Delhi Ad Club’s ICE goes national

The industry is still divided about which awards function to attend -- Bombay Ad Club's Abby or AAAI. Even as loyalties are divided, enter the Delhi Advertising Club (DAC) with its own brand of national awards that comes with the promise of providing a transparent platform. Titled ICE or Indian Creative Excellence Awards, the awards are slated to take place on June 23, 2006 in New Delhi.

V K Chopra, president, DAC, says, “All along there was a feeling that though Delhi had talent, it was getting overshadowed. Our attempt to go national is a step towards giving Delhi its due recognition. Also the bigger platform with players from across the nation will definitely uplift the advertising circuit in Delhi and prove that the city is a hotspot for advertising whereas all the attention till now has been centered around Mumbai.”

On the awards, he adds, “The ICE Awards are designed to raise the bar on creative concepts, ideas and their execution; for a new age and a new world. To inspire creative professionals to connect inventively with newly informed and empowered consumers. To eventually recognise unconventional new categories of communication such as gaming, branded entertainment, SMS, blogs and more. And above all, the ICE Awards are intended to be the ultimate arbiter of cool.”

But what about the fragmentation that will happen with yet another national awards. Chopra clarifies, “Our awards function stands for transparency and is without any pressure from any quarters. In fact, so far even though our brochures are not out, we have been receiving tremendous response from agencies across the country expressing their willingness to participate.”

Chopra says that a panel of judges will be constituted after consultation with top creative people across the country. There will be eight judges from Delhi, four from Mumbai and two each from Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai. “Our effort is to give the industry platform for awards where all the agencies participate irrespective of the size and decision of winners is not swayed by few. It’s an independent exercise to find the best,” he says.

DAC has been in existence for the past 30 years. Till now its awards were restricted to the Delhi advertising circle alone. This time, after going national, it is expecting about 1,000 entries and the awards are for 22 categories.

The various categories include: Food & Beverages, FMCG, Clothing, Footwear & Accessories, Consumer Durables, Homes / Decor / Leisure, Automotive & Accessories, Services for the Household Sector, Business Products & Services, Travel, Hospitality, Events, Exhibitions & Festivals, Media, Public Services, Radio, Outdoor, Direct Mail, New Interactive Media, Art Director of the Year, Copywriter of the Year, Best Campaign of the year and Agency of the Year (National Level).

There will be two awards dedicated to Delhi -- Best Delhi Ad Agency Campaign for a Delhi Client and Best Advertising Student Award for the best campaign from Delhi-based institutes which will honour two young prospects for their exceptional aptitude.

For the record, DAC is also planning to take its awards to all SAARC countries in due course.

© 2006 agencyfaqs!