MxMIndia

Tag: Goafest

  • A freewheeling interview with the Awards Governing Council chairperson who has taken the key steps of reducing number of categories & setting up a winner jury

    Glory days again for Abby: Ajay Kakar

     

    Every award generates controversies, but if there was an award for the award with the maximum number of controversies and murmurs, it would undoubtedly go to the Creative Abby, part of the annual Goafest conference held every summer in Goa. The Abby Awards have lost sheen over the years because of the absence of two key agency networks – the Mullen Lowe Lintas Group and Ogilvy. And then there have been disputes about plagiarism and scam ads winning big. While the processes have been cleansed over the years and there have been attempts to enthuse the naysayers to participate, this year, the Advertising Club and the Goafest Organising Committee have taken a quantum leap to change things. To start  with, they appointed Ajay Kakar, Chief Marketing Officer with Aditya Birla Capital (eka Aditya Birla Financial Services) who has witnessed the Abby in its glory days and also see it dip in equity. More importantly, he is an active marketer, spends a fair bit on advertising, and has led the Ad Club’s Effies Organising Committee which, interestingly, sees the participation of all agencies (save those with global mandates to stay away from all awards, including Cannes Lions). In an exclusive face-to-face interview (as against one over mail or phone), Ajay Kakar speaks to Pradyuman Maheshwari on the decisions he has taken, the thought behind the Master Jury and Jury of Masters, and whether he expects the cleansing will help bring back those who’ve been staying away for a while. Read on….

     

    Life’s been smooth sailing for you. Great job, the very visible Aditya Birla Capital campaign, a steady work-life balance and then you took on possibly the most controversial and thankless task in the country – chairing the Abby Awards Governing Council. Why?

    I have had the opportunity of chairing the Effies for five years. I have been on the Managing Committee of the Advertising Club for many years and I am fortunate for that.

    Having spent many years in advertising, though the last 12 have years I’ve been a client, I have realized that no marketer can be successful without successful partnerships [with advertising professionals]. But for that you have to literally encourage and excite each other. You have to be at each other’s celebrations and each other’s sorrows and that’s possibly been my motivator. I know awards are important because they recognise creativity, they recognise success. They recognise the best among the best. If I am part of the relationship, if I am dependent on this relationship for my success, I must partner this part of the industry.

     

    But while the Effies are a huge success with the Big 2 participating in it, in the Abby, it’s not just Ogilvy and Lowe absent but a large number of agencies don’t enter.

    I must confessthe day I went back home and told my family that I have been honoured with the post of the Chairman of the Awards Governing Council, my son’s first and only reaction was that I was being suicidal. It made me think for a second and I told myself that it’s an after-hours job. It’s demanding and possibly been a thankless job for various reasonsin the memorable past. But there was an opportunity to change things. I must thank VikramSakhuja, the President of the Advertising Club, to get me to do this. He also gave me a very clear and open mandate. His said let’s do whatever needs to be done. Because he agreed with me that in it’s 50th year, the Abbysare remembered more for the past than for the current.

     

    You also did something suicidal for the Ad Club… reduced the number of categories thereby halving the revenues. And there are detractors who are telling us that many more agencies are staying away this year resulting in the Goafest Abby not getting as many entries…

    So we had two options. One is to tinker around with the past. I could subtract a few categories, redefine some and we would have had yet another year which would have more of the same. Actually, last year, was a success and I don’t think there was any perceived gap in Abby 2017. Soone could just do a little more and be home and dry.  But when one sat back and recollected conversations from the past and when I said the common feeling is that the Abby is remembered more for the past than the present. Somewhere the Abbywas lacking the sheen it had in the past. It was not held in the same high esteem it held in the past where the Abby Award had a pride of place in the mantle of ad agencies and CEO of ad agencies. So we decided we won’t stay with status quo.

    I believe an Award is as good as the people who judge it. And therefore in the past there have been observations that this jury member has not won an Award so how can he judge someone else. So that became a starting point for us. What if we had a Jury of Masters. Whetherit’s the Creative Abby. Whether it’s the Media Abby.Or whether it’s the Specialist Abby or the Craft Abby. Can we have a jury of Masters of their Craft. Undisputed masters. So when you win an Abby, you know it’s been judged by the Master Jury. And, god forbid if I lose, I shrug my shoulders and I say that this jury of Masters believes that I shouldn’t win. Then who am I to question?

     

    But you have people from agencies who have not participated in the Abby in the recent past. In the past, jury members have had to have their agencies sending entries. You’ve changed that rule too?

    Yes, so the clear direction was to ensure that the jury members were very credible because they were masters of their craft. People who have themselves earned and won recognition both in India or on the world stage. Therefore we looked at people who could become the benchmark of creativity as far as our industry is concerned. So, like I said, if you look at the Creative Abby and the 15 members of Master Jury on the one hand or if you look at Jury of Masters of the Media Abby or Broadcaster Abby or our Direct Abby. You look at the Digital Abby. You look at jury members that we have for each of these. And I am confident that everyone has only word to say: wow!

     

    But while we have people from Lowe on the Master Jury, which also doesn’t participate, but there’s no one from Ogilvy though former NCD Abhijit Awasthi is in the list.

    I believe that an award is as good as the people who judge it. Therefore, from the very outset, we were clear that we wanted the best of best to judge Abby Awards 2018. Masters of the art. Masters of the craft.

    And from there emerged our ‘Jury of Masters’ strategy. You will see this strategy manifest across all the categories of the Abby Awards 2018, be it Creative, Media, all the Specialist categories and the Craft categories.

    In the case of the Creative Abbys, we decided to form a Master Jury that comprises 15 undisputed ‘maharathis’. We reached out to each of them, personally, in their personal capacity, requesting for their passion and time for their ‘first love’: advertising. To be an integral part of the Jury that decides and sets the creative standards for Abby Awards 2018 and the industry at large. While reaching out to these Masters,  we did not have any filters in mind. We did not wish to dilute our ambition to have only the best of best. We did not ask any of them whether their agency will be participating in the awards, or not.

    I believe that we are blessed to have every one of these celebrated masters, on board. They did not take a second before conveying their full support and commitment. Yes, we do have the likes of Amer and Arun, from agencies that have not participated in the past. We do have the likes of Bobby and Raj Deepak Das, from networks that have chosen to be off the awards circuit, globally, for this year. And we do also have the likes of Prasoon, Pops, Abhijeet, Aggie, Paddy, Senthil, Swati and Raj Kamble. I am extremely grateful to each of them who have selflessly agreed to partner and support the charter of Abby Awards 2018, to celebrate creative excellence.

     

    And do you have the blessings of Piyush Pandey?

    Piyush is a passionate well-wisher of the industry and an undying champion of creative excellence. But to know his personal views, who better to ask, than Piyush himself .

     

    Do you think it was easier for you to have achieved this because you are no longer an agency person.That you are a big spending advertiser so people possibly agreed to hear you out and accept the offer or rather couldn’t refuse.

    I have been blessed to know the fraternity in person and it’s a relationship I enjoyed over the years. So I am sure that the door-opener was easy for me as I just had to reach out to them. And they were kind enough to listen. But I think at theendof the day when you look at such senior people and what you requesting is for their time and their name.  I thinkit’s their commitment to the industry. Their commitment to Abby and their love for Abby that they have agreed to participate and give us their time and give us their passion and give us their name.

     

    Creative Gurus are known to have big egos, some with reason. You have selected 15 and there were a few who were not available for whatever reasons. But there a host of others who think they are big, and they possibly are. Do you think you would’ve upset them?

    If we have, my apologies. That’s not the intent and with such a talented industry, there are many to be signed on and many more that you could sign on. So, on one hand, yes, it’s possible that some people may have been missed out inadvertently and as I said my apologies but the intent was that those who wehave on  Board should be aboveboard and that has been our intent.

     

    One of the controversies that has been raging through many years is that there are many scam ads that win awards. In fact there were murmurs that some agencies may stay away this year because last year there were many scam ads winning big awards. How are you grappling with this problem?

    One of the Master Jury members did ask me for my interpretation of the Creative Abby Awards, and asked me to share it with all so that they are all on the same page. My belief is at the Abby Awards 2018 we want to celebrate creativity for brands. That will be our intent and thatis our brief to the Master Jury. Needless to say, they are Mastersof their art and they are the gatekeepers of the creative standards that they want for the Awards 2018. I know it’s in very safe hands this year.

     

    But are you okay with creativity that has just been created for the sake of awards?

    So we have created a definition which prescribes if a piece of work is eligible to be entered and we will go with definition.

     

    One is aware that entries have to signed off by clients, but in the past we have seen that advertisers do accept requests by the agencies to allow scam ads to happen. And clients don’t mind humouring their agencies and creative professionals…

    I will not be in a position to comment on what clients do and what clients don’t do. At the end of the day we have a check and balance and wehave auditors. As long as the work passes throughthat filter we are comfortable.

     

    But the auditors like KPMG or whosever will not know the reality… whether the ad is entered for an award or was it really published/ put up/ aired?

    So you know it’s like a bank which honours your cheque as long as the signature matches what they have on their records. They honour the cheques.  It is not for them to lift the corporate veil as they say to find out ‘did you give that signature voluntarily or not.’

     

    Are you happy with the way the Abbys Award 2018processes havegone thus far?

    Ithink the intent is to create a product which wins acceptance and recognition across the industry. My belief is that the product is good why will a consumer not buy it. This year, we are investing in the product and I think thanks to the Master Jury as far as the creative Abby is concerned and thanks to the jury of Masters as far as all the other categories are concerned. I feel we are very blessed this year and if you look at the juries who are going to set the standard. The members who are going to set the standards each of them is a role model himself.

     

    Bottomline: do you think that with this jury and all the changes that you have brought in, we will see an Ogilvy and Lowe back in the Creative Abby next year?

    I hope so. You have reminded me of a very important endorsement that we already have. We have heard of agencies who have not participated and they are big namesin their own right. But to have their creative captains, to have their creative chiefs delink the decision of their agency to participate in the awards with being associated with the awards as a member of the jury. So to have both the Lowe agencies with us, to have Leo Burnett with us, to have representatives of Publicis who aren’t participating worldwide in any form but they are part of our Master Jury. I think it’s an endorsement and indicator of their own desire to give shape and stature to Abbys.

     

    The key thing for them to come back is that you need to be there for the next three years to ensure that the improvements continue and standards are maintained.

    One step at a time. I think this year is where we have put our best foot forward and we have won immense support from the fraternity. The success of this year will help us build on a successful future year after year.

     

    I remember Balki saying that ideally clients should also be part of the jury because they know what works for brands and have a keen eye on creativity. Is this something that you may look at it in the future?

    Actually, there were many other features that we wanted to introduce. Many facets we wanted to introduce but somewhere we decide to restrain ourselves and said let’s look at first two or three big steps first. Like the creation of a Master Jury for the Creative Abby. The formation of a Jury for Masters for all categories of Abbys. The bringing back the Agency of the Year…

     

    Hmmm. The very controversial Agency of the Year!

    We have the Media Agency of the year.  We have Specialist Agency of the year. We have brought these back because that was anther reality that we have to accept at the end of the Abbys every member of the media carried the name of a winner but their definitions were  oftendifferent therefore the name of the  winner was possibly different.

     

    Are you going to have points being given for shortlist like at Cannes?

    Yes, we will have a clear points system which will help us rate an Agency of the Year based on the metals. It will be a transparent score that is available and so that all speculationsare put to rest. And it will be a transparent and a known currency that will be used to crown the King.

     

     

  • With less than a month to go for Goafest 2018, the organising committee chairperson speaks on why this year’s edition may be the best held thus far…

    Bigger, brighter Goafest 2018: Ashish Bhasin

     

    With less than a month to go for Goafest 2018, organising committee chairperson Ashish Bhasin speaks on the line-up of speakers, sponsorships and how this year edition may be the best held thus far…

     

     

    Day 1

    1. Yog Guru – Baba RamdevJi

    2. Rana Kapoor -  Managing Director & CEO, Yes Bank

     

    Day 2

    1. Rosie Yakob – Co Founder , Genius Steals

    2. Sparsh Shah – Child Artist, Singer, TedX speaker

    3. Cameron Worth – Founder, SharpEnd

    4. Tim Castree - Global Chief Executive Officer, Wavemaker

    5. Dean Donaldson & Jonathan Tavss – Transformation Strategist & Digital Futurologist, Kaleidoko

    6. Jonty Rhodes – Cricketer, South Africa

    7. Siddharth Malhotra – Actor

     

    Day 3

    1. Samuel Akesson - Art Director, Forsman & Bodenfors

    2. Sania Mirza – Indian Tennis player

    3. Wain Choi – Former VP & Global Executive Creative Director, Cheil Worldwide

    4. Amelia Conway ( Director) & Ramaa Mosley (Creative Director) – Adolescent

    5. Nawazuddin Siddiqui in conversation with Annu Kapoor

     

    We have less than a month to go for Goafest 2018. What would you say to those who have still not registered to attend? How’s it going to be different from the previous years?

    If you have seen over the last two-three years, Goafest has been getting bigger and better every year. For instance, the quality of speakers has increased significantly.Like we have got Sania Mirza, Sania Mirza, Jonty Rhodes, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Annu Kapoor. So the quality of speakers is very high by every standard. Second, I think the whole scale and quality presentation is whether it’s the stage, the screen, the ambience had undergone a sea change. Every year we have added something and I think this year it will be one notch higher. Third, it is going to be a lot more digitally interactive. So there will be an app and of course a website. All question now will be routed digitally. There will be contests. So it’s going to be fairly interactive and people are going to be able to book things via the app. So let’s say if there is a workshop you want to attend… you can now book it online. We wanted to become one of the leading advertising festivals in terms of quality by global standards not bench marking it by what happens in India.

     

    The line-up of speakers is interesting, but do you think this is good enough to attract young A&M professionals. After all, some of these – Baba Ramdev, Sania Mirza, Jonty Rhodes, Nawazuddin Siddiqui etc – are also present in Conclaves like those organised by India Today and Hindustan Times. And also seen several times on television.

    We are calling world-level speakers. I think what was happening earlier was that the advertising guys were listening to advertising people. So we have gradually moved it away to a mixed which is roughly 50-50 so 50% of the people are directly connected with our industry directly creative directors or media heads or CEO like Tim Castree, Global CEO, Wave maker etc. The other 50% of speakers are from allied fields of creativity — it could be films or from leadership positions because that’s what our young people need. As for them being also present at the India Today and HT conclaves, well, you and I may have access to these events, but how many of the others have access? From our perspective, these speakers are of global standards so while it’s not that it’s the first time ever anybody in India may be hearing them, bu people don’t get to hear people of this caliber. It’s important for advertising folk to toalso see what other industry leaders are doing. There’s a lot happening there.

     

    Do you think crunched budgets and non-participation in the Abby will impact the number of delegates.

    No, I don’t think so. Infact keeping a check on the number of delegates is the problem. In fact as an industry we need to decide to shut registrations at a certain point. We have a physical constraint constraint as the hall can’t accommodate more than a certain numbe of people.

     

    In terms of the mix of people who will attend Goafest 2018, do you expect more people from media owners (publishers, broadcasters etc) and the rest of the media ecosystem coming in and the number of people from A&M reducing steadily?

    Well, we do see a trend but it’s not in large numbers. We have seen a growth in the number of agencies – small and big – participating. While some larger ones are not participating, new and younger agencies, digital agencies, are coming in. Some coming in for the awards and some only as delegates. They may not have work but still are coming in.  Last year, we had delegates from something like 189 -190 companies. Goafest is no longer the privilege of Top 5 or 10 agencies who send 80% of the people. Also, early it was dominated with people from Mumbai and a smattering of people from Delhi perhaps. Now we are getting more and more people coming in from Bangalore and Chennai and from different parts of the country. I see that as a good trend and of course besides advertising people now that broadcasters and publishers are also coming in. Then there are students and even who aren’t directly involved in the industry.

     

    We have heard of an attempt of Goafest going green in association with Natural Geographic. Talk us through this concept Green Goafest?

    I think we owe it to the environment and we must be a little more conscious in any which way we can. Last year, we made a small start. And this year we are furthering it and and are happy that National Geographic has partnered us again. For examplesome 2-3000 people take a few sips from a bottle of water and then leave it because a session is due to start. it’s a criminal waste of water. So we brought tanks where you can pour in that water and we will give to the hotel to water the parks and gardens that they have over there. Then we have many people heading to the same venue coming by the same flight. Sowe are encouraging car pooling. There will also be planting of trees and the entire effort is to have a better environment.

     

    How are you doing in the all-important sponsorship department?We see Times Network continuining as presenting sponsor…

    That has been our area of strength. Luckily some of our key partners have been very strongly associated with Goafest for years. The Times Now group continues to be the key sponsor for the last several years. Discovery has been doing the conclaves for many years and they continue to be. Then there others Sakshi,Mathrubhoomi, Star, Zee and many more. I don’t want to name them as I might miss some of them. But I can tell you that the support from the industry is over whelming This will be a record year.

     

    This is your second term as Goafest organizing committee chairman. Any lessons from last year that you’ve corrected this year.

    Definitely. There were a few constrains we got and a few areas of development we got. We try to get feedback from as many people as possible every Goafest. One clear feedback was that the award show was becoming too long and by having too many awards in the sense are we devaluing the value of the Abby. So I think that has already been announced. We have taken steps to significantly reduce the number of categories by clubbing some and changing some etc.

    The second was that there were questions around the quality of the jury process and the members of the jury. So that also has been addressed as probably you know the jury was very eminent that we have put together including those agencies who may not be participating. In the past, if your agency was not participating you weren’t allowed to judge.I think the thinking this year was that look if you are the best person to judge the work then it doesn’t matter whether you are participating. We actually announced the jury even before knowing that the agency they belong to is participating or now. On the speaker side, the general feedback was we want a good balance of non-industry and industry speakers. So we have addressed that. And then the workshops which have been a big hit. Last year, the sundowners were very popular so were have continued with them. Goa has a problem with wifi especially near the beaches, so we will have free wi-fi…

     

     

  • The channel is the Green Partner for the 13th edition of the festival

    Goafest 2018 announces the National Geographic Green Award

    By A Correspondent

     

    For the second year running, National Geographic has collaborated with Goafest as its Green Partner to help make the confluence of nation’s best creative minds conscious about their campaigns, actions and impact on the environment. For the festival’s 13th edition, the channel this year has introduced a new award – The National Geographic Green Award, which recognizes creative work and campaigns on planet conservation.

     

    In line with National Geographic’s commitment towards inspiring people to care about the planet, the award will honour communication campaigns that highlight the efforts to save, reduce or re-use energy, water, plastic, wildlife and the environment in general.

     

    Speaking on this new initiative, Swati Mohan, Business Head, Fox Networks Group India, said: “This is the second year of our partnership with Goafest and we are delighted to introduce The National Geographic Green Award. National Geographic has been educating and inspiring people to care for the planet since 1888 through impactful storytelling. The festival has provided us with a perfect platform to recognize the creative work of agencies who are working in the same direction. This is another step towards our endeavour to inspire people to protect our planet. We are looking forward to see country’s best creative minds, spreading this important message through their work.”

     

    Speaking on the partnership, Ashish Bhasin, Chairman, Goafest, said: “We are delighted that National Geographic is continuing their association with Goafest as ‘Green Partners’ for Goafest 2018. This year keeping in mind the need for growing environmental awareness, a special award category- ‘National Geographic Green Award’ will be launched for the first time by National Geographic at Goafest. Several initiatives, including carpooling, calculating the environmental footprint, effective waste management and many others are planned to ensure that the festival goes green. We request our industry to participate and support this cause. Together, we can at least make a small difference by making Goafest Green”.

     

     

  • Ashish Bhasin, Vice President of Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI)to chair the apex media and entertainment industry event while Ajay Kakar to head the Awards Governing Council

    Goafest 2018 on April 5-7

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Advertising Agencies Association of India and The Advertising Club have announced the dates for the 2018 edition of Goafest. It is scheduled for April 5 to 7 to be held in Goa.

     

    The event will be helmed by Ashish Bhasin, Chairman & CEO South Asia Dentsu Aegis Network and Vice President of Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI), who has been elected as the Chairman of Goafest 2018. Ajay Kakar, CMO Aditya Birla Capital and Vice President of The Advertising Club will be Chairman of the Awards Governing Council.

     

    Speaking about the focus of the 2018 edition of Goafest, Vikram Sakhuja: President, The Advertising Club said: Goafest is a landmark event that is marked in every brand and media professional’s calendar. The festival is the definitive platform for industry to engage, network and celebrate the pioneering creative work done through the year. At Goafest 2018 we will continue to up the ante on lifting the standard of creative brilliance. Watch this space.”

     

    Speaking on Bhasin’s appointment as Chairman of Goafest 2018, Nakul Chopra President AAAI said: “Ashish is an industry veteran with indepth understanding of the global media and entertainment industry dynamic. He played a decisive role in ensuring that Goafest 2017 was a grand affair that saw many pioneering initiatives. Goafest 2017 under his aegis is sure so see many more interesting and groundbreaking initiatives that will further up the bar on engagement.”

     

    Added Bhasin who had also chaired the organising committee at Goafest 2017: “Goafest has been at the center of celebrating transformational brand stories and fostering the media and entertainment industry’s growth agenda.  Our endeavour continues to be create a festival experience that is inclusive, inspiring and delivers an immersive ideas exchange platform to all festival goers.  Goafest, 2018 is sure to provide learning enrichment and facilitate synergies, thereby providing significant value to all festival goers.”

     

    And this is what Ajay Kakar, Chair of the all-important Awards Governing Council said: “The Abbys have,historically, been both aspirational and inspirational beacons for the advertising, media and marketing industries. This year we intend to bring about exciting changes that will remind people why they have always loved the Abbys. And also remind them why the Abbys have always been regarded and recognised as the gold standard in creativity.”

     

    Other members of the Awards Governing Council include:

    • VikramSakhuja: President, The Advertising Club & Group CEO – Madison Media & OOH – ‎Madison World
    • Nakul Chopra; President AAAI and Senior Advisor, Publicis Communications
    • Ashish Bhasin: Chairman & CEO South Asia Dentsu Aegis Network – ‎Aegis Group plc
    • CVL Srinivas, Country Head – India, WPP & CEO, GroupM South Asia
    • M G Parameswaran: Founder, Brand-Building.com
    • PunithaArumugam: Entrepreneur and Digital Evangelist
    • Ramesh Narayan: Founder – ‎Canco Advertising Pvt. Ltd.
    • Partha Sinha: Vice Chairman and Managing Director, McCann Worldgroup
    • Shashi Sinha: CEO, IPG MediabrandsIndia.
    • Nagesh Alai: Founder, Independent Business Advisory

     

     

  • Goafest & Abby Awards have been built brick-by-brick by them over the years, says Ad Club Prez Raj Nayak

    No industry event is as large as Goafest: Raj Nayak

     

    While he’s had the good fortune of trusted industry persons as part of his Advertising Club team, a glitch-free Goafest and more importantly the Abby Awards are feathers in his cap. Raj Nayak shared his thoughts with MxMIndia on Goafest 2017 and says his own role in raising the bar

     

    Your final thoughts on how Goafest andAbby 2017 have been? It’s your secondas President of the Ad Club…

    Last year, we got very good feedback. I wasn’t there due to backache, so as President of Ad Club, this is my first Abby where I’m physically present and seen what’s happening. If you look at numbers, we’ve grown over the previous year, more entries and things like that. That’s a good sign because it shows resilience of the industry and that it’s growing. That’s one good part. If you look at the sessions, the feedback from people also says the sessions this year were fabulous. Exceptions to the rule are one or two sessions that were not too great. The feedback that journalists also gave was that it was very well-curated.

     

    So what has changed?

    Many years ago at Goafestwe used to shy away from paying people to come and speak. We’ve broken that. Now we’re willing to pay for a good speaker, to fly her or him, we are willing to do things. I think that’s been a shift. Knowledge seminars have been excellent and Day 1 was packed, Day 2 was packed as was Day 3 was packed. Ah, the Day 3 morning saw lesser crowds as people were partying till 5 in the morning! I went to my room at 4am because it looked like a night festival! It was buzzing with activity! I think it’s a good thing. We’ve also drifted to a certain extent. That’s to be fixed. For senior management, giving four days is a challenge. I don’t have readymade answers on how to address this, but it’s one area we need to find a way a solution.

     

    Over the years, we’ve seen Goafest growing from a festival of advertising professionals to one for media and entertainment too…

    Yes! It’s a festival. I would like to change the name from Goafest to Goa Festival. It brings so many people together. There is so much of a camaraderie. It’s also a recruiting ground for seeking jobs. I know of my dear friends who conducted business deals in the two-three days. It all depends on how you look at it. Can we put a structure to it to say it can be a place to conduct job interviews and business? The problem is not in visualising or doing things. The problem is in the infrastructure.

     

    One of the things which a lot of people have said is that you have raised the bar after you took charge of Ad Club? But don’t you think you’ve raised it so high that it will be a tough act to follow?

    I don’t think I have. It would be unfair to all my predecessors in the past. It has been built brick-by-brick by them over the years. I’ve come at a later stage when three-fourth of the building is already built and I’ve put the roof and people say, oh, now the house looks complete.

     

    But you’ve put a lot of glitter and finesse on it.

    I think I bring a bit of passion to the table. I think that’s true for every person who’s been there before me and sometimes someone may have had a good or a bad year. And that’s the challenge. That’s what I want the whole industry to know. Next year, someone else will be the president. It’s a not for-profit kind of business. Everybody is giving their time pro bono. It’s an industry event, for god’s sake. If you’re from the industry, be a part of it. Don’t be an armchair critic. Drop in and say: “I will be a part of the committee. This is what is wrong with the Goafest, I want to fix it.” Have the balls to do it and you can quote me on it. Don’t criticise and say: “Oh no, we don’t want to do this.” Because there is no other industry event in the world which is as large as Goafest which is run by industry bodies. You heard Mr Amitabh Kant speaking. He said, “One of the things about the whole presentation. I was so inspired. All these were made by Indians.!” He mentioned Piyush’s and Sunil’s name.

    Your heart was swelling with pride because it was Make in India. Made in India. We have the talent, we have the people. This is an industry event where everything is about Make in India, made by Indians, for Indians… come be a part of it. I’m going to fade away into the sunset, but for the future generation it is important that leaders like us show the path and create something that the future generations should respect. It’s not about your or my ego. We’ll all go into the sunset. But, for the future generation, you have the opportunity to build something that history will remember you for.

     

  • The AAAI President on his fourth year as a key part of the organising committee…

    Lack of good work a prominent reason for agencies not participating: Nakul Chopra

     

    It is AAAI President Nakul Chopra’s fourth year as a part of the core organising committee of Goafest, and it must be acknowledged that the three-day festival has taken a quantum leap in his tenure. Although this interview was conducted much before the fest concluded, we asked Chopra on his expectations, his achievements on his view on the absence of some of the big agencies.

     

    Your fourth Goafest where you’ve been a key part of the organising committee. How would you say was this year’s edition vis-à-vis those of the past years?

    The year 2013 was my first year as the Goafest Chairman. I think A. the mandate was in a sense that it’s all going very well, continue with what’s being done. B. I think I had a lot of trepidation. I think I was given a responsibility I think I wasn’t 100% on top of it. So, 2013 was more a Goafest in which I felt my way around. What became very clear in my head that year was that we needed a fundamental change in the way we approached the festival. It’s a festival, as Raj said, that it’s a pro-bono effort by the associations. However, if you come here as a delegate, how do you care, whether it’s pro bono or for profit or not. You come here  and you see the value you receive from the festival for here. And so, when I came back in 2015 to do it, I remember I sat with the then President of Ad ClubPratap Bose and AAAI President AmbiParameswaran. I said I want your blessings on one thing. We are going to put up the best show we’ve ever put up. Even if it causes a negative financials on our part. But, we have to set a standard with this thing and not the other way around.

     

    While you are an industryperson and an agency leader, you are also known to be fairly aggressive in your approach. The fact is it needed a slightly bolder approach to doing things. Did that really help?

    No, I may have an aggressive personality but I haven’t been aggressive in the way I’ve done business. That’s another matter. Right here, the question was: are you willing to take the bait? Are you willing to say that we will spend the money and we’ll do a great show and the results will follow. And I think somewhere for me, this year in particular is a vindication of that. Because the journey really started in 2015 which progressed a lot in 2016. I’m very proud of the fact that the outlay of the fact has more than trebled in these 3 years! It’s not about me feeling good about it. But hopefully, that is the increased value we are bringing to people who are coming here.

     

    Since when you took charge and till now, are you happy or do you think there is unfinished agenda?

    I could almost say it would almost be a dream for me to do nothing else in the next 2 years. I’m not saying that’s what I want to do. But, in the limited context of GoaFest, there is so much more we can do. But it has to be somebody’s day job for 12 months of the year. It’s very difficult to do that if it is many people’s second job for six months of the year.

     

    Have you ever felt that like it’s with Cannes Lions, you should have a full-time organising team just for Goafest?

    I think there is glamour to Goafest that is endearing. The collective effort of the industry, not just the advertisers alone. The advertisers contribute to it by coming here, speaking. The media contributes in a very big way. You guys contribute to it. I think there’s some magic in that glamour. I don’t want to lose that. That’s part of Goafest! I think, within that context, there’s a lot more we can do.

     

    Anything that you think you wanted to achieve but have not over the last four years? What is that one thing you’d have wanted to achieve?

    I don’t think so. I have targets in my head every year. To say, this year these are the three-four new things you can do. I think we can still improve… not just improve… I think we can perhaps revisewhat we did three years ago…

     

    Does the absence of some big agencies matter to you?

    Of course, it matters. Not just as people who organise the festival. But I think it matters equally to associations who are doing everything they can to be as inclusive as possible. So of course it matters to us. As I have said many times before, I think different agencies have different reasons. Not necessarily all the same. So if there’s a list of things that I could change, that would be on top of my list. I think the real world is competitive and we have to respect that people have competitive reasons for doing what they are doing.

     

    Would you say that people who are not participating are not participating because they haven’t done good work?

    I can’t say that as a blanket thing for all those who haven’t participated. But, I would certainly say to you that seems to be one of the prominent reasons why some agencies don’t.

     

    You don’t mind me using that as a headline?

    I don’t mind it.

     

  • Here is a list of all the awards given away on all three days

    All the Creative, Media & Special Awards

     

    Here is a list of all the awards given away on all three days

     

    Special Abby 2017

    Creative Abby – III (awards given away on Day 3)

    Creative Abby – III (awards given away on Day 2)

    Creative Abby – I (awards given away on Day 1)

    Media Abby 2017 (awards given on Day 1)

     

     

  • Ekam will offer a much more robust and accurate ability to show key metrics like incremental reach

    Goodbye to questionable third party data as BARC unveils digital measurement under ‘Ekam’ brand

    By A Correspondent

     

    At first we thought we’ll carry this news tomorrow, given that the day is dominated by Goafest news. But then this is far too important for one to push by even a day. For, for far too long digital media has suffered thanks to a lack of independent and credible third party data, especially when it comes to digital video. So here it is: BARC India has announced the phased roll-out of its much-awaited digital measurement service along with the brand name and logo of its digital measurement products. The digital products will be launched under the brand name Ekam(Sanskrit for “One”). The logo of EKAM draws inspiration from the four colours(Red, Blue, Yellow and Green) of BARC India. The branding highlights BARC India’s commitment to provide industry with a single platform for all measurement products, across TV and Digital, notes a communique.

     

    “We are happy to announce the launch of Ekam, our digital offering. The ecosystem needs measurement of both video ads and content, whatever the pipe and device maybe. As the brand name suggests, BARC India is working towards its goal of integrating TV and digital measurement. Our Ekamsuite of products will be rolled out over the next 18-24 months. It will provide the industry with independent third party measurement, verification of audience and eventually viewability of video ads and content,” said ParthoDasgupta, CEO, BARC India

     

    The Ekam suite of products will include: Ekam Pulse, Ekam Beam, Ekam Stream, Ekam Ad-Scan and Ekam Integra, adds the communique.

    While EkamPulse will measure video ad campaigns and will be the first digital offering to be rolled out by BARC India, EkamBeam, the next product lined up for release, will measure linear broadcast that is viewed on a digital device. EkamStream, will measure both non-linear and pure play digital video content. BARC India will also provide industry with Ekam Ad-Scan – which will be a global first-of-its-kind product, notes the communique, adding:“It will give an overview of digital ads in India, look at where the advertising money is being spent and which sectors are producing more digital ads.”

     

    The final product in this suite – EKAM Integra – will help industry with common, robust and independent audience numbers that will give more accurate incremental reach figures. To do this, BARC India’s TV data will be tied with digital video data with the help of single-source and digital booster panels on top of the census measurement and big data.

     

    Here’s more from the communique that merits attention:

    “Advertisers in digital space face several issues today. These include: dependency on publishers/platforms for data, lack of quantifiable differences in impressions, inability to see unique and de-duplicated reach and frequency across publishers/platforms and lack of knowledge on ROI, among others.

     

    “BARC India, as a Joint Industry Company, has been studying the problems and has developed the Ekam suite of products based on industry-specific needs. By providing unique Reach and Frequency across devices de-duplicated by Brand, Campaign, Site or Placement, the Ekam solutions will allow analysis and comparison of different platforms and their offerings. With a Single-Source Panel, large TV and Digital Booster panels, Census level impressions and Big Data on Digital side, Ekam will offer a much more robust and accurate ability to show key metrics like incremental reach.”

     

  • Santosh Padhi, co-founder and CCO of Taproot Dentsu, put his agency's #1 status in perspective

    Small is big and impactful: Santosh ‘Paddy’


    Santosh Paddy isn’t his real name. It’s Santosh Padhi. But the dual identities are just in the name… he’s always very forthright and clear in his views, not shy to show his emotions and passion for his work, and as this chat with Pradyuman Maheshwari shows, happy to put his win in perspective…

     

    #2 last year with a much smaller team than some of the biggies. And this year #1. As they ask sometimes on news television: kaisa lag raha hai aapko… how does it feel?

    I think we’ve been mostly in Top 2 over the last seven years and we ended up becoming #2 agency at Goafest when Ogilvy was there in 2012. Over the last few years we’ve been #2 and on a couple of occasions we were #3. But mostly we’ve been in the Top 3 and I think consistency is what we believe in strongly… We’ve always aimed for the top slot and we were pretty sure these 2-3 solid campaigns may take us to that top slot. I’m glad we’ve finally achieved this. But I’m not happy just being the #1 this year. I think if we can retain this for a couple of more years, we’ll be really happy. It’s easy to reach somewhere but difficult to retain the position. I’ll definitely make sure we’ll retain this title for a couple of years.

     

    For an agency that’s less than 10 years old, what does this win mean to you?

    I think it’s pretty big if you think it seriously. I’ve been telling my team that there have been agencies with 1000 people and competing for years and haven’t achieved this and we have. It’s everyone’s individual contribution. Thanks to our Delhi team. Because this year they’ve also contributed in a big way.

     

    Well, that’s a Dentsu agency that has metamorphosed into yours right?

    Though technically it was announced some time back but we have been working with them for close to 8-9 months. There are some very intelligent and sharp youngsters who’ve taken the Taproot philosophy ahead, so thanks to them as well to contribute to the tally because with one office of 30-35 people we can only stretch to a certain extent. But the minute we added one more office, we can see the result…

     

    We’ve also seen Social Street has done very well. Your agency is 8 years old. You have Social Street which is #2 or #3, depending on the way you rank agencies. Obviously it’s not important to be a 50-100-year-old agency to be maxing at Goafest.

    Absolutely. This is an era of small agencies and small is big and impactful these days. Look at the number of golds that smaller agencies have won this year. There are 15-odd agencies that have won gold here and 12 of them are all young agencies. They’re very specialised agencies, focusing on a few businesses but doing justice to a lot of them.

     

    You have an agency like Open Strategy and Design which have done 11 and 4 are Gold.

    Absolutely, they, Autumn Winter, Umbrella… many!

     

    Does that worry you?

    Absolutely not. I always think competition is healthy. Competition makes you better, sharper, more creative. It keeps you on your toes and I love that challenge. We want that competition. Then only the industry can get better.

     

    In the light of what you said, there’s always a sentiment that you’ve come on top without the top agencies participating. Your comments?

    I don’t think a great piece of work will get impacted whether there are two or 20 agencies. That work will get celebrated. Adidas Odds has won in a big way at Adfest. It’s won here as well. If there were five more agencies, I’m sure Odds wouldn’t have got impacted because great people will appreciate great work. I’m not worried about that. Having said that, if you look at our past international wins, in four out of eight years, Taproot has topped at Cannes where all the big players were there. It’s unfortunate some of the key big agencies are not there at Goafest. It’s very unfortunate because I believe that if you have the Australias and South Africas of the world playing cricket with you, you always lot better. You are on your toes, you want to push, you want to contribute. So, the challenges are good. And unfortunately these guys have not been coming and staying away from Goafest which is also not a good, healthy sign for the industry. I’d request these guys to come together and have all our differences killed and do whatever is needed especially for the youngsters of the agency. Winning a gold and a couple of metals for smaller agencies is a boost. They will do lot better work next year. When we were young, someone gave us this platform. It’s our duty to ensure one big, healthy award festival happens in whatever form it takes.

     

    Why speak about other agencies. Even Aggie (Agnello Dias) doesn’t come for the Goafest and the Abby?

    You know Aggie well, he’s a shy guy. He always shies away from such events where there are more than 40-50 people. I’m scared that if there are more than 80 in Taproot, he might not come to office also(laughs). So, he’s a shy guy and in spite of pushing him, pulling him…

     

    You more than make up for that.

    We try to, but as you know Aggie is Aggie.

     

    You are aware of the body of work that was produced last year in in India. If you had to put include the agencies who haven’t participated, how do you think you would’ve fared?

    I think the boundaries are getting blurred in terms of the mediums. I’m so glad that lots and lots of new age ideas are coming forward or being done for brands. We’re no more a traditional country which does TV, Print and Outdoor. I’ve seen a lot of design work, activation ideas, a lot of direct ideas, lot of digital, mobile ideas being done. So, I think, we’re living in a world where you can’t say this is an agency doing well or is expected to do well. I think today there are specialist guys coming and contributing. I’d love to give the Jonty Rhodes example. Without even coming to bat, by just fielding, he scored 25 runs for his team by fielding so well. That’s the kind of specialty agencies in India are getting into. There are all great performers. So, it’s not that if the Top Performers are here, these guys will stop performing or winning. I think the country is in a fantastic state with a lot of new contributors adding to it and we should applaud these things.

     

    Do you think you’d still be No. 1 had the others been there?

    I think we would have won the same no. of metals but I think we wouldn’t be #1 or #2 because the moment a big agency with six offices comes in, it will obviously override the work our two offices have done. But having said that I don’t think we’ve seen work from agencies as powerful as Adidas Odds, but I think we’re really proud of that piece of work. And another piece of work we’re equally proud of is the Open Network campaign, Unfortunately, that didn’t pick up many metals. But I’d be a little happy had it picked up more metals.

     

    I know this is a celebratory mood. But since we don’t do these interviews too often, lemme ask: One of the things said about your work is that while you are a creative hotshop, in terms of effectiveness you don’t win too many awards. How would you react to a charge like this?

    To be frank, we didn’t enter effectiveness awards the way we should have entered. It’s a format. Somebody has to take that format seriously. We’re creative guys, so we have been entering creative work. Early on, we didn’t even enter creative awards. So, to be frank, we have been only entering Effies, and not the APAC awards. Some of the pieces of work we have produced have huge chances of winning at APAC level also. For example, Open Network or Adidas Odd*, I’m sure these will win big time but I don’t think we’re that gung-ho about entering effectiveness awards. There are some agencies who believe in effectiveness. We believe that if you create a great piece of creative campaign, it’s going to effect in a positive way. Maybe it’s an effective campaign, that’s why clients are buying it, it’s been celebrated. It’s a matter of cutting that case study in a way that it impresses the Effie judges, and we’ve not done that. We haven’t put our energy behind pleasing those juries. So, it’s a matter of getting those numbers and charts and XYZ, which I think being a small agency we haven’t done…to be frank.

     

    One last question, since we are on awards. Typically Taproot doesn’t participate at Kyoorius, is that going to change?

    There is a reason. We always believe there has to be a single award. We enter Cannes which is the biggest international award. We skip Cleo, D&AD and many other awards because one has a limited budget to invest. You can’t enter all 20-25 award shows happening across the world. So, you have to choose your battle carefully and we always believe after years of battle, the industry decided here is an award we all should be proud of, we should be entering. And we’ve been entering since the last eight years….

     

    You are on the Kyoorius jury this year and Aggie was there last year. So, you have nothing against it?

    Yes. Correct. It’s a matter of deciding you have 10 units. Whether you want to divide and put 5 in both places or gun for one and put all 10 units in one place. Because it’s an expensive affair. You can’t put two, two places. It becomes really expensive. So, nothing against it. I think Kyoorius is getting better year-on-year. There are more Indian juries this year compared to the last two years. Because, if it’s a local award, Indian jury will do far more justice compared to an international jury and somehow Rajesh has been taking care of those small things that make the festival better and they are getting better.

     

  • A quick chat with Pratap Bose, Chairman, The Social Street which won the second-largest number of metals in the Creative Abby and a few in the Media Abby too!

    Winning across 3 days gave us a lot of pleasure: Pratap Bose


    We’re going to do well at Goafest this year, Pratap Bose, Chairman and Co-Founder of The Social Street had told us before we left for Goa last week. The shortlists were good indicators that Social Street would do well, but being #2 in the metals tally? Well, he proved the naysayers wrong and also confirmed the point that you don’t have to be 10-20-40-70-year-old agency to be winning big at the Abby. In conversation with Pradyuman Maheshwari, Pratap Bose talks about the wins, scam work, the focus on print and the way forward for his agency. Read on…

     

    Just your second year in business and already right up there!

    We’re actually only 20 months old. It’s an amazing feeling. We’ve worked very hard to get where we are, at Goafest particularly. It’s been like a David versus Goliath story. The underdogs if you can call it that. All kudos to the team who’ve made it possible.

     

    You’re not actually an underdog. You’ve been there, done that. You know the…

    People wouldn’t have expected us to do that well at Goafest. But you’re right, we’re not an underdog. We are industry veterans. But yes, for a small agency to do so well at Goafest is a great sense of pride and achievement.

     

    You’ve done it in the past at Mudra when you were helming it. You obviously know how it works. So when did you decide to play the Goafest game?

    Honestly, it’s not just about playing the game well. It’s also about doing great work. If you look at our wins, we’ve won in pretty much all of the major 14-17 categories. So, it’s always good work at that pace. To win you have to start very early in the year. You can’t just leave it to December and then scramble at the end. Producing good stuff all throughout the year. That gives you the humongous tally of metals at the end of the day. That’s something I keep advocating to the people who want to do well at the awards. You have to be at it. You have to have a dogged goal to do great work. I don’t think we do great work to win awards. You have to do consistent work month-on-month and produce two-three great pieces of work every month and if you measure yourself with that benchmark, you’ll certainly do well.

     

    In terms of the work you’ve done… you’ve said in the past you’re not just an outdoor agency, you’ve done a fair bit of work for print and print-craft.

    Yes, we’ve done a lot for print and print-craft outdoor, even won a lot of metals for digital, branded content, PR, our strong units are out of home, promo and activation is where we score very high… so, yes, the results in terms of where we’ve won the metals is indicative of how wide our network is in terms of our integrated offerings across all verticals. That has paid dividends for sure.

     

    But is print one of your core strengths?

    It’s not, but we had a lot of fun doing print advertisements for clients and we won on big clients. We’ve won big for brands like Aegon Religare, IDBI.

     

    I must tell you that there’s a charge that a lot of work you’ve done is scam work.

    Scam is a dirty work. Sometime proactive. If any agency tells you they haven’t done proactive work, they’re lying through their teeth. There’s always a bit of it. If your main body of work… and this is not just the awards, because every day when you go to office for clients you don’t always do award work. But, yes, sometimes the work is proactive and you’ve made a lot of efforts with the client to say, let’s enter this field in this direction. It ticks all the boxes in terms of the parameters in which you have to enter. It has to be published, approved, released. I don’t like this scam word though I said it. Sometimes you do work that motivates the team and sometimes you have clients that allow you to do that.

     

    You’ve won some 40 metals in creative. And you’ve some metals at the Media Abby as well. How many of these are for genuine work?

    Most of them are. What gives me a lot of pleasure is winning across three days. While a lot of hoo-haa is done about a lot of creative agencies and media separately. We don’t have a very large media offering. We have a small media offering but it’s a great offering. But, to be honest, no agency has won across Goafest for three days. Maybe, one or two. So, that gives us a lot of pride. So, to answer your question, most of it is on large brands.

     

    Your strategy until now has been to fashion yourself more than just an outdoor and activation agency. But if you have to look at your play in the last three months, how have you fared by your own assessment?

    So we are just under two years now and if you read the book by Tom Peters, ‘Thriving on Chaos’, I think that’s what we went through. Because we’ve grown very rapidly. We have 180 people now. That’s a lot of people in these two years. But ultimately the true value that Social Street will derive in terms of where it’s going to be positioned and seen in the area of a highly creative company, backed by data, analytics, content, we’re looking at production services and we’re also looking at partnering and opening a few JVs outside of the country. I think that’s really how I see it.

     

    And how are the financials looking?

    I think we’re doing very well. As I said, we’re just under two years and this is a very important year, financially. By all indications it looks good. So, hoping for a great year ahead.

     

    When you were at Mudra, the great wins helped it get acquired by Omnicom. While you’re ou’re already funded. Are you going to use it to any advantage in terms of more investments

    Not really. Metals at Goafest don’t get you any VC funding. I can tell you that. It rewards you for the work you’ve done. It’s a recognition that we are now a force to reckon with in the awards scenario. Not just the creative awards, we’re also doing well at the Effies, Emvies and internationally at Cannes as well. But there’s no extra funding for winning metals at award functions.

     

    You mentioned about the David v/s Goliath analogy. How have the Goliaths been with you so far?

    We’ve received a lot of love and affection, to be honest. When you get on your own, people wish the independent agencies well, by and large. When you’re a part of a large network, you have a lot of competition and crab crawling. But we don’t have that at all. The industry is also happy for us and wishes us well.

     

  • The three-day annual congregation of advertising, media and marketing professionals starts in Goa today

    Goafest, again!

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    It’s Goafest time. To the world outside, the advertising industry is a bundle of contradictions. Small in size, but loud in voice. Fiercely competitive, but always united. Well, almost.

     

    One arm of the world’s largest conglomerates WPP finds the Abby awards a no-no. That’s Ogilvy. In fact its supremo – Piyush Pandey – once said that the his team members saw no value in them, in fact they are strewn all over their cabins. Another arm of the same WPP is a fierce believer in the awards. In fact J Walter Thompson has been #1 over the last few years in the final tally of the creative awards. And before we go on and on here, we must add that GroupM, the media investments arm of WPP is not only an active participant in the Media Abby, but its CEO for South Asia – CVL Srinivas – is also an active member of the organising committee.

     

    Then there’s the MullenLowe Lintas Group. The diktat of its former chairman R Balki of not participating in the Abby is still followed, but in the past we’ve had integral parts of the same group participating actively. In fact two years back, Pickle Lintas even won the Grand Prix for its campaign for Dabur.

     

    There are some other agencies which don’t participate in the Abby. Some because their bosses don’t like creative awards in India, some because they don’t have enough good work to send which will hence put them twenty first in the pecking order. Even some hole-in-the-wall digital or out-of-home agency in the boondocks.

     

    Be that as it may, the 12th edition of Goafest, which starts today, is said to be the biggest ever held thus far. And as Organising Committee chair Ashish Bhasin told us, it’s a full house. Though we don’t have the final numbers of registered delegates as there are always some spot registrations and opt-outs at the last min.

     

    We asked MxMIndia columnist Sanjeev Kotnala for his list of favourite speakers, and this is, as he also wrote in this column on Wednesday, his list: Hemant Malik (ITC), Acharya Balkrishna ( Patanjali), Ishita Katyal (Youngest Ted speaker), Gaur Gopal Das (Spiritual Guru), Miss Malini Agarwal (the blogger), Geeta and Babita Pogat (Going to be crowd favourites), Eric Cruz (ECD AKQA), Claus Stangl (IG Creative Shop), Vivian Richards (Cricket), Juhi Kalia (Facebook), Laura Ries and Sanjay Dutt.

     

    We agree with most of the names. But Sanju baba? Well, Kotnala clarified to us, Baba comes last in the list of names which are in order of priority.

     

    The awards start in right earnest from Day 1 with the Media Awards, though the big night is the last with the key creative awards.

     

    Keep tracking the MxMIndia coverage of Goafest starting today. Enjoy

     

     

     

  • Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi to launch campaign at Goafest 2017

    Havas team wins award for violence against women campaign

    By A Correspondent

    Shilpa Chaudhary and Ayushi Rastogi of Havas, New Delhi are recipients of the first ever all-industry initiative set up The Advertising Club and the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) towards a multimedia campaign aimed at mitigating gender violence. The winning campaign will be funded for production by the Ad Club and AAAi and launched by Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi on April 7 at Goafest.

    Declaring the result, Ramesh Narayan Chairman Awards Governing Council said: “I am very proud to be a part of an industry that cares for good causes. Raj Nayak President TAC, Nakul Chopra President AAAI and Ashish Bhasin spontaneously agreed to back the first-ever industry initiative to use its creative talent and media linkages to identify, produce and run a communications campaign that would attempt to mitigate violence against women. FCB Ulka created the Call for Entries campaign and GroupM ran the campaign that attracted entries from almost all the major Indian Agencies. They will also be helping to run the winning campaign across media. This is one of the finest moments for our industry. Communication as a force for good will be on display A great jury chaired by Amer Jameel,  Chairman and CCO, Mullen Lintas judged the campaign and unanimously selected the entry sent by Shilpa and Ayushi of Havas. The campaign is being produced now”.

    Said Jaleel: “Seven crackerjack, sharp and very opinionated minds in a room who happened to be women, minefield! They however came away reconnecting with some old pals and making new ones. Right off the block we decided this wasn’t an ‘awards’ jury. We acted like clients on behalf of the AAAI and Ad Club, since we were picking a campaign to run. The most valuable ‘thought’ won over craft and execution, making it a new and refreshing experience. Big congrats to the Havas Team for the stellar campaign idea!”

    The other members of the jury were Tista Sen (NCD, JWT India), Malvika Mehra (Founder, Tomorrow Creative Lab), Priti Nair (Director, curry-nation), Anita Verma (Director, Digital Driftwood), Dr A.L.Sharada (Director, Population First), Rajni Menon (President, Carat India) and Vibha Bakshi (V2 Film & Design).