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The Big Bang at Bengaluru
A number of Bengaluru based ad agencies stole the thunder at the awards this year
The Big Bang Awards 2008, the annual event of the Advertising Club Bangalore, saw a slew of Bengaluru based small and medium size agencies taking away most of the metals.
A good number of media agencies also won awards. A steep increase in below-the-line and 360 degree communication entries vis-à-vis above-the-line, mass media work was a trend this time.
More than 460 entries in 54 categories were judged under the supervision of eight judges, among who were Harish Bijoor, chief executive officer, HarishBijoor Consults; Deepak Malhotra, CEO, Photo Library; RT Kumar, managing director, Oysters Advertising; and P Subramanian, consultant and trainer.
While the awards saw the advent of agencies such as M&M Connect, Origami Creative Concepts and Temple Advertising, it also had names like Contract, TBWA, 141 Sercon, Saatchi & Saatchi Focus and media agencies like Maxus, Mudra Radar and Mindshare figuring in the final tally.
M&M Connect won five metals – 3 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze – this year. Its campaign for Banana Leaf titled Kerala Food Festival won the agency a gold each in the Food & Beveverage Collaterals and Outdoor Media Campaign categories and a bronze in the POP Material category. It won its third gold for i-Flex House Journal in the Radio Spot – Promotions (Indian Language) category. The silver came its way for Aztecsoft in the Best Unpublished Campaign category.
Origami came a close second in the awards race with a total tally of six – 2 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze. Its work for Torry Harris Sea Food Exporters in the Press Campaign (English) Non-Durables category and Mugen Chinese Restaurant in the Press Ad (English) category won it the two golds. It won a silver for its work for Sobha Developers, titled Taste Innovation, in the Press Ad (English) category.
Other names to have featured in the top ten winners include Maxus (6 gold, 4 silver, 7 bronze); Nirvana Films (3 gold, 1 silver); Thinkpot Productions (2 gold, 1 silver); TBWA India (2 gold); Temple Advertising (1 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze); Free Thinkers (1 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze) and George P Johnson (1 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze).
Among the media agencies, Maxus emerged as the clear leader with 17 metals – 6 golds, 4 silvers and 7 bronzes. It was also Media Agency of the Year. Some of its awards were a gold in the Best Media Innovation – Print category and a bronze in the Integrated Launch Campaign for Media category for Titan Heritage, a gold for MTV Hero Honda Roadies in the same category, a silver and a gold in the Best Media Innovation – Digital category for Arvind Brands’ Arrow and Nokia E-paper, respectively, a gold and a bronze in the Best Media Innovation – TV category for Vodafone Launch – Cellular Phone Service and Titan Industries – Tanishq Jewellery, respectively, and a bronze, silver and gold in the Best Media Innovation – Print category for Vodafone, Nokia 360 Degree Feedback Model and Titan Heritage, respectively.
The gold for Film Production House of the Year went to Nirvana Films, which bagged four metals in all. It won a silver and a gold each in the TVC Services category for Vodafone and Airtel, respectively while Lenovo was declared Client of the Year.
The main sponsor for the event was the Bangalore Mirror and the co-sponsors were Dainik Bhaskar, Photo Library (images), Laqshya Media (out of home media), Radio One and afaqs! (online). DNA Networks handled the whole event.
Initiated in 1987 for the Bengaluru ad fraternity, the Big Bang Awards are now a national awards ceremony recognising creativity in all forms of advertising.