Apr 16, 2008

JWT India dominates at Goafest's Abby awards

GOA - India's newly merged Abby awards, which were marred by the absence of two of the country's leading agencies, were dominated by JWT - which took home two of the most coveted Grand Prix awards, for Integrated and Film.

JWT India dominates at Goafest's Abby awards
The awards, which took place at the third Goafest, saw the coming together of the Ad Club of Bombay and the Advertising Agencies Association of India to host one single award for the entire industry.

JWT India’s strong performance, from an agency which has had mixed results creatively in recent years, came from two particular campaigns: Nike’s ‘Traffic’ and The Times of India’s ‘Lead India’.

“It’s only since the last two years that we have changed the way we look at our creative work and have actively improved it,” said Colvyn Harris, CEO, JWT India, “ It is a pleasure to see the strategy working both with the clients and our peers.”

While most of the creative big guns competed against each other, McCann Erickson kept away, apparently to see how the newly merged awards pan out in their debut year.

Lowe India also stayed away, as it has been doing for some years. Said chairman of Lowe India R. Balakrishnan (Balki): “We do not believe in awards. We would continue to do good work for our clients, irrespective of what awards we win.”

The merger of the two award shows also meant that the Creative Agency of the Year award, previously dominated by Ogilvy & Mather, was abandoned. The WPP agency surprised many observers by not winning a single Grand Prix, even if it did bring home the most metal: five golds, 14 silvers and 39 bronzes.

JWT India ECD Agnello Dias, who chaired the integrated advertising jury, pointed out that the standard of print, poster and ambient entries this year was particularly high, but bemoaned the lack of quality in other categories.

“Film was a notch lower than great because we're still unidimensional in our major-intrigue-with-grand-twist-of-humour at the end approach,” said Dias. “Digital and radio continue to disappoint.”
Source:
Campaign Asia
Tags

Related Articles

Just Published

48 minutes ago

How Google, Meta, Snapchat and TikTok are attempting...

At the 2024 NewFronts in the US, tech platforms glided over legislative issues and focused on outshining each other with technology and performance, appealing to cost-focused media buyers.

56 minutes ago

Meta introduces AI-generated image variations and ...

Brands can now get AI-generated creative variants in Meta’s Ads Manager through Advantage+ creative.

11 hours ago

Don’t let your AI investment for advertising fall flat

AI is not a silver bullet; the tech’s capabilities, while incredibly powerful, are only effective if managed and implemented correctly.

12 hours ago

WPP’s Mark Read: Why 2024 will improve after Q1 ...

New business pipeline looks good overall, but some project work is under pressure because 'client decisions are taking longer to happen', CEO tells Campaign.