Five Indian entries short-listed in the Festival of Media Awards '09

Launched in 2007 in Venice, the Festival of Media Awards is now known as the Valencia Awards

Five Indian entries have made it to the short-lists for the 2009 edition of the Festival of Media Awards. Starcom MediaVest Group has topped the list with two entries, while the Group’s sibling network, ZenithOptimedia, has one entry on the short-list. The other two agencies are MediaCom and Madison Media, with one entry each.

The short-list includes entries from 29 countries. Starcom MediaVest Group has also topped the list globally, with 18 nominations, followed by Mindshare with 13, MediaCom with 11 and Havas taking seven nominations.

The Festival of Media Awards (FMAs) will be held in Valencia, Spain from April 19-21, 2009. While it was called the Venice Awards before 2008, it will now be known as the Valencia Awards.

Starcom's short-listed entries include the 'MAD in Singapore' campaign for Singapore Tourism Board in the Best Use of Content category and the 'How Rural India Grew to love Tide and Head & Shoulders' campaign for Procter & Gamble in the Best Event/Activation category.

ZenithOptimedia's short-listed entries include the 'Serena Williams' campaign for Hewlett Packard in the Best Event/Activation category. The nominated entry from MediaCom in India is 'India Votes: To Shave or Not' campaign for Procter & Gamble in The Award for Branding Bravery category. Madison Media’s Indian short-listed entry is the 'Condoms' campaign for BBC World Service Trust, in the Best Communications Strategy category.

The jury for the awards includes two Indian members -- Sam Balsara, chairman and managing director, Madison World and Sital Banerjee, global media director - global marketing management, Philips International.

The 2009 edition will include a two-day conference involving influential advertisers, senior leaders from media and advertising agencies and media owners as speakers. A Media Laboratory exhibition, showcasing international media opportunities and emerging channels, will also be part of the event.

The Festival of Media Awards was launched in 2007 in Venice, as the world’s first global festival of media creativity. It intends to reward excellence in media thinking wherever it resides, be it media agency networks, full service agencies, media owners, digital specialists and out of home experts as well as the content experts and technology companies that are increasingly coming into a converged communications space. In its first year, it attracted over 450 delegates from the international media and advertising community. The second Festival in 2008 saw participation from more than 850 delegates.