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Wizcraft and Candid come tops at the first-ever EEMAX awards
The first-ever awards held by EEMA saw the two agencies win three gold each, along with some silver and bronze
The high point of the second annual convention of the Event & Entertainment Management Association (EEMA) was played out on July 11 evening. The EEMAX awards were held for the first time to honour the exceptional work done by the event agencies of India. Wizcraft International Entertainment and Candid Marketing won the maximum number of gold -- three each.
The Awards received 700 entries from 44 companies. The 21 categories included the Best Signature Event, the Best Live Televised Event, the Best Sporting Event, the Best Outdoor and Public Event, the Best School Contact Programme, the Best Consumer Activation programme, the Best Road show, the Best Wedding, the Best Conference, the Best Exhibition Design, the Best Online Activation and the two most talked about categories -- Best 360 degree initiative and Most Effective Return on Investment on a Small Budget.
Sabbas Joseph, director of Wizcraft International Entertainment, says, "It feels especially good to win at the EEMAX, considering that we submitted very few entries (eight). Winning for five of them is phenomenal."
As to why the agency went for just eight entries, Joseph states that Wizcraft, along with Showtime Events, took a conscious decision to go for fewer entries. Being one of the few bigger agencies, they considered it unfair to try and win as many awards as they could.
Candid got its gold in the Best Integrated Solution and Best Consumer Activation Programme categories, for the work done on Pond's Age Miracle activation. The third gold came for ESPN Learning Ground in the Best School Contact Programme.
Atul Nath, co-founder and managing director, says, "All of us at Candid are delighted with the six EEMAXs we have won. As ever, this is a reflection of our client and brand focussed approach to brand activation. It is particularly satisfying, because we won an award in each and every activation category of the EEMAX awards."
While Wizcraft bagged gold for its own property, IIFA, which is arguably the largest event property in India, Joseph says that the most precious gold for the agency is the one they got for promoting the movie, Delhi-6.
"It is only very recently that we entered into the promotional space, and winning an award for it in the very first year feels very special and motivating. Considering that every Friday a new movie releases along with its own promotions, the impact we made with the Delhi-6 promotion was huge, even making a space in the Guinness Book of World Records."
Other agencies who won their share of gold at EEMAX 2009 are Encompass Events (two gold, five silver and four bronze); Showtime Events (one gold, two silver and two bronze); Fountainhead Promotions & Events (one gold, two silver and one bronze); Jagran Solutions (a gold, a silver and a bronze); ShowWorks Eventz (one gold and one silver); Cineyug Films, 360 Degrees Experience and Percept D'Mark, each with one gold and one bronze; and E-Factor Entertainment and Rachnoutsav Events with one gold each.
The rest of the trophies went to Krayons Entertainment (four silver and one bronze); E 18 (two silver); Seventy Event Management Group (a silver and a bronze); DNA Networks and Marketing Solutions with one silver each; Bellset Entertainment, Phase 1 Events and Entertainment and Impresario Event Management with two bronze each; and CS Direkt and Vibgyor Brand Services with one bronze each.