The Organizing Committee of Goafest 2015 have announced the dates of the event.Goafest 2015 will be held on April 9th, 10th and 11th. The venue will be Grand Hyatt, Bambolim and the event will be open for all the delegates on all the three days. The ABBYs will also be held on all the three days.
The Committee also announced that Nakul Chopra- CE0, Publicis South Asia & Vice President of The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) will be the Chairman of Goafest 2015 and Pratap Bose- President of The Advertising Club will be the Chairman of the Awards Governing Council.
Goafest 2015 will be in its 10th edition and this is the 8th year that AAAI and The Advertising Club will come together to deliver ABBYs, India’s definitive awards that celebrate creativity.
The Advertising Club’s Media Review has been a hit with the members over the years. It started out with a solo speaker presenting his perspective and the luminaries that did the event as sole presenters included Sam Balsara, Sameer Nair and Subhash Chandraji.
Later the format was tweaked and presented as a panel discussion. Some of the luminaries who were panelists included Nandini Dias, Pratap Bose, Punitha Arumugam, R. Gowthaman, Farokh Balsara etc. This year the event will have three experts presenting for 30 minutes each followed by a QnA session with the audience.
Discovery Communications India has come on board as Presenting Sponsor whereas PepsiCo India Holdings Private Limited will be the Associate Sponsor.
The Awards Governing Council (AGC) of the Abbys at Goafest 2014 has announced the names of jury chairpersons for the Creative Abbys. The jury chairpersons for various categories are as follows:
o Integrated Advertising: Prasoon Joshi, President, South Asia, McCann World Group
o Films: Agnello Dias Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, Taproot
o Design: Alok Nanda- Director Alok Nanda Communications
o Outdoor Advertising & Ambient: Sonal Dabral, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, DDB Mudra Group, India
o Radio Advertising: Â Ashish Chakravarty, National Creative Director, Contract Advertising
Pratap Bose
Commenting on the jury, Pratap Bose, Chairman of the Awards Governing Council and President of the Advertising Club, said “We are delighted to have such a remarkable line-up of jury chairpersons this year. All of them are creative stalwarts and I am pleased that they will be judging the Creative Abbys this year. The judging process will be transparent and fair. KPMG will be monitoring the judging procedure.”
Shortlists for Goafest 2014 are being displayed at www.abbyshortlist.com. Issues related shortlisted entries should be brought to the attention of jury chairperson in writing. The matter with proof submitted will be tabled in the second round for the jury to make a final call on. The metals awarded by the Jury after the second round of judging will be final.
The news that Pratap Bose had quit DDB Mudra has been doing the rounds for a few weeks. In fact there have been murmurs of differences between him and Madhukar Kamath, Group CEO and Managing Director, DDB Mudra Group for a while. Â Mr Kamath was due to retire this year, and Mr Bose was the frontrunner for the position. But then came the news of a four-year extension given to Mr Kamath. MxMIndia first learnt about it on the sidelines of the conference unveiling the Big Bazaar campaign on March 14, but we were asked to keep it under wraps and wait for a formal word. Since we don’t specialise in breaking news of people movements, we waited for the news to come in officially, even as it was evident that it would lead to a conflict given Mr Bose’s aspirations for the Top Job.
There is no denying the contribution that Mr Bose made as DDB Mudra Chief Operating Officer. From essentially a traditional creative agency, he grew the OOH and BTL businesses in a big way. The contribution of the non-core advertising business to the overall turnover is in the region of 50 percent.
MxMIndia spoke to Pratap Bose early this morning. Mr Kamath was unavailable for comment as he was travelling and in meetings. Excerpts from an interview with Mr Bose:
The news of your quitting has been doing the rounds for a few weeks. So what’s next?
There isn’t a next rightaway. There are offers. I haven’t decided. I am in dialogue with people, so I will take a decision that’s right for me in time.
In this day and age, people don’t quit until they land themselves a definite job. But you didn’t do that?
There’s clearly no insecurity at my level. It’s not going to be difficult to get another job, if that’s what you mean. Once I had decided, there was no point serving a three-months notice. So I took the step. However, Madhukar and I have agreed that I will be available for the next one or two months.
So was yesterday your last day at the office?
No, I will be going there for the next few days.
We read your comment that you quit since Madhukar Kamath was given a four-year extension. Quite a bold statement to make…
Well, everyone knows I was looking at the Top Job. There were promises made. I am not the kind of guy who will wait for four years.
Are you happy with your stint at Mudra?
Oh, yes, very. It’s been a happy, satisfying journey. When I moved from Ogilvy to Mudra six years back, the brief was to building an empire that was a lot more than advertising. Mudra wasn’t the hottest agency in the business six years back. Then the partnership with Bobby Pawar happened, we built Mudra Max to what it is today. The forays into everything other than advertising – outdoor, analytics, digital, youth, trade marketing… I help build all that, and am happy that we much achieved much success.
While it’s true that you lost out to Madhukar on the captaincy, isn’t it a fact that most creative ad agencies are almost always headed by suits or creatives from the traditional advertising side of the business?
Well, yes, traditionally agencies have been headed by suits and creatives. But that’s the past and things are changing. The person who has taken over from Shiv at TBWA is a digital guy. Clearly, whoever heads an agency must have a vision for the future.
You have a loyal bunch of people in the teams you’ve built. Will they move with you wherever you go?
To be honest, and as I said earlier, I haven’t decided on anything about where I am going. What’s clear is that I want to join an organisation that has great vision and strategy. Yes, people look at me as a rainmaker and I am good at winning businesses…
It’s true that there is a loyal bunch of people running Max, but they are really free to do what they want.
Your next job will naturally be that of the CEO of any agency?
Not really. The title doesn’t matter to me. I was CEO at Ogilvy and COO at Mudra. I am a person who needs to enjoy the work and do good work for clients.
My cv doesn’t have five agencies that I have worked at. It’s been two agencies in 25 years. The next job has to be meaningful.
I very much enjoyed myself at Mudra, but it’s just that I have reached a point of having been there, done that. But more than the slot, it’s the people and work which matter.
At DDB Mudra, the slot did matter, right?
Yes, because I believed in natural progression and had worked my butt off. But going forward it doesn’t really matter. I know I am contradicting myself, but that’s the honest truth.
Are you looking at starting out on your own?
There are many possibilities. It could be a big agency or a small one which will require to build it. I am open to an equity with a large group, and am not closed to starting something in my individual capacity. All options are open, and I am going to take my time in deciding.
What are immediate plans? Wildlife photography?
Oh,yes, travel at bit. Do some photography.
So who’s wilder… people in advertising or the animals?
I write this more in response to Anant Rangaswami’s article on Firstbiz and his Facebook posts. What I like about Anant’s writing is his definite views on issues, many of which I agree with.
But on Goafest, he’s been unduly harsh. His point on Facebook: Goafest has lost the plot. It’s press release offered a programme with just time slots and no mention of speakers and topics.
I received the communique too, and chose to not carry a report on it because it didn’t say anything at all. It was an advance intimation of the programme, but could have been held back for a few days with some names.
I also agree with Anant that Goafest in the summer is a nightmare (my descriptor, not his). Since I sweat a lot, I can say that it’s terrible even in the aircon. So, even though the event is indoors, the walk or buggy ride to your rooms could see you drenched in sweat. Your eyes could be burning all day and even the world’s best coolants wouldn’t work.
Last year’s Goafest could best be described as forgettable. It had loads of negatives. The Creative Abby was a disaster (albeit for a fault that wasn’t of the organising committee). First a controversy about the Ford Figo scam ads saw the exits of some high profile staff at JWT and Ford, then the Tata Chemicals scam ads that were eventually pulled out of the competition and later the controversy around scam ads and plagiarism.
Somewhere along this was the decision by Ogilvy to not participate in the Abby. Ogilvy had huge misgivings about the awards, and Ad Club prez Shashi Sinha tried his damnedest to get them back. But Messrs Piyush Pandey & Co didn’t budge.
When Pratap Bose took charge as Ad Club president last year, he resolved to ensure a buy-in from all towards the Creative Abby. That doesn’t seem to have happened thus far.
To add to the confusion, the AAAI delayed the Goafest announcement and later found the elections as reason to postpone the dates. Then came the news that Nakul Chopra had opted out of the Goafest chair position.
Finally Srinivasan K Swamy, better known in the frat as Sundar, took charge. I’ve interacted with Sundar a fair deal in the recent past, especially as head of the International Advertising Association India Chapter of which he is the head. I believe if there’s one person from the AAAI who can pull it off, it’s him. The IAA is supremely active thanks to Sundar’s leadership. I find him exceedingly keen on doing things and he knows the art of getting things done.
I am not sure how Goafest 2014 will be. I have heard people say that some regular sponsors have declined to be associated this year. But Sundar is confident of a turnaround and I think he ought to be given a chance.
Yes, I do think Rajesh Kejriwal’s Kyoorius Awards with the coveted D&AD partnership, has stolen the thunder from the Abby, but there’s space for multiple awards. We’ve seen how other disciplines – radio, digital, outdoor and PR, for instance – have multiple awards and they are all doing well. So ditto with creative.
I have heard some angry comments amongst industry elders about Anant’s Firstbiz piece and I was told that some pressure may be exerted on Network18 via the media agencies asking him to refrain from writing nasties against Goafest. I hope that doesn’t happen, that wouldn’t be right.
Sadly, Anant’s views are echoed by many in the industry. Before Sundar’s name was announced, even I wasn’t sure whether there was any point in conducting this year’s edition.
Sundar & Co have an uphill task ahead of them. But I think they need to be given a chance.
The industry deserves a good, celebratory Goafest. The format, the timing and the awards are a problem. Perhaps the organising committee and AAAI need some younger blood taking the lead on Goafest. Perhaps it may be a good idea to get a professional body to conduct the show – Kyoorius, e4m, Campaign/Haymarket… whosoever.
I know what I am going to do: have MxM support Goafest until before the event happens. The coverage of the conference (and the awards and the fun element) will then take over. And on that, we’ll be brutally honest about how it is.
Since taking flight about six months ago, Operation Black Dot, an initiative by DDB MudraMax and Thincquisitive Foundation to help make voting easy, engaging and fun for the urban youth, has managed to successfully bring about a shift in the way youth looked at voting. By breaking down politics and making it more engaging and inclusive, the OBD team has effectively registered 40,000 first time youth voters to exercise their fundamental right.
The aim was to present conventional political discourse in a format which interests below 25 age group as well as explain important political events/facts. At one level the team worked in 60 campuses across the city, helping students make their voter IDs by use of cutting edge technology to quicken the process and at another also conducting such engagements to generate awareness leading up to the 2014 General Elections.
Pratap Bose
Pratap Bose, COO, DDB Mudra Group,“The whole concept of “voting” has always been looked as an activity that is to be addressed and taken upon by the older generation. While it is the youth of our country who are going to play a significant role in building the Indian economy and tend to the future of our nation. It was hence important for us to not only change the face of voting, to make it appealing to the youth, but also provide guidance, help them understand the nature of politics and also reiterate the fact that they can make a difference.”
Samyak Chakrabarty
Samyak Chakrabarty, Founder of Operation Black Dot & Chief Youth Marketer, DDB Mudra Group said, “Operation Black Dot has been able to successfully convey that political discourse does not always have to be conventional and can be disseminated in a format which appeals to the younger generation. From putting Member of Parliaments on a bean bag at youth hangouts to catchy videos on complex parliamentary affairs, we are making an attempt to bridge the gap between policy makers and young citizens. Going forward, our intent is to continue this movement and find more innovative methods to keep young India engaged with political affairs.”
L to R: Arvind Sharma, Srinivasan Swamy and Pratap Bose
Okay, so the Goafest 2014 is being held in the same hotel where a certain editor alleged raped a junior colleague in November last year.
We don’t know whether CC TV cameras have been installed in the elevators, but the hotel may well be mulling extra security and ‘watch’ men or women around the expansive land of what’s an excellent property.
Uff, let’s not scare the Hyatt folks. The advertising fraternity comprises sober, decent people. And even if they aren’t all sober after a few drinks, they won’t do what Mr T is supposed to have done.
Jokes apart, Goafest 2014 will be held from May 29 to 31 at the Grand Hyatt hotel at Bambolim in North Goa.
“This year we aim to dial up the excitement by expanding the festival”,said Srinivasan Swamy, Chairman, Goafest 2014. “While strengthening the initiatives undertaken in the previous years, Goafest 2014 will be a three-day event with the Knowledge Seminars being held on all three days. The Advertising Conclave, which was ‘Only By Invitation’ so far and was held on the day before Goafest will now be on Day Two and will be open to all delegates. The Conclave aims to create more engagement between advertisers, agencies and the rest of the media industry. We will continue to have leading advertisers talk on issues that have a strong bearing on the industry. And as for the three days at Goafest, none of the fun elements will be missing for which Goafest is known! It will only get enhanced.”
The rain dance did you mean, Sir?
With the fest now turning into a three-day event, there will be two options of delegate passes. A two-day delegate pass priced at Rs 14,000 will allow the delegates to attend any two consecutive days of their choice. A three-day pass priced at Rs 18,000 will allow delegates to attend the festival for all three days. Under-30 delegates will continue to enjoy a special discount of 50% on these rates.
Pratap Bose, President of The Advertising Club and Chairman of The Awards Governing Council (AGC) said, “The Abbys will be augmented with new categories this year. We will include Promo-Activation and PR. The Branded Content category,which was added last year,will be expanded. And most excitingly, we are adding Broadcaster and Publisher Abbys at Goafest. These will recognize outstanding advertising and communication ideas for promoting broadcast and print properties. Broadcaster and publishers will be entitled to send in entries for these categories.” Mr Bose shed more light on this by stating that, “These changes are being made with the aim of honoring the great work that is being done by all media professionals.”
Continuing with the changes that were inducted in 2012 – there will be a Grand Prix for Film, Print, Radio, Outdoor, Design, Interactive Digital, Direct, Media and Integrated.
Award shows for various verticals will be held on the following evenings:
May 29: Publisher Abbys. Media Abbys
May 30: Design Abbys. Direct Abbys. Promo-Activation Abbys. PR Abbys. Outdoor Abbys. Print Craft Abbys. Branded Content Abbys. Broadcaster Abbys.
May 31: Interactive Digital Abbys. Radio Abbys. Print Abbys. TV Abbys. Integrated Abbys
There will also be significant changes in the judging process. There will be a window of a clear 10 days before the final judging round. During this window, shortlisted entries will be available for the entire industry to review. However, the Abbys once awarded will stay awarded. So no superjury tamasha like last year. Participation in the Abbys will continue to be open to all who want to participate. Membership of the AAAI or The Advertising Club is not required. The award entry fee will be Rs 6500 per entry for general entries and Rs 9500 for integrated entries.
Marketing Wizards, the initiative under which young client delegates can avail of the special under 30 delegate fees as well free accommodation will continue this year.So will the special ‘Rest of South Asia’ awards.
“Goafest is recognized as a platform for celebration of communication excellence and as a platform for exchange of ideas across the advertising, marketing and media fraternity,” said Arvind Sharma, founding Chairman of Goafest and current President of the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI). He added, “Last year’s Conclave where leading advertisers shared their candid points of view with the industry was seen as a super success. This year’s changes in the festival format – including a client-led Conclave open to all and introduction of Broadcaster and Publisher Abbys – make it a true industry-wide platform.”
We are sure the beer and booze will also be flowing in enough measure.
The Advertising Club will revive its popular Creative Review with a tweak in format. To be held at the Taj Vivanta in Gurgaon on February 28, it will be jointly presented by Josy Paul (Chairman and CCO, BBDO India) and Agnello Dias (CCO and co-founder, Taproot India).
Colors is presenting sponsor of the Creative Review with Bharti Airtel and Pepsi being Associate Sponsors.
Pratap Bose
Meanwhile, a communique signed by President Pratap Bose notes that the Club which completes 60 years of existence has planned a series of new activities.
DDB Mudra Group Chief Operating Officer Pratap Bose was unanimously elected President of the Advertising Club. He replaced Shashi Sinha, CEO, Mediabrands India and Lodestar UM, who held the post since 2011.
Speaking on his priorities, Mr Bose said that while awards (like the Abby, Effies and recently held Emvies) are important activities of the Club, his priority will be continuing education programmes for the industry.
Mr Bose and 14 others would constitute the office bearers and managing committee of the Ad Club, the country’s premier advertising club constituting members of the advertising, media and marketing fraternity.
Other officebearers include Ajay Kakar, Chief Marketing Officer – Financial Services, Aditya Birla Group (Vice President), Raj Nayak, CEO, Colors (Secretary), Ajay Chandwani, Director, Percept (Joint Secretary) and Umesh Shrikhande, CEO, Taproot India (Treasurer)
The managing committee members are:
in alphabetical order of last names: Punitha Arumugam (Google), Bhaskar Das (Zee Media), Kunal Jeswani (Ogilvy & Mather), Harit Nagpal (Tata Sky), Rohit Ohri (Dentsu), Josy Paul (BBDO India) and Ravi Rao (Mindshare).
While outgoing president Mr Sinha (IPG Mediabrands, Lodestar UM) continues as Immediate Past President for a period of two years, Sunil Lulla (Times Television) and Prasanth Mohanachandran (AgencyDigi) have been co-opted on the committee.
Said Mr Kakar on the constituting of the Ad Club’s top deck: “This year we are fortunate to have a very senior and strong committee comprising people who are not only committing their names but also their invaluable time to the common good of our industry,” Mr Bose too is happy with the core team. “It’s a good mix of people from across the spectrum,” he said.
The Advertising Club annual general meeting was held in Mumbai on Wednesday (September 11) and the managing committee and officebearers were elected for the year 2013-14. The committee members can seek re-election next year.
If processes are clear, there will be no problems with Creative Abby: Pratap Bose
The new Advertising Club President’s has a day job that possibly has him work beyond 24×7. As Chief Operating Officer of the DDB Mudra Group and a member of the agency’s operating board, Pratap Bose joined DDB Mudra from Ogilvy & Mather in 2008, where he worked for 15 years in various capacities, and went on to become its youngest CEO in 2006.
Excerpts from an interview with Bose where he speaks on his priorities, a problems-free Abby and how he hopes to drive the Ad Club forward.
What will be your priorities as president of the Advertising Club:
For a long time, the perception has been the Advertising Club is the purveyor of awards. While awards are important and they recognise the best in class, for me the focus is going to be on continuing education programmes. Giving back to the community in various forms - by not just awards, but also education, seminars and learning via interacttion with personalities.
Speaking of awards and the Creative Abby specifically, while a lot has been cleansed, it touched a new low this year.
Remember, the Emvies and Effies go without a hitch. It’s only with the Creative Abby. Mind you, there were no issues the year before. Last year, there were a couple of things that sprung up but we realise that these issues can easily be fixed. What I am looking to do is to institutionalise a very transparent and frank discussion on what needs to be done with all stakeholders well before Goafest. I am a strong believer that if you have a process that has a buy-in from everyone and it’s not a diktat, things will sort themselves out. If the processes are clear and there are no ambiguities, we should have no problems whatsoever.
Some agencies have had reservations about going to Goa. Any thoughts of shifting the awards back to Mumbai?
It’s not a Goa versus Mumbai debate in my mind. As long as the process is clean and you are fair, rational and honest, I don’t think there’s any issue about Goa and Mumbai
The Bombay has been dropped from Advertising Club, how successful has the move to go national been?
I think we’ve made a start. I believe the local ad associations - whether in Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Chennai should co-exist. We are happy to have them on board… at the end of the day, we are one community. The whole idea is to be inclusive and work for the betterment of the industry. We have made some progress by having the awards judging of Effies and Emvies in Delhi. And there’s no reason why it can’t go beyond Delhi. We could extend to Kolkata, Bengaluru…
What else in the next two years?
Well, we are going to looking at all forms of communication. We are talking of a two-day workshop for the entertainment industry and looking at people to help us on film production. So, it’s not just talking to creative guys or planners. We are also looking at developing a new website, a new logo, be relevant on Twitter and Facebook. All in all, lift the image of the club and not just an awards club.
All this is going to take a fair bit of time…Â how do you take care of your day job at DDB Mudra?
(laughs)Â Well, that’s the reason why I have picked a nice mix of people. I am going to entrust each of them with a responsibility that’s clearly defined and they will all take things forward.
Abby should continue in Goa: Shashi Sinha
IPG Mediabrands and Lodestar CEO Shashi Sinha on his two-year term as Ad Club President, the Creative Abby controversy and the demand to bring the Abby back to Mumbai
The IPG Mediabrands and Lodestar CEO Shashi Sinha is widely regarded as ‘Mr Consensus’ in the Indian advertising and marketing industry. Known to take the industry along in whatever he does which may require wielding the stick at times, Mr Sinha is credited with cleansing Ad Club’s Creative Abby awards process a few years back. In a short interview with MxMIndia, Mr Sinha speaks on on his two-year term as Ad Club President, the Creative Abby controversy and the demand to bring the Abby back to Mumbai
How do you feel relinquishing charge after an eventful two years as Ad Club President?
Mixed feelings, frankly. We successfully moved from Advertising Club Bombay to Advertising Club, and making it more national in character. We’ve done well financially. Goafest and the Creative Abby was a problem last year, though my first two years were excellent
Any unfinished agenda?
We started with other markets very well, but I wish we had done more on continuing education. I think we got stuck with awards and the plan to go to smaller towns couldn’t be done.
And the Creative Abby controversy. Any solutions, as you look back?
We discussed that in the meeting. The solution is that there are rules, put them down clearly, publish them and let there be no deviation.
There is a demand for the Abby to be held in Mumbai and not in Goa
Goafest brings the industry together, and I think we should continue to have the Abby in Goa. We are one industry and it shouldn’t be a divided house.
Do you think the Abby should be given to a private operator like it is at the Cannes Lions?
Right now, the Abbys are for the industry and by the industry. While we make profits that’s not our primary objective. I think when you hand it over to a private player, the entry and delegate fees will go up dramatically.
What next?
I am already actively involved with BARC, heading the technical committee. In fact the last two months that has taken priority over most other things, but I am happy with the way things are going on that front.
The Spikes Asia Festival of Creativity, to be held this from September 15-17 in Singapore, has announced the first of its jury line-ups. The names of judges for Creative Effectiveness, Digital and Mobile, Direct and Promo & Activation and Media categories have been released. There is no jury member from India in the digital and mobile categories.
Creative Effectiveness Jury
Jarek Ziebinski, President Asia Pacific, Leo Burnett Asia Pacific – Jury President
Chandrasekar Radhakrishnan, Head of Communications, South Asia Region, Â Nestle, India
Dick van Motman, Chairman & CEO, Dentsu Network/Asia Regional
Keith Smith, International President, TBWA\Group Global
Naomi Troni, CEO Southeast Asia, Havas Worldwide, Global
Rupen Desai, Regional President, Asia Pacific, Lowe + Partners
Sudeep Gohil, Chief Executive Officer, Droga5, Australia
Tim Broadbent, Effectiveness Director, Ogilvy & Mather, Singapore
Digital and Mobile Jury
Masaru Kitakaze, Executive Creative Director, Corporate Officer, Hakuhodo, Japan – Jury President
Ashadi Hopper, Creative Director, formerly JWT, Australia
Budgette Tan, Deputy Executive Creative Director, MRM Manila, The Philippines
Carl Norberg , Global CEO/Founder, Monterosa, Singapore
Eddie Wong, National Executive Creative Director, Draftfcb, China
Kiki Chen, Managing Director, Medialand Digital Strategy, Taiwan
Mangi Baek, Creative Director, Cheil Worldwide, South Korea
Richard (Goz) Gostelow, Regional Executive Creative Director, Digitas/Razorfish, Hong Kong
Direct and Promo & Activation Jury
Jose Miguel Sokoloff, Chairman Lowe SSP3, President Creative Council Lowe Worldwide and Lowe SSP3, Global – Jury President
Farid Ganio Tjokrosoeseno, Founder & CEO, AMP Group, Indonesia
Heok Seong Ng, Executive Creative Director, Havas Worldwide, Malaysia
Hyun Jong Lee, Chief Creative Director, HS Ad, South Korea
Jason Williams, Executive Creative Director, Leo Burnett Melbourne, Australia
Juhi Kalia, Executive Creative Director – Global Teams, Â JWT, Singapore
Osamu Enari , Chief Creative Officer/Executive Producer, Drill, Japan
Pratap Bose, Chief Operating Officer, DDB Mudra Group, India
Media Jury Mike Cooper, Worldwide Chief Executive Officer, PHD Global – Jury President
Ajit Varghese, Managing Director, Maxus, India
Ernita Ariestanty, Chief Executive Officer, Carat, Indonesia
Hak Ik Hwang, Media Director, Cheil Worldwide, South Korea
Malcolm Hanlon, Chief Operating Officer – APAC, ZenithOptimedia Asia Pacific
Masashi Ariizumi, Senior Planning Director, ADK, Japan
Mat Baxter, Chief Executive Officer, UM, Australia
SK Biswas, Chief Strategy Officer – APAC, Havas Media Group Asia Pacific
Commenting on the juries, Philip Thomas, CEO of Lions Festivals said:Â “It’s a phenomenal group of people who will work together to select the most creative and ground-breaking work in the region deserving to win a coveted Spike award.”
The third in the series of the International Advertising Association (IAA) India Chapter’s debates was hosted in Gurgaon on Monday, presented by the Dainik Bhaskar Group and powered by Campaign India. The topic for the IAA Debate was ‘Creative awards can also be given for differentiated one-off expressions’. Speaking ‘for’ the topic were Josy Paul, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, BBDO India, and Pratap Bose, Chief Operating Officer, DDB Mudra Group. Speaking ‘against’ the topic were Deepika Warrier, Vice-President – Beverage Marketing, Pepsico India, and Lloyd Mathias, Director, Green Bean Ventures. The debate was moderated by Shafalika Saxena, CMO, Microsoft India.
Ms Saxena opened the debate asking the panellists about how often is advertising aimed at greater good and how often is it the necessary evil; and how often the two can come together to combine market share and art. Mr Bose responded, “That is a no-brainer to me. When I think about it, the subject (of the debate) itself is condescending for creative folks like us. The subject says to me, ‘please re-consider 10 of 14 Grand Prix’. If you had this debate in 1927, it was ok but not today. If I have a creative idea, I will forward it to my friends, post it on social media, I would share and broadcast it. For a one-off expression like the Kumbh mela chapatis (a Lifebuoy creative) would spark something like two million conversations.”
Pratap Bose
Mr Bose opined that creative people just create ideas, and as a creative person one thinks of creative expressions all the times. “Gangnam style and Kolaveri Di are differentiated one-off expressions. The Silent Anthem three years ago was a one-off expression. And so was Volkwagen’s Talking Paper initiative. Creativity or grand idea is not defined by media budgets or scale or motives alone. That said, creative idea once conceived cannot possibly be curbed, and should be respected.”
Lloyd Mathias
Mr Mathias, speaking against the motion, pointed out that the core proposition of advertising is to build brands. “It cannot be art for art’s sake. Why brands advertise is to sell their products. The concept of one-off ads has also given rise to scam ads.” According to him, there is an increased need for creative awards as it helps them to showcase agency’s work. “Once you start getting one-off ideas, it becomes a short cut to getting awards. Advertising is purely a commercial proposition. It is important to strike a balance between building brands and art,” he said.
Josy Paul
Mr Paul said that though he was a non-believer in the concept, “one-offs have started springing surprises”. He gave the example of Apple’s 1984 campaign, Dove’s Real Beauty to insist that one-offs have potential. He said, “We may award or not award the one-off differentiated campaigns but we should not ignore them.” He also mentioned that he would treat every one-off as an R&D.
Taking the debate to the next level, Ms Warrier said, “While it is important to recognise great work and so are the awards. The question is what exactly should be recognised. We, as advertising and marketing fraternity, need to understand that we need to recognise work that delivers sustainable value. Advertising in not only supposed to create one-offs to shock and awe the consumer or deliver passive message.”
While maintaining that brands are not against creative ideas, Mr Mathias insisted that the creatives and creative agencies need to deliver long-term value. He said, “The need to fill up showcases and work towards bonuses is encouraging shortcuts.” Concurring, Ms Warrier said that creating art for the sole purpose of winning award is self-indulgent. Responding, Mr Bose said, “Nobody comes to work to win awards. At the end of the day, creative people come to work to create something.” However, on being questioned about the role of young creative people in the agency who think of an award as a stepping stone, Mr Bose said, “There are two types of young people in the agency: one that believes that awards are a step to success, and results in controversy that occurred at Goafest (referring to the Ford Figo ad), and then there is the other lot that is inspired by Piyush Pandeys of the world.”
Mr Mathias also cautioned that the big guns and agency gods also need to change their mindset “even as we see mid-and-junior-creative guys running after the awards.” He also said that he is not pushing for all rationality in advertising, since he did not think that rationality and creativity were mutually exclusive. Ms Warrier quipped, “If it is an on-off ad, it cannot be driving long-term equity for the brand. And while they deliver short-term benefits, there are a several other things that can be done to deliver short-term benefits. If the client is investing, it needs results that stay on for a long time.”
The debate was interspersed with quips and comments from the very participating audience and the moderator. However, the debate ended without announcing the winning team!
1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure. In the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an Annus Horribilis. Thus spoke Queen Elizabeth II describing the year that was quite horrible for the British royal family. Now as the world celebrates 60 years of her Accession, the Latin phrase could be used for India’s performance at the Cannes Lions.
Now that the 7-day grand creative festival has come to a close in the south of France, agencies that have emerged tall and triumphant from across the globe will be heading back to their respective continents to kick off celebrations.
And that we guess India will miss out on, as the contingent make its way back home. Some have done so already as you read this. The boardrooms, bars and smokers’ areas will be busy as a new week commences with agencies trying to figure out what exactly went wrong. Or perhaps what didn’t go right. Some obvious questions that’ll come up for scrutiny are whether agencies have become too complacent and are taking their creative skills for granted or whether other countries have simply outsmarted India in the game of creative one upmanship.
Few doubt the creative aptitude India possesses, having given a tough time to most agencies in the past but 2012 could easily be billed as the worst year thus far – just 14 metals in kitty when the number of entries that were sent were the highest at 1,182.
Even in a dry year like 2008 where India had sent only 982 entries, the total metal count stood at 23. The only bad year was 2007 where India bagged just 12 metals but then one expects performances to see an upward spike year-on-year and not the other way round. It will be interesting to see the kind of reactions that emerge from the entrant companies in the ensuing days.
Though it was a forgettable year for India , there were some agencies that shone bright and whose entries managed to win a few metals. Those that were hopeful of a win did just that and came back lapping up either Gold, Silver or Bronze in the respective categories. Mentos Sour Marbles by Ogilvy & Mather continued its winning spree across festivals as it bagged a bronze in the Press Lions category.
Another sureshot that bagged India its metal was an entry by Leo Burnett for its client Bajaj Electricals for their exhaust fans. The team of KV Sridhar and Nitesh Tiwari carried on with their winning spree bagging Silver in the Press Lions category.
In fact, the team of Leo Burnett carried on with their rich display by picking up a Media Lion Silver for its Doorstep School campaign in the Best Localised Campaign category. Another entry from India that was sure of a win was Cheil Worldwide’s campaign for Samsung Printers. The work bagged a Media Lion Silver in Best Use of Integrated Media in Media Lions. BBDO India’s You Shave, I shave campaign for Gillette continued with its winning streak as it bagged a Bronze in the Media Lions category.
While those that were touted to win did just that, it was the Gold winners that were the talk among the delegates at the Cannes Lions festival. The tally was opened by McCann Worldgroup which won an Outdoor Lions Gold for its client Western Union.
An elated Prasoon collected the coveted prize on the dais. DDB Mudra’s ‘The Hinglish Project’ for Ministry of Tourism, Government of India was another Gold winner as it bagged the metal in the Design Lions category. The same project also won a bronze in the same category.
Abhinay Deo
The third Gold winner was the entry ‘I am Mumbai’ that was entered by Ramesh Deo Productions and the advertising agency for which was Taproot India . Abhinay Deo, on bagging the award, said: “There is no thumb rule for success. All I can say is that one has to be honest to his craft. Never make a film to win an award be it Cannes or any other, because then you surely won’t.”
Failures Unlimited
While that was about the winners, the conversation that dominated the festival during the latter half was the lack of wins by India across categories. The discussion was compounded by India failing to make the shortlist across categories too. India would definitely want to forget its showing in the Mobile Lions & Cyber Lions category where it didn’t manage a single shortlist.
Even categories like Film Craft, Creative Effectiveness, Branded Content & Entertainment put up a poor show by bagging just a handful of nominations. In comparison, categories like Radio and PR performed better with the shortlisted entries in either of them going on to win metals.
In fact, the categories where India had the maximum number of shortlisted entries like Press and Outdoor too were failures as the conversion rate averaged about 10 per cent or so for each of them. Titanium & Integrated continued to elude the Indian contingent of bagging any metal.
KV Sridhar
The overall grim mood at the festival was highlighted by KV Sridhar, NCD, Leo Burnett India : “We are extremely satisfied with Leo Burnett’s performance at Cannes this year; getting three Lions is not an everyday event. The only disheartening thing being that India’s overall performance this year wasn’t gratifying. I think we need to push ourselves a little more to do well in such awards, because at the end of the day it’s not about how good your work is, but about how much better the world is performing than you.”
Said Pratap Bose, COO, DDB Mudra Group, whose agency did win some big awards but not as many as they had hoped: “At the end of the day, as DDB Mudra, we were more hopeful as we did get 21 shortlists. Though this is an extended India problem as well. We did bag a Gold and that compensated a little. The standard to which the world has risen surpasses India to a very great extent hence India has got a lot of catching up to do. To sum it all, we are quite disheartened with the overall performance.”
Pratap Bose
Mr Bose’s comments on the creative standard of other agencies around the world rising to surpass India may all but be true. Why else would entries that stood a high chance of bagging a metal miss out on winning one? DDB Mudra’s work for Stedfast, Volkswagen and GeeBees Beverages were all assured of a win but sadly missed up winning any.
Chaplin Chapters & Google Chrome by BBH India , Keeping the Legend Alive by McCann Worldgroup, Parle Agro by Creativeland Asia and A Day in the Life of India by Taproot were other worthy entrants too but were skipped for the sake of others that were found to be more deserving.
Manish Bhatt
Manish Bhatt, Founder-Director, Scarecrow and a jury member for Cannes, 2012, said, “I would say that winning at Cannes has a lot to do with probability, so many factors can work for or against a piece of work during the judging process. Also with my interactions with other jury members, I got a feel that many felt that while there is no disputing Indian creativity but the viability of that idea on various medium is restricted. As creativity is being redefined, there is a need to bring on an idea that can work on multiple platform. There is also a need to bring in more interactivity in our entries as thats what the judges are looking for.”
Perhaps, it’s time for India to stop being looked upon as the ‘favourite’ one and for more creative ideas to spawn if we have to make a rousing comeback in 2013.
We could then look forward to a wonderful year… Annus Mirabilis may be
With inputs from Shubhangi Mehta, Tuhina Anand and Meghna Sharma
