46 finalists have been selected from 187 entries and Bates 141 is amongst the selected lot nominated in the category- Campaign for a new brand. The other cases short listed in this category are by CumminsNitro, Australia: Tourism Queensland ("The Best Job in the World"), JWT, New York: Schick ("Making a Private Buzz Public"), M&C Saatchi, London: Ladbrokes ("Forward Accountability") and Olson, Minneapolis: Nike (‘Nike Bauer Hockey‘).

Says Bates 141 India chief strategy officer Dheeraj Sinha, "Virgin mobile campaign allowed us an opportunity to build a real youth brand in India. The brand cleverly exhorted the Indian youth to bypass sanctions. The idea was to be their partner in crime, rather than give them any kind of empowerment or liberation. For the first time perhaps, Indian television saw advertising whose storylines and protagonists were not all whitewashed in goodness."

Says Virgin Mobile (India) chief marketing officer Prasad Narsimhan, "This nomination reinstates Virgin Mobile‘s strategic efforts in creating a distinct youth brand identity in a hyper-competitive telecom market that has giant, entrenched players. We are happy to have Bates 141 as our ad agency. The strategic thinking that they bring in our communication based on their understanding of our brand promise and the way the youth behave has been fundamental in establishing the Virgin Mobile brand in India. The results speak for themselves. With much smaller budgets than our competitors, we already enjoy 92 per cent awareness amongst youth as measured in a recent AC Nielsen survey."