At a gala ceremony held in San Diego on October 28, India’s OgilvyOneheld its head high as it bagged 4 DMA Echo awards (1 silver, 3 bronze) of the 9 metals that came India’s way. The DMA Echo awards are ranked among the oldest and most revered effectiveness awards on the international marketing calendar.
An elated Vikram Menon, President and Country head, OgilvyOne India said, “This is wonderful not only for OgilvyOne but for India. What’s most delightful is that the wins have come for exciting work on some of our biggest clients – DuPont, Vodafone, Unilever and American Express. And we owe a large part of these wins to them.â€
Burzin Mehta, Sr Creative Director, OgilvyOne, Mumbai said, “An Echo win is extra special because of the rigorous nature of judging and the caliber of its international jury comprising marketing experts, clients and creative gurus. Few things are as rewarding as recognition from clients and peers alike.â€
DMAi (Direct Marketing Association: India) has announced Ajay Chandwani, Director, Percept Limited as Chairman, DMA Echo Awards, India 2013. Mr Chandwani is currently Member on the Board of Governors, DMAi and was Co-Chair for the maiden DMAi Convention.
DMA is the world’s premier body of Marketing Response professionals in US and has since extended to over 40 countries including India in the form of DMAi. The ECHO Awards of DMA US are the gold standard worldwide in marketing response and cover creativity, effectiveness and innovation. The Echo Awards are now in India as part of the initiative of DMAi. This year, DMA US has accorded full alliance status to the DMA India awards programme.
Entrants in DMAI Echo India this year get a unique benefit. All entrants get in DMA International ECHO Awards at no extra cost saving of US $ 495 or approx Rs.26,000 per entry. Further, all Gold winners in India will go into semi final round of ECHO International thus bypassing the short list round there.
Commenting on the appointment, Sanjiv Swarup, Director DMAi said, “We are proud to have Ajay Chair the very prestigious awards program once again and welcome his continued support. We are confident that Ajay will once again rope in an equally prestigious jury comprising of Client side Marketers and agency side leaders. Ajay’s familiarity with the awards process will help in strengthening DMAi Awards & Recognition programmes as the only comprehensive awards programmes in the country.”
Mr Chandwani said, “Marketing response is the most crucial metric for effectiveness of a campaign. Clients and agencies are today hard pressed to deliver effectiveness in every campaign spend with so much pressure on return of investment. The DMA ECHO Awards recognizes and rewards Creativity in Effectiveness and Innovation in response strategies, which is why both agencies and clients worldwide value the ECHO so much in the crucial Direct and Digital domains. Agencies and clients in India must support this cause with enthusiasm.”
He further added,”It’s good to have DMAi champion the cause of Response Marketing in India through it’s access to Indian and global thought leaders in strategic marketing. Through the Annual Marketing Convention planned for June 4 and 5 in Mumbai and subsequently the Master Classes and Interactive sessions planned in Engagement Marketing, Cyber Safety and ethics and Big data Management and Analysis, DMAi will be doing the Indian marketing fraternity proud in these specialized spheres.”
Last year the DMAi awards, saw 135 entries from Indian and international companies alike with 52 entries were submitted in full. This year over 200 clients directly or through their agencies have expressed interest in participation and have collected the forms and expressed interest. The jury will meet over the weekend for the judging of these entries. The winners will be felicitated at the Awards Gala on June 4, 2013 that happens on the sidelines of the DMAi 2013 Convention on June 4-5 at the Leela Mumbai.
