products from Stuffcool help achieve little moments of joy.

     

    Commenting on the thought process behind the idea, Paul Dueman, Senior Vice President, LinTeractive said, “The campaign is our answer to differentiating Stuffcool from the other players in the accessories market. The strategy was to highlight instances, however small, that matter to consumers today and the positive impact it creates in their lives. We are confident that #LilThingsMatter as brand credo, backed with a series of creative narrations and engagements planned for 2016, will do well to connect with their consumers.”

     

  • The crowning moment for the group came when WARC 100, an annual report from World Advertising and Research Council ranked Lowe Lintas India as the No. 1 Creative Agency in the world

    Mullen Lowe Lintas Group, India wins its 75th award for the year

    By A Correspondent

     

    In a huge achievement for the agency, Mullen Lowe Lintas Group, India picked up its 75th award for the year last night. Ironically for an agency that does not enter creative awards, it has emerged as the “most awarded agency” in India in 2015. All 75 awards were won either for market/campaign effectiveness or on overall agency performance.

     

    Beginning from the Effie India 2014, to the recently concluded Campaign South Asia Agency of the Year awards, Mullen Lowe Lintas Group has won a total of 75 honours this year. It began with the agency winning 7 Golds at Effie India announced in Jan 2015. It was the most by any agency for the year and beat the Gold tally of all other agencies put together. It went on to win another 6 Silver & 8 Bronze metals at the event. It followed this performance by winning the ‘Agency of the Year’ title and Carmencita Esteban Platinum Award at UA&P Asia Pacific Tambuli Awards. In all, the agency won 2 Grand Prix, 14 Golds, 3 Silvers, and 1 Bronze at the Tambuli awards this year.

     

    The crowning moment for the group came when WARC 100, an annual report from World Advertising and Research Council ranked Lowe Lintas India as the No. 1 Creative Agency in the world while Kan Khajura Tesan (KKT) was adjudged the Best Marketing Campaign in the world. Further, at the Asian Marketing Effectiveness Awards, the agency was declared Effectiveness Agency of the Year and went on to win 10 awards, including four Silver and six Bronze awards.

     

    On the Effie Index front, Mullen Lowe Lintas Group went on to win the title of the Most Effective Agency in India and Asia Pacific. It was also adjudged the third most Effective agency globally. At the Cannes Lions 2015, KKT won a Bronze award for Creative Effectiveness while at Spikes Asia Festival of Creativity, it won the Grand Prix for Creative Effectiveness – the only such accolade for India.

     

    At the Warc Prize for Asian Strategy, the group won a Grand Prix, a Gold, a Silver & a Bronze. The year culminated for the agency with a fine performance at the Campaign Asia Agency of the Year awards show where it was declared the ‘Best Creative Agency of the Year’ and also won the Best New Business Development Team of the Year, Best Strategic/Brand Planner of the Year and Best Account Person of the Year.

     

    Awards Scorecard 2015 of MLLG:

     

    Joseph George

    Commenting on the agency’s strong performance on the awards front, Joseph George, Regional President|South & Southeast Asia & Group CEO|India said, “It’s been a milestone year for us in India. We are glad to have ended the year on the same high that we started it. All this recognition is a result of all our key people putting up their hands, wanting to be counted and bringing value to the table. And this happened only because everyone thought of themselves as key stakeholders of the company. ”

     

    What made the honours this year even more special were a few special awards that were firsts for India. Noteworthy mentions include: The Local Hero Special Award for Havells at the Warc Prize for Asian Strategy; being declared Runners-up AdAge International Agency of the Year – again a first for an agency from India; and at the 4A’s Jay Chiat Awards – the award for strategic excellence where the best of Madison Avenue competes with the world – the agency did an unprecedented feat of consecutive double wins, two years in a row.

     

    Arun Iyer

    Adding his views on the agency’s achievement, Arun Iyer, Chief Creative Officer, Lowe Lintas India said, “I’m proud of the consistency with which each of our offices has churned out some great work across a large and diverse client set. Our work has excelled on a portfolio that’s a combination of classical and progressive brands, from young upstarts to large market leaders. 2015 serves as a reminder of how setting the bar high, is an everyday pursuit, and how successful teams are greater than the individuals.”

     

    Amer Jaleel

    Amer Jaleel, Chairman & CCO, Mullen Lintas India said, “The best barometer of our work being appreciated is when it manages to bring about a shift in perception and thought among the people. That’s what we achieved with few of our brands that went on to redefine the way a campaign should be approached and which ended up winning awards that were unique in nature. Special accolades for Indian brands such as Havells, Tata Tea and the others were something that no agency had ever received before and we are proud to have set a trend by being the first.”

     

  • ZenithOptimedia with its strong presence in the interiors of the country will focus on maximizing the presence of HomeShop18 in the emerging markets

    ZenithOptimedia wins media duties of HomeShop18

    By A Correspondent

     

    ZenithOptimedia has won the media planning and buying mandate of HomeShop18, India’s leading television shopping channel. ZenithOptimedia with its strong presence in the interiors of the country will focus on maximizing the presence of HomeShop18 in the emerging markets.

     

    Hari Krishnan, Managing Director of ZenithOptimedia says, “This is a sizeable win for ZenithOptimedia India. There are millions of homes that consume content through television, but may not have access to the internet. Home shopping will continue to deliver in mass reach and volume sales, as the cable and satellite footprint expands in the country. HomeShop18 pioneered the concept of shopping from home in India, and made consumers aware of the comfort attached to it. It is a matter of great pride for us, to be partnering with them.”

     

    Vikrant Khanna, Chief Operating Officer Homeshop18 commenetd, “HomeShop18 has a diverse customer base with a fairly expansive reach through the television channel as well as its web and mobile presence. To reach out to our customers across the country, ZenithOptimedia seemed like an obvious choice based on their trenchant understanding of the Indian market and the ability to tap the burgeoning home shopping segment. We look forward to a rewarding partnership with them.”

     

  • The account was awarded to Push on the strength of its strategic and creative excellence

    Push Integrated wins creative mandate for Dhanuka Agritech Limited

    By A Correspondent

     

    Dhanuka Agritech Ltd has awarded the creative duties and the entire gamut of integrated communications mandate to Push Integrated Communications Pvt. Ltd. The account was awarded to Push on the strength of its strategic and creative excellence.

     

    The work for Dhanuka Agritech will encompass product and corporate communication, rural branding in the form of campaigns and collaterals as well as internal communication and branding. In the coming months, Push Integrated will also conceptualize and produce bespoke films for the company. The mandate will provide a perfect platform for the agency to explore rural marketing and gain critical insights into rural India. The Dhanuka account will be serviced from the Bengaluru & Mumbai offices of the Agency.

     

    Sharing his thoughts on the association, Ashok Mahajan, Senior General Manager, Dhanuka Agritech added: “Push Integrated brings wholistic solutions to a marketing challenge. Their team brings on board a brand of communications that will empower our product narrative within the farming community across the nation. They bring in unique insights that help us connect with the farmer as well as our marketing channels. To add to this, they have a great working relationship with our brand ambassador, Mr. Amitabh Bachchan.”

     

    Commenting on winning the mandate, Anil Rajgopal, Chief Executive Officer of Push Integrated Communications said, “Dhanuka Agritech is a company that empowers the ‘engine of our economy’, the farming community. A company whose products help the farmers maximize their yield; a company whose credibility is built on protecting the interests of our farmers. More than a business win, I view this as an honour. This is an opportunity to converse with the farmers through the might of Dhanuka’s product lines; and an opportunity to spread the aura and ethical standards of a noble enterprise. And to team up with the indomitable, inspiring and iconic Mr. Amitabh Bachchan!! This is a huge responsibility.”

     

    With a strong product portfolio of over 80 brands with 100 per cent domestic sales, Dhanuka Agritech’s products are used by over 10 million farmers across India. It has the second largest rural distribution network in India with over 8,600 direct dealers selling to over 80,000 retailers. Mr. Amitabh Bachchan is the Dhanuka Brand Ambassador.