Category: Event Agencies

Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity announces winners across the Lions in the Entertainment Lions and Craft Lions Tracks

Mumbai: The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has announced the following Lions in the second Awards Show of the week.

In the Entertainment Track: the Entertainment Lions, Entertainment Lions for Gaming, Entertainment Lions for Music and Entertainment Lions for Sport were honoured, and in Craft: the Design, Digital Craft, Film Craft, and Industry Craft Lions were awarded. The Cannes Lions Entertainment Person of the Year Award was presented to Entertainer, Entrepreneur and Hartbeat founder & chairman Kevin Hart, live on stage.

LIONS chairman Philip Thomas comments, “It’s been an incredible start for the inaugural Entertainment Lions for Gaming. Lion-winners come from every corner of the globe, and the Festival congratulates Mexico and Japan for a monumental achievement that raises the creative bar on the global stage once again.”

In the new Entertainment Lions for Gaming, celebrating creative work that connects people to brands through gameplay, 609 entries were received and 26 Lions were awarded by the Jury: three Gold, six Silver, and 16 Bronze. The Grand Prix went to ‘Clash from The Past’, for Clash of Clans, by Wieden+Kennedy Portland, USA. The work rewrote the history of the most successful mobile game of all time, in a documentary celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Clash universe.

Entertainment Lions for Gaming jury president, & Riot Games global head of marketing Francine Li said, “Our inaugural Gaming for Entertainment jury wanted to recognise brave work that respects the nuances of gaming culture and creatively adds value to the player experience. The Grand Prix winner does this in spades. It taps into a universal truth in games: players don’t just love games, they love the whole universe around them.”

In the Design Lions, honouring visual craftsmanship, 985 entries were received and 34 Lions were awarded by the Jury: five Gold, 10 Silver, and 18 Bronze. The Grand Prix went to ‘ADLaM – an Alphabet to Preserve a Culture’ for Microsoft, by McCann New York, which made the ADLaM Display, an evolution of the West African Pulaar alphabet, available on Microsoft 365 suite, desktop, and mobile platforms; preserving an ancient culture.

The Film Craft Lions, celebrating onscreen artistry, received 1736 entries and 55 Lions were awarded: eight Gold, 17 Silver, and 29 Bronze, and the Grand Prix was awarded to ‘We Cry Together – A Short Film’, for pgLANG, Los Angeles, USA, a compelling music video for Kendrick Lamar and Taylour Paige shot in one captivating take.

Film Craft Lions jury president & Somesuch director Kim Gehrig comments, “The Grand Prix winner is a trailblazing piece that uses film craft in all its strengths to create a work that is seminal and genre defining. There are so many creative choices in the direction and execution of this film where craft is what fuels its evocative power. From the choice of the camera choreography, the lighting, the framing, the language, the drama and the truly extraordinary performances. All these craft decisions culminate to make the brave piece of work that effectively challenges us to question ourselves. I am personally inspired by this piece of work as were the entire Jury.”

From 618 entries received in the Digital Craft Lions, which celebrate technological artistry, 20 Lions were awarded by the Jury: three Gold, seven Silver and nine Bronze. The Grand Prix was presented to ‘Never Done Evolving Feat Serena’ for Nike, by AKQA, Sao Paulo / AKQA, Portland / AKQA, Melbourne. Through advanced AI and machine learning, this piece of work displays the evolution of Serena Williams’ game in a highly original format.

The Industry Craft Lions, celebrating the creative artistry, talent and skill required to bring a creative idea to life, received 965 entries and 28 Lions were awarded: 6 Gold, 8 Silver, and 13 Bronze Lions and the Grand Prix went to ‘My Japan Railway’, for JR GROUP, for the Japan Railway 150th Anniversary Campaign, by Dentsu Inc. Tokyo.

In the Entertainment Lions, 774 entries were received and 28 Lions awarded by the Jury: five Gold, 12 Silver and 10 Bronze. A second Grands Prix went to ‘Clash From The Past’, for Clash of Clans, by Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, USA.

From 437 entries received in the Entertainment Lions for Music, honouring creative musical collaborations and branded music content, 18 Lions were awarded: three Gold, five Silver and eight Bronze. And two Grands Prix were awarded to ‘Beautiful Life’, for Michael Kiwanuka, by SMUGGLER, London /Michael Kiwanuka, Los Angeles. A second Grand Prix was awarded to Apple, Cupertino for their work ‘The Greatest’.

Celebrating creativity that taps into fan culture and leverages the power of sports and eSports in connecting people to brands, the Entertainment Lions for Sport received 607 entries and 20 Lions were awarded by the Jury: three Gold, seven Silver and nine Bronze. The Grand Prix went to ‘Dreamcaster’, for Michelob ULTRA, by FCB New York. By inventing a new technology, the work empowers blind sports fans to feel a live game, rather than just hear the audio to transform the live sports experience.

Entertainment Lions for Sport jury president, & McCann London co-president and McCann UK, McCann London, joint chief creative officer Rob Doubal said, “This year’s winning Grand Prix leveraged emerging tech, strong partnership and had intrinsic inclusivity at its core to engage fans with one of the best and most innovative live broadcasts of the year. It showed strong impact on the brand and its approach, execution and provision of new technology is sure to provide a legacy for all those who come after.”

June 21, 2023
Logitech X Saaksha & Kinni collaboration at the Lakme Fashion Week in partnership with FDCI was a stylish union of fashion and technology

Mumbai: The association of Logitech with designers Saaksha & Kinni for the collection “Prism” was a celebration of style and technology with geometry, colour, and mirrors forming a perfect amalgamation at the Lakmé Fashion Week in partnership with FDCI.

In a creative confluence of fashion and technology, popular actress and fashion icon Sobhita Dhulipala walked the ramp as the showstopper for Logitech X Saaksha & Kinni. Sobhita flaunted Logitech’s popular POP Keyboard as an accessory to sport her bold and experimental look from the “Prism” collection at the show.

Talking about the collaboration, Logitech India country head Srinivas Rao Vishnubhotla said, “After two successful collaborations with Lakmé Fashion Week in partnership with FDCI, we are excited to associate with them once again. This year was all about accentuating the bold aesthetics of our studio series through the signature vibrant and stimulating sensibilities of the dynamic duo Saaksha & Kinni. Today’s millennials and gen-z’s seek style, design, and self-expression as part of their daily activities, and technology has become a reflection of their identity. Hence, Logitech is committed to innovating technology that is playful, chic, colourful, and bold. For young people and working professionals who are constantly on the lookout for creative, productive, and unique tech solutions, our accessories help in making a bold statement.”

This creative confluence of fashion and technology between Saaksha & Kinni and Logitech was a celebration of a hybrid future of work lifestyle to make “work from anywhere” stylish, fun, and productive. Recurring themes that ran through “Prism” were youth, colour, experimental, and bold; all attributed to Logitech, with whom it strongly resonates with. This was reflected in their studio series, which was designed especially for gen-z and working millennials and sports a sleek and stylish design with pops of colour.

The designers were inspired by prints that moved through the tie and dye craft and continued onto geometrics and abstract flowers, which represented their favourite states – Gujarat and Rajasthan. The intricate hand embroidery collection was inspired by the colour palette of Logitech’s studio series. Hence, the addition of mirror work, thread work, tassels, and metals proved to be a perfect fashionable balance.

Designer Saaksha Bhat said, “This season we have collaborated with Logitech to showcase our new collection ‘Prism’ at Lakme Fashion Week X FDCI. The collection showcases pinks, purples, and yellows—an ode to the fun and vibrant colours used in Logitech’s Studio series. The silhouettes are layered, youthful, and easy breezy-a testament that you can work comfortably from anywhere and in style!”

Saaksha & Kinni are known for their signature hand micro pleating, which was once again used extensively throughout the diverse collection this season. Visible on several silhouettes like dresses, skirts, and jackets, the micro pleating and shapes allowed free movement and comfort for the wearer. Layering was an important aspect of the look, as different weights of light chiffon, hand-woven cotton, and satin were cleverly balanced with heavy denim and drill.

The collaboration between Logitech and designers Saaksha & Kinni for their collection “Prism” was a great offering for the fashion-conscious who prefer to work from anywhere while remaining stylish, productive and relaxed.

October 20, 2022
Abby Awards Day 3: TLG India and Famous Innovations win for their creativity during Goafest 2022

MUMBAI: On day three of Goafest saw the grand finale of the event celebrating the best in advertising, marketing and media industries, with creative minds battling it out at the ‘One Show ABBY Awards’. TLG India (The Leo Burnett Group) walked away with the ‘Creative agency of the year Abby’, along with bagging the ‘Specialist brand activation and promotion agency of the year’ award. The Grand Prix was bagged by Famous Innovations in the Out Of Home (OOH) / Ambient Media Abby category. Good Morning Films won the ‘Specialist agency of the year’ in the video craft category.

Famous Innovations ranked second in the ‘Creative Agency of the Year category’, FCB was third, followed by Enormous, Grey, Creativeland Asia, Havas, Cheil, Script room, and Mindshare.

A total of 32 video craft Abbys, two radio craft Abbys, 29 branded content Abbys, 13 brand activation & promotion Abbys, four diversity Abbys, 17 OOH Abbys including one Grand Prix, 19 still print and still craft Abbys, four still digital Abbys, 20 Audio Visual TV/Cinema Abbys, 41 audio visual digital Abbys, one young Abbys, two red Abbys, 11 integrated Abbys and three Green awards Abbys were handed out to deserving winners on the final day of the adfest.

Audio Visual Digital Abby Awards – 2022

The category had six gold and twelve silver awards. First gold award was grabbed by GREY Group for Gillette India. Enormous Brands LLP won the second gold for their campaign Jaquar Bath & Lights. Other gold awards in the category was won by FCB Group India TLG India Private Limited.

In silver awards, TLG India and FCB both won three awards each while the rest of the awards were picked by Sideways Consulting, Cheil India and GREY Group.

Audio Visual TV / Cinema Abby Awards – 2022

This category had two gold and nine silver. Enormous Brands LLP grabbed both gold awards and silver awards were bagged by TLG India Private Limited, Enormous Brands LLP, FCB Group India, The Script Room, and Creative Land Asia.

Brand Activation & Promotion Abby Awards – 2022

This category only had one gold which was picked by FCB Group India and three silver. VMLY&R won one of the silver awards and the other two were picked by TLG India.

Branded Content & Entertainment Abby Awards – 2022

In this category, there were four gold and ten silver. The first gold award was won by Enormous Brands LLP for Winkies. The other gold awards were bagged by Mindshare, GREY Group and FCB Group India.

Four silver awards were won by Cheil India. Other silver awards in the category were won by Think and Learn, Handyyman, Tribes Communication, Enormous Brands LLP and Grey Group.

Diversity, Equality & Inclusion Abby Awards – 2022

This category didn’t have any gold. It has three silver Superfly Films for Tanishq, Grey Group for Gillette India and FCB Group India for Unaids.

Green Abby Awards – 2022

This category had one gold and one silver. Gold award was bagged by VMLY&R for Maxx Flash’s The Killer Pack campaign and silver was picked by Famous Innovations for Livpure’s Cutting Paani campaign.

Integrated Awards – 2022

In this category, there was one gold which was bagged by Grey Group and three silver awards bagged by Havas Worldwide India, TLG India Private Limited and FCB Group India.

Out Of Home / Ambient Media Abby Awards – 2022

In the search subcategory, Famous Innovations bagged a gold for its campaign titled Avoid Humans – Deceit for the Tadoba Wildlife Sanctuary and Irai Safari brand. The second gold in the category was won by TLG India for brand spotify for its campaign ‘There’s a Playlist for that’.

There were four silvers given away in the category, of which two were won by FCB Group India, and two by Famous Innovations.

Radio & Radio Craft Abby Awards – 2022

Enormous Brands LLP won the silver for the brand Bharti AXA.

Red Abby Awards – 2022

Cheil India picked up the only gold in Red Abby category for the Mental Health brand.

Still Craft Abby Awards – 2022

Famous Innovations won gold for the brand Tadoba Wildlife Sanctuary and Irai Safari. All the three Silvers in the category were bagged up by the Famous Innovations too.

Still Digital Abby Awards – 2022

Cheil India, TLG India and Havas Worldwide India bagged the three silvers in the category. There was no gold Abby in the Still Digital.

Still Print Abby Awards – 2022

The Still Print Abby category saw six silvers, with four won by Famous Innovations and one each by TLG India and Havas Worldwide.

Video Craft Abby Awards – 2022

Eight golds were given away in the video craft category, out of it five were bagged by Good Morning Films, while three were won by Early Man Film. There were four silvers in the category- two were won by Early Man Film, one by Good Morning Films and Superfly Films won one silver.

Young Abby Awards – 2022

The Young Abby awards category saw FCB Group India pick up a gold for its campaign ‘Can an imaginary girl help’ for Parle G.

May 7, 2022
GoaFest 2022: Mindshare and BCCL bag the Media and Publisher Abbys awards

Mumbai: Mindshare and Bennett Coleman and Company Limited (BCCL) bagged Media and Publisher Abby awards at Abby 2022 held at Grand Hyatt, Goa on Thursday.

Mindshare was honoured with the ‘agency of the year award’ and BCCL won the ‘publisher of the year award’ on day one of the fifteenth edition of the Goafest.

Meanwhile, Lodestar UM took home the Grand Prix for their campaign for Mumbai Police – ‘The Punishing Signal’.

Goafest 2022 is held after a two years gap due to the Covid pandemic. This year, a total of 1014 entries for the Media Abby from 54 different agencies were accepted. Out of these, 356 entries from 25 agencies made it to the shortlists.

A total of 15 Publisher ABBYs and 87 Media ABBYs were awarded on day one of the adfest. For Publisher ABBYs, five Gold, three Silver and seven Bronze were awarded. Four entries were given a Certificate of Merit. For Media ABBYs, 21 Gold, 28 Silver, and 37 Bronze were awarded.

This year, for the first time, The Advertising Club collaborated with The One Show, taking the ABBY Awards to global standards of recognition.

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Media agency Mindshare collected eight gold medals and bagged the top honour, while BCCL won the gold for its best marketing of a printed newspaper/edition of its brand ‘The Times of India’ and its campaign titled ‘The Trust of India.’

Cheil India won the gold for best use of native or branded content for client brand marketing by a publisher for its campaign ‘#UncoverTheEpic : Samsung x Nat Geo Traveller’ for Samsung.

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FCB Group India picked two golds for best launch marketing of a new title of newspaper/magazine/digital publication and best promotion of a CSR/ cause-related marketing initiative in traditional or online space- both for Times of India (TOI) and the Times Out & Proud Classifieds campaign.

In a first, this year The Advertising Club collaborated with The One Show, taking the ABBY Awards to global standards of recognition. The event also saw participation from internationally acclaimed jury chairs.

“2022 is a landmark year because of the collaboration of the ABBY Awards with The One Show, and this is a game-changing proposition,” said The Advertising Club president Partha Sinha, discussing the ABBY Awards at Goafest 2022. “It gives a platform to a plethora of agencies, enabling it to become more global. We owe it to the industry to bring something of global standing especially when we are one large world.”

“A staggering number of participants has been witnessed, surpassing all previous records,” said Abby Awards Governing Council 2022 chairman & VP of The Ad Club Rana Barua said about the ABBYs Awards. “In addition to agencies that have participated since our inception, we have also seen those returning every year. Overall, the numbers are higher this month since we had to package everything together in one month. This year and henceforth, Goafest will be considerably bigger and more extravagant,” added Barua.

May 5, 2022
Abby Awards 2022 ropes in three more international jury chairs

Mumbai: The Abby Awards governing council has appointed three more international jury chairs to top off the power-packed jury panel this year. The new additions are Doordash executive creative director Mariota Essery, Ogilvy Latin America chief creative officer Jessica Appellaniz, and VMLY&R chief creative officer Asia Valerie Madon.

Mariota Essery

Mariota has worked on a multitude of global award-winning campaigns including Philips, adidas Football World Cup, North Face, Google and Gatorade. Awards won include Grand Prix at Cannes Lions, Epica Awards, Effies and NY AMEs.

Jessica Appellaniz

One of the very few women in a creative leading role across Latin America, Jessica was instrumental in winning the first D&AD Pencil for Mexico and has won at Cannes every year since her days as a creative director. Jessica has been a member of the Ogilvy Worldwide Creative Council.

Valerie Madon

Valerie has experience in brand building and integrated creative solutions for major brands such as Hewlett-Packard, Procter & Gamble, Singapore Airlines, HSBC, Burger King, VISA. Valerie has made her mark at Cannes, One Show, London International, and has won the Best Of Show and Grand Prix awards.

The jury chair of this year’s Abby Awards is a gamut of stalwarts and renowned industry veterans from across the globe and India. They include names such as MullenLowe Lintas group chief creative officer and chairman Amer Jaleel, Elephant Design co-founder and director Ashwini Deshpande, Havas chairman and chief creative officer Bobby Pawar, BC Web Wise founder and MD Chaaya Bharadwaj, DDB Mudra Group chief creative officer Rahul Mathew, and Leo Burnett CEO and chief creative officer for South Asia Rajdeepak Das. In addition, Carlton D’Silva, Paresh Chaudhry, Praveen Someshwar, Rajat Ojha and Rekha Nigam have joined the Abbys 2022 jury panel.

Apart from these, the panel this year also boasts of three international jury chairs namely, Menno Kluin, Aricio Fortes, and Myra Nussbaum from the global advertising industry, who will be judging the Abbys 2022.

May 4, 2022
Goafest 2022 returns after a gap of two years to inspire

Mumbai: Goafest returns back once again! For advertising and media businesses, it is one of the important celebrations. 15 years of Goafest is truly a special milestone. What makes it more special is that it is being celebrated after a gap of two years. Many have braved the hard times as it got affected due to covid pandemic.

The pandemic brought forth the superpower within each one of us. When we thought we were down and out, we were compelled to dig deeper and find courage and resilience. Not just people, businesses discovered their own unbeatable spirit to survive and thrive, so did governments and countries. Now, it is time to acknowledge this power within each one of us that makes us unique, that enables us to face challenges with ease and helps us make the world a better place. It is time to celebrate “The Superpower Within”.

The event will bring together under one roof 28 highly accomplished, power-packed speakers, who will share valuable insights of their knowledge on content, creativity, strategies, stories and experiences from new-age media like OTT, social media, gaming, health & wellness along with an attention to policies and regulations.

Goafest will have iconic personalities from Indian Sports and Bollywood inspiring us with their achievements and stories of strength. The festival will focus on the superpower of Bharat and its growing digital reach, and on the rich startup ecosystem with Shark Tank India’s Vineeta Singh of SUGAR and Unicorn builder, Ankush Sachdeva. No growth can be achieved if personal well-being is ignored, and for that, we have the exceptional Rujuta Diwekar, nutritionist and influencer.

There will be the presence of stalwarts like SS Rajamouli, Kash Sree and Menno Kluin amongst others. The story of perseverance from a graceful actress like Madhuri Dixit along with stories from the fearless Kiran Bedi, the indomitable PV Sindhu, the courageous Mithali Raj and the man with the unwavering faith to win, Kapil Dev! In addition to this, leaders like Level Ex founder and ceo Sam Glassenberg, Ministry of Consumer Affairs & Food Distribution’s Secretary, Aqilliz’s Ceo Rohit Kumar Singh, Gowthaman Ragothaman co-founder Web3 Marketing Association, Sandeep Bhushan, Director & Head of GSM (Global Marketing Solutions) India, Meta will share their invaluable insights.

There will also be nine empowering Knowledge Masterclasses this year including topics like ‘The Power of Camera Marketing’, Creative workshops by FCB Ulka, Snapchat, Publicis Groupe and many more interesting workshops from Meta, Sharechat, and Google.

Entertainers like Sukhbir and Shilpa Rao will be performing at the event. The event will take place between 5-7 May at Grand Hyatt, Goa.

May 2, 2022
Abbys 2022 onboards six adland executives as jury chairs

Mumbai: The Abbys Award Governing Council on Monday announced the names of six advertising professionals, who will be judging Abbys 2022 along with the international judges as jury chairs. The jury panel will include MullenLowe Lintas group chief creative officer and chairman Amer Jaleel, Elephant Design co-founder and director Ashwini Deshpande, Havas chairman and chief creative officer Bobby Pawar, BC Web Wise founder and MD Chaaya Bharadwaj, DDB Mudra Group chief creative officer Rahul Mathew, and Leo Burnett CEO and chief creative officer for South Asia Rajdeepak Das.

The council had earlier announced three international jury chairs namely, Menno Kluin, Aricio Fortes, and Myra Nussbaum, from the global advertising industry, who will be judging Abbys 2022.

As global creative head of Unilever’s Lifebuoy business, Amer Jaleel has contributed to the brand’s success over the past decade – in India and across the world. Spearheaded by him, Lifebuoy’s ‘Help a Child Reach 5’ initiative was named among the most effective campaigns in the world. Amer has built brands like Micromax, Olx and Havells among others. He has also conceived and led the journey for Tata Tea’s ‘Jaago Re’ movement. His portfolio includes brands like Google, Maruti Suzuki, ICICI Prudential and Bajaj Auto.

Bobby Pawar has won more than 400 local and international metals. He was IAA India’s Creative Agency Leader of the Year (2021) and Campaign Asia’s Creative Person of the Year (2011) for India and South Asia. Consistently ranked amongst the most influential and creative people in India, Bobby has worked for seven years in the United States with long stints at Ogilvy, New York and BBDO, Chicago.

As the co-founder and director of Elephant Design, some of the international Awards won by Ashwini Deshpande are ReBrand100 (USA), A’Design (Italy), Worldstar (Germany), AsiaStar (Singapore), Lexus Design Award (Best of the Best). The jury president at D&AD and London International Awards, she is also on the Jury at Cannes, One Show, New York Festival, Spikes Asia and Design for Asia. Elephant Design was also awarded Design House of the Year at Lexus Design Awards India.

With Chaaya Baradhwaaj at the helm, BC Web Wise has woven several successful cases in digital brand marketing. Major awards won include Microsoft Cyber Lions with a ticket to Cannes in 2005 and over 200 metals across The Abbys, DMAI Echo, Digixx Awards, Asian Consumer Effectiveness Awards, National Marketing Excellence Awards.

Under Rahul Mathew’s creative leadership, DDB Mudra became the first Indian agency to be crowned APAC agency of the year at Spikes Asia. Work from the agency has won four Grand Prix at Spikes Asia in the last three years. In 2019, DDB Mudra became the first agency in the world to win the D&AD Impact Prize Fund. According to the 2021 Campaign Brief Asia ranking, DDB Mudra Group is number three in India. While the WARC 2021 ranking places DDB Mudra group as number one Effective Agency in India and Asia. Apart from judging many prestigious award shows, Mathew is also the jury president for press and outdoor at D&AD 22.

Rajdeepak Das has built Apollo Eleven, a division of Leo Burnett, and comprising a team of young IIT Aerospace engineers, social media influencers, musicians, product designers and environmentalists who came together with one common passion. Das has won over 250 metals at Cannes Lions, One Show, D&AD, Clio, Spikes Asia, Effies and others.

April 18, 2022
Goafest 2022: Times Network comes on board as presenting sponsor

Mumbai: Times Network has come on board as presenting sponsor for the fifteenth edition of Goafest, announced the Goafest 2022 Organising Committee on Friday. The three-day industry event will be held between 5-7 May at Grand Hyatt, Goa.

Goafest is a definitive annual festival that celebrates milestones in the Indian advertising, marketing, and media industry. The event is back on-ground for its latest edition, after a gap of two years. The grand festival will be helmed by Jaideep Gandhi as chairman of the Goafest 2022 Organising Committee, along with Rana Barua as chairman of the Awards Governing Council for the Abby Awards 2022.

As per the earlier announcement, Goafest 2022 was scheduled to be held from 7-9 April. The orgainising committee is optimistic that the agencies and organisations will be more enthusiastic to participate in the festival as the number of Omicron cases has started receding.

“We are truly excited that after a gap of a couple of years Goafest is coming back. And I’m sure it will be the biggest yet, considering the fact that most of us have been restrained by the pandemic all this while and are literally straining at the leash to be let out,” stated Times Network MD and CEO MK Anand. “I am particularly looking forward to the event as Times Network is once again returning as presenting sponsor of this most awaited advertising festival in South Asia.”

“Times Network has been associated with almost every edition of Goafest from its inception, in some way or the other,” remarked Goafest 2022 organising committee chairman Jaideep Gandhi. “It is our pleasure to welcome back Times Network as presenting sponsor in the 15th year of the festival,” he added.

The event is jointly organised by two industry bodies – Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and The Advertising Club (TAC).

“It is wonderful to have Times Network as presenting sponsor yet again,” said AAAI vice president and GroupM Media South Asia CEO Prasanth Kumar. “Goafest is a platform where great work is reflected and thought leadership is demonstrated. Having such an opportunity to be inspired and learn is incredibly valuable to all of us. We look forward to having yet another wonderful Goafest.”

According to the statement, the delegate registrations and Abby Award entries are now open and more details are available on www.goafest.com.

March 11, 2022
“Covid2019 has shown how supply is critical to marketing”: MediaCom’s Soumak Banik

NEW DELHI: Despite the calamitous Covid2019 situation, TV channels and producers have steeled themselves and are rolling out fresh programming. The good news is that inventory fill rates have gone up. What needs improvement is the pricing of the purchase by media buyers from agencies. Almost every TV channel vertical – news channels included – are also in a similar position on the rate front. In the first episode of 'TV Buying: Agreeing to a new normal’, Indiantelevision.com founder CEO & editor in chief Anil Wanvari spoke to MediaCom chief growth officer Soumak Banik.

According to Banik, the Covid2019 era has changed the intercommunication between clients and brand. He said, “This is the time where we are not just partners but advocates and it's more about being connected, staying together and giving more value-added services. The amount of conversion, from an agency to a client level, has almost increased by 50-55 per cent. The current time is teaching us to be an advocate to our partners and look together on how to revive the business and find solutions.”

“In the last three months, the intent of consumer confidence has gone down terribly. Supply and distribution have been affected; businesses have got fluctuated. In proportion relatively, the marketing budget has slipped down,” he said.

Banik explained that the crisis due to the pandemic has led brands to slash their marketing spends. “Most brands where business and volume targets are linked to the media budgets, the marketing initiatives got a fragile cut and now that the business is reviving, advertisers have started showing interest and looking on how to get back to the market.”

Meanwhile, as India is in semi-lockdown, viewership and engagement are back in a full swing. So, the confidence and positivity among the advertisers are likely to get a boost. He said, “TV and original content are back and will see reach and relevance back to the position soon. TV is gaining back its own reach now and so advertisers are looking to make a comeback. In the last four weeks, almost 45-50 per cent of filled rates are coming back to television.”

Speaking about how supply has become a priority in today’s time, Banik emphasised, “As marketers, we always kept demand marketing at the funnel and neglected supply, but this time we have learned how supply is critical to marketing as a funnel. In today’s time, supply has become a new demand and new marketing and we started looking it at more rigorously.”

According to him, there are many brands that did not advertise in the lockdown period, but sectors like e-commerce, OTT and FMCG are highly focused this time. “Consumer-centric supply demands model has increased. FMCG as a category has grown up by 45 per cent, while auto has gone down eight per cent. E-commerce has gained traction, almost 35 per cent in the last few months.”

Banik believes, “Brands in India need reach and for that, we need to go back to the television. Q3 will be an opportunity for us to revive. The basic funnel of doing business in India in any category is about reaching to the direct distribution channels. No brand can live without the reach of television. In the coming months, IPL and the festive season will begin and we could see advertisers spending high on TV.”

July 27, 2020
Cannes Lions honours creative geniuses of the decade

NEW DELHI: Celebrating the pathbreaking, inspiring, and world-class creative work in the field of advertising, Cannes Lions, in association with WARC, has launched its “Lions Creativity Report of The Decade” on the final day of its first-ever virtual festival.

Presenting the report to the masses, Cannes Lions head of awards Susie Walker wrote, “The creative companies and brands ranked here have consistently produced game-changing work – and it takes more than one creative vision to produce that kind of sustained creative success. The client-agency collaborations that last longest, work best. That ours is and always was, an industry built on relationships is our best starting point for recovery.”

WPP was named as the Holding Company of the Decade, which has won the annual award in the category for a total of six times, since the announcement of the category in 2011. Over the decade WPP agencies have amassed over 40 Grands Prix, five Creative Effectiveness Lions, eight Titanium, 464 Gold, one Glass Lion, four Innovation Lions, seven Product Design Lions, 844 Silver and 1,385 Bronze Lions. Omnicom and Interpublic Group acquired the second and third rankings, respectively.

Some of the iconic work by WPP covered in the report includes Real Beauty Sketches created by Oglivy Sao Paolo for Unilever’s Dove in 2013, Magic of Flying billboard created by Ogilvy London for British Airways in 2014, and, Healthy Hands Chalk Sticks by Ogilvy Mumbai for ITC Savlon in 2018.

The Network of the Decade honour was bestowed upon BBDO Worldwide for being awarded best network for four of the last ten years and never dropping below fourth place over the decade. Over the past decade, BBDO Worldwide has amassed over 16 Grands Prix, four Creative Effectiveness Lions, three Titanium, 150 Gold, four Glass, 281 Silvers and 471 Bronze Lions. The runners up in the category were Ogilvy and DDB Worldwide, respectively.

The selection of best work from BBDO Worldwide in the report includes The Ant Rally Worldwide Fund by BBDO GERMANY Düsseldorf for Nature WWF in 2013, Touch the Pickle by BBDO Mumbai for Procter & Gamble in 2015, and Meet Graham by BBDO Melbourne for Transport Action Commission in 2017.

Palme d'Or Of The Decade, for the production company that obtains the most points for winning and shortlisted entries in the Film, Film Craft, Entertainment (Section A), Social & Influencer, Mobile and Digital Craft Lions, in addition to select Lions Health mediums, was picked by MJZ USA, which has won two Grands Prix, one Titanium, 25 Gold, 41 Silver and 64 Bronze Lions. The runners up were Smuggler USA and O Positive Films USA.

Some of the great work by the winner showcased in the report includes, Muscle Music for Old Spice (2013), The Man Your Man Could Smell Like for Old Spice (2010) and Possibilites for Nike (2014).

Other winners include:

Brand Marketer of the Decade — Procter & Gamble

Independent Agency of the Decade — Wieden + Kennedy, Portland

Agency of the Decade – North America won by Wieden+Kennedy, Portland

Agency of the Decade – Latin America won by Almap BBDO, Sao Paulo

Agency of the Decade – Asia won by Dentsu Inc., Tokyo

Agency of the Decade – Pacific won by Colenso BBDO, Auckland

Agency of the Decade – Europe won by adam&eveDDB, London

Agency of the Decade – MEA won by VMLY&R, Dubai

June 27, 2020