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Bangalore, March 23, 2006 - Following an overwhelming response
for the ‘Mirchi KAAN Awards’ in the first and the second
year, Radio Mirchi, India’s largest private FM radio, is now
open for entries for the third ‘Mirchi KAAN Awards’, from
the creative fraternity, till March 27, 2006.
Radio Mirchi has already received a phenomenal response for the
third ‘Mirchi KAAN Awards’ from both the advertising agencies
and the corporates. The radio station has invited entries for the
work aired for the first time between January 2005 and February
28, 2006 and is confident of receiving over 450 entries this year
vis-à-vis the 350 received last year. Judging is conducted
by a broad segment of industry professionals, comprising of names
known for presiding over a section of awards at the International
Advertising Festival at Cannes, the most recognised awards for the
advertising fraternity the world over.
Interestingly, in view of the growing pester power of radio; today
acknowledged by national and local advertisers, both in India and
internationally, last year the Advertising Festival at Cannes too
had introduced the radio advertising category for the very first
time.
With three ego sizes, namely Gold, Silver and Bronze, the ‘Mirchi
KAAN Awards’ night is scheduled to be a glittering affair and
will be held in Mumbai in early May 2006. Spread across 20 different
categories, these are definitely India’s best looking radio
advertising awards if not the most prestigious.
Work, which falls under the Outstanding Category, will be eligible
for the Crystal award, to be awarded to the ‘Agency of the
Year’. Radio Mirchi will sponsor two radio creative writers
below the age of 30, to the Cannes Advertising festival. Furthermore,
Radio Mirchi will refund the entry fees for the radio spots designated
as the winner in the Gold category at the KAAN Awards, provided
the entry has already made its way to Cannes 2006.
Sharing his thoughts on the initiative Prashant Panday, Deputy
CEO, Entertainment Network (India) Limited (ENIL) said, “Category
building is an important aspect of Radio advertising. With a visible
lack of any awards instituted to laud excellence in radio advertising,
we decided to institute these awards two years back. Our objective
is to provide a forum through which the advertising industry can
showcase its creativity, reward individual accomplishment, and set
new standards against which future advertising will be judged.”
The Jury for this prestigious event comprises of advertising stalwarts
and top-notch names in the business including Abhijeet Choudhary,
Agnello Dias, Elsie Nanjie, Gangadharan Menon, K.S. Chakravarthy,
K.V.Sridhar, Mohammed Khan, Piyush Pandey, Prahlad Kakkar, Prasoon
Joshi, R. Balakrishnan, Rajat Dholakia, Ram Madhvani, Ram Sampath,
Ravi Deshpande and Rekha Nigam.
The award categories comprise of Foods; Beverages; Toiletries &
household care; Business products & services; Health & cosmetic
care; Clothing, footwear & accessories, Consumer durables; Homes,
décor & leisure; Automotive & accessories; Services
for the household sector; Sports, entertainment, travel & leisure;
Media; Public service/charity – fund raising; Retail outlets,
fast-food stores, restaurants and Unreleased works in the single/campaign
entries. Moreover, there are special awards for the most outstanding
voice of the year, radio writer of the year, excellence in production
and client of the year.
Some of the winners for last year included McCann Erickson (agency
of the yaer), Leo Burnett, Lowe, RMG David and Rediffusion.
About Mirchi KAAN Awards:
They say that radio is a writer’s medium. They lend their
words to the voices, and in the bargain create magic in the air.
Currently, the advertising fraternity only recognises television
and print advertising and credits the good work done in these two
mediums through the Abbys and the AAAI awards. Although both these
do have a radio section, but adequate prominence has not been given
to the category in the award shows. Realising the need and the importance
of rewarding and recognising the excellent work done by advertising
agencies on radio, Radio Mirchi launched the first-ever ‘Mirchi
KAAN Awards’ in year 2004
About Radio Mirchi:
Radio Mirchi is India’s largest private radio network and is
owned by Entertainment Network (India) Limited, a Times Group company.
Over 11 million listeners daily hear radio Mirchi across Delhi,
Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Pune and Indore. Recently,
the station has also bagged the license for operating twenty five
more radio stations in the country.
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