India’s Effies 2010: Ogilvy India defends ‘Agency of the Year’ title

At the 10th edition of the Effies, organised by the Advertising Club Bombay, Ogilvy India secured the ‘Agency of the Year’ title with its haul of four gold, seven silver and three bronze metals. The agency had won it last year as well.

Lowe Lintas and Mudra Group followed up with two gold, two silver and eight bronze metals, while Mudra Group ended the evening with  picked up two gold, four silver and one bronze metal. Tata Teleservices was awarded the ‘Client of the Year’ title.

With this haul, Ogilvy India secured 145 points, while Lowe Lintas and Mudra Group ended with 90 and 75 points respectively. Last year’s runner-up, JWT finished fourth with 65 points. Draftfcb Ulka walked away with the Grand Effie and finished fifth along with BBDO India, with 45 points. Bates 141 filled up the last spot on the ‘Top seven agencies’ list with 25 points.

Shashi Sinha, CEO, Lodestar UM and Chairperson, Effies 2010, was optimistic about the inclusiveness of the awards this year. He said, “The big thing this year is that there are a lot more agencies winning the Effies. I think there are 12 or 14 agencies winning the awards, which usually was restricted to three or four agencies. So, I am thrilled about that. We could not have asked for anything better in the tenth year.”

Ogilvy India won four golds for its work on Adidas India (Consumer Products – Others), Pulsar MTV Stunt Mania (Consumer Durables – Automobiles and Auto Parts, Two Wheelers and Auto Related), Vodafone Zoozoos: A social media beacon in India (Internet Advertising) and Vodafone Zoozoos Part Deux - What went into making the sequel bigger than the original (Integrated Advertising Campaign category).

On the win, Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman and Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather South Asia, informed that he was satisfied by the haul. About the quality of work showcased this year, “Lots of agencies have done some good work and deservedly won. I have only one worry that there are great ideas which are very small now. Hopefully they will become big, and clients will also believe they can be taken to a much larger scale.”

Lowe Lintas secured its two golds for Tanishq’s campaign ‘Jewellery that Makes You Want to Marry’ (Consumer Products – Others and Retail). Mudra Group also took back two golds for its work on 3 Idiots (Services – Others and Integrated Advertising Campaign). Draftfcb Ulka and BBDO India won two golds each for its Tata Docomo (‘Services – Telecom and related products’ and ‘David v/s Goliath’) and Gillette Mach 3 (‘Consumer Products – Cosmetics and Toiletries’ and Integrated Adverting Campaign). JWT won its lone gold for Nokia India (Corporate Advertising), while Bates 141 secured its gold for Virgin Mobile (Internet Advertising).

“The good is that we had a good showing and we had an extremely good haul. I remember, a year ago saying that this year will be our year,” added Charles Cadell, Chief Executive Officer, Lowe Lintas.

“We have put up a much better performance than what we have been doing for some time. But, I only wished that our performance for other campaigns was also better than just the India Panga League. Also, I got a feeling that we were limited by the scope of the campaign for Virgin Mobile. The idea is quite strong enough that it could have won much bigger,” added Sonal Dabral, Regional Executive Creative Director, Bates 141.

Draftfcb Ulka won the Grand Effie for its ‘Dare to – do the new’ campaign for Tata Docomo. On winning the Grand Effie, M.G. Parameswaran, Chief Executive Officer, Draftfcb Ulka, said, “The Tata Docomo campaign stood out in the market place and sold a lot of products for the company, and so I think it deserved the Grand Effie. There were other pieces of great work this year, like the Gillette Mach3, Tanishq and Dove campaigns which are a great example of doing things all around the brand. I felt that some of the awards were given to above average works, though the golds were richly deserved.”    

BBDO India won the Marico Uncommon Sense Award for ‘W.A.L.S – Women Against Lazy Stubble’ campaign for Gillette Mach3. The Brand Equity Bravery Award went to Ogilvy India’s Vodafone Zoozoos campaign.

Asia-Pacific Effies coming to India in 2011

Indian agencies are in for grander celebrations in 2011. The Advertising Club of Bombay has been chosen to host the Effies Asia-Pacific, starting from 2011.

The annual awards, which will also be organised on the guidelines prescribed by the global format, will most probably be held during the middle of the year, with participation expected from all countries in the region.   

On the development, Shashi Sinha, Chief Executive Officer, Lodestar UM and Chairperson, Effies 2010, said, “I personally feel that it is a big achievement for us to be given the opportunity to host the Effies Asia-Pacific awards in India. We firmed it up two months back, and were waiting for Effies 2010 to announce the big news. Discussions are still on to decide whether to host it separately or have only one event. But I feel that it should be a separate event, with Effies India growing on its own.”

“The shortlists from country-level programmes will come in directly for the awards, while entries can be sent directly for countries with no programme Moreover, the Effies Asia-Pacific winners will be short-listed for the Global Effies,” Sinha added.

The Asia-Pacific Effie was launched in 2008, in order to continue to build on the success of country-level programmes in China, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand and Singapore. The Asia Pacific Effie allows effective national campaigns from the entire Asia-Pacific region to compete head-to-head. Campaigns entering this competition are not required to be transborder.