MUMBAI: It was a night of many firsts for the Effie Awards, 2013. The Awards, organised by the Ad Club, that honours the advertising agencies and the clients just didn’t get the highest number of entries this time – which rose up to 415 from last year’s 315, it was also webcast live on the Advertising Club website while the award ceremony was in progress on Friday night.
Moreover, the year also witnessed the highest number of attendees at the event with more than 12,000 passes sold. Plus, two new categories – Effie for Good and Effie for Experiential Marketing – were added this year.
Lowe Lintas & Partners and Ogilvy & Mather that were leading the list of the shortlisted case studies with 51 and 31 shortlisted entries respectively, were in for a close competition at the award ceremony. While the former took home the Agency of the Year Award for the second time (earlier one being in 2006), the men in black – Ogilvy & Mather – bagged the Grand Effie to stand at the second position.
Lowe Lintas bagged 16 awards in total including six Gold to lead the chart with 160 points for clients including Idea (Honey Bunny, Telephone Exchange), Lifebuoy (Help a child reach five), Tanishq (Tanishq and Sridevi - Coming Back Home), Hindustan Unilever (Kissan 100 per cent natural seeded).
O&M also managed 130 points and three Gold Effies for clients including Vodafone (Made for you, Earmuffs) and Bournvita (Aadat).
Lowe Lintas’ chairman and chief creative officer R Balki along with his team couldn’t stop smiling after the grand victory. The agency that is not really known for participating in award shows looked delighted with its performance. “My team is happy and they are here to party,” says Balki as he remarks that he personally doesn’t believe in awards and it is his teams’ happiness and hard work that matters to him the most.
And though the men in black lagged behind with few points, their enthusiasm at the ceremony was infectious. The close competition with the rivals and the hunger to do better is what keeps the industry motivated year after year, thinks O&M’s executive chairman and creative director Piyush Pandey. “For a long time now, there hasn’t been a close fight and I wish Lowe Lintas the very best. It is their night tonight,” he says.
However, the third spot in the list of winners was taken by McCann Erikson that bagged one gold and 60 points. The Gold came in for Coca Cola (how Coca Cola won the battle for Indian teens).
And it was Hindustan Unilever (HUL) that was credited with the Client of the Year award. HUL executive editor, home and personal care was happy to have won the award, he says, "These awards are about industry recognition and effectiveness."
The nip in the air didn’t bother the ad world much as they all came in to become a witness to the grand ceremony that was opened by MC Brian Tellis. Pratap Bose took the stage for the first time after official taking the charge of the Ad Club as the president and proclaimed that the country has some of the best advertisements/campaigns in the Asia Pacific. “The quality of our work is only improving with every coming year and we have only bettered our standards set last year,” Bose remarked in his opening speech.
However, this year, few categories didn’t see a Silver or Gold Effie being handed over. All India Bakchod’s Rohan Joshi didn’t take much time to take a pot shot at the situation by sharing a joke on Hussain Bolt coming third even when nobody claimed the second or first position!
But still the event ended on a “high” note with lots of fireworks to celebrate the victory as the attendees whispered that the Lintas’ win was well-deserved.
