Mid-Day, Dainik Bhaskar, TOI, ET and HT win metals at INMA Awards 2010

India shone bright at the INMA (International News Media Marketing Association) Awards 2010 held in New York, USA on April 28. Five newspapers, including The Times of India (TOI), Hindustan Times (HT), Mid-Day, The Economic Times (ET) and Dainik Bhaskar have bagged 12 metals in all.

From India, Mid-Day was the front runner in the award ceremony. The afternooner bagged six awards, including a gold, three silvers and two bronzes. The gold was awarded in the Marketing Campaign That Had the Most Profound Effect on Business category (75,000-300,000 circulation range), for 'Kotak Mahindra Bank presents Mid-Day Corporate Cricket League'. The format saw 32 corporate teams competing against each other for more than five weeks. In the same category, Mid-Day's Vodafone Presents India 9to5 won a silver metal as well.

The Power of Ideas campaign, also carried out on afaqs!, bagged a gold for ET in the Marketing Campaign That Had the Most Profound Effect on Business category (more than 3,00,000 circulation).

The India 9to5 campaign won many awards for Mid-Day, including a silver for Readership/Usage of the Print Newspaper (75,000-3,00,000 circulation) category. In the same category, for newspapers with more than 3,00,000 circulation, Dainik Jagran received a gold for its 'Campaign For Electoral Reforms'.

Vodafone Presents India 9to5's MMS contest also bagged a bronze in the Marketing Solutions for Advertising Clients category. Dainik Bhaskar (Bhopal edition) won a silver in the same category (for newspapers with circulation of more than 3,00,000) for its 'Full Tambola Full Housie' initiative.

In another category, titled Public Relations and Community Service by newspapers (with a print run of 75,000-3,00,000), Mid-Day Infomedia, Mumbai got the second and third places for its Don't Talk and Drive Campaign and Don't Drink and Drive campaigns, respectively. In the same category (for papers with more than 3,00,000 print run), The Economic Times, New Delhi bagged the third position for its 'The Power of Ideas' initiative.

Manajit Ghoshal, managing director and chief executive officer, Mid-Day Infomedia, says, "Mid-Day has bagged the highest number of awards for marketing campaigns across the world. It establishes the fact that we believe in doing things differently. Our focus is purely on innovations and these innovations and marketing campaigns are working well for the brand."

In an official communiqué, Earl J Wilkinson, executive director and chief executive officer, INMA, says, "Impact campaigns, high awareness and clear return on investment were the hallmarks of this year's award winners. Marketing geared towards growing audience, advertising and brand across platforms clearly stood out among this year's award winning entries."