Maxus duo wins AAAI-Cannes Young Lions Media Competition 2012

Close on the heels of Leo Burnett's Vasanth Clement Ebenezer and Harshavardhan Tanvar winning the AAAI-Cannes Young Lions Creative Competition, the winners of the media competition have been announced as well.

The theme for this year's competition, an initiative by the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) supported by The Times Group, was 'Beat Breast Cancer with Regular Check-Ups'. The teams were required to submit a media strategy (for a six-month campaign with a budget of Rs 10 crore) to induce a large number of medical check-ups and bring about a behavioural change in women. The target audience were urban women in the age group of 30-50 years.

Around 35 entries were received from leading media agencies across the country. Nine teams were eventually shortlisted for the final round, where the teams were required to present a 10-minute AV and after the presentation, foot a Q&A session.

The jury judging the AAAI-Cannes Young Lions Media Competition 2012 comprised Sam Balsara, chairman and managing director, Madison World; Lynn de Souza, chairman and chief executive officer, Lintas Media Group; Ambika Srivastava, chairperson, VivaKi Exchange; and CVL Srinivas, chairman, SMG India and managing director, LiquidThread (APAC).

The Maxus duo will now head to Cannes as the official Indian team to take part in the International Young Lions Media Competition 2012 at Cannes Lions in June. The Times Group, the official festival representatives of Cannes in India, will bear the expenses of the winning team's trip.

An elated Grover tells afaqs! that he is looking forward excitedly to the international competition and winning it with Bajaj will be an "absolute dream".

Talking about the winning entry, Grover says that they decided to challenge the brief by targeting husbands instead of women.

"Women usually are busy with their hectic schedules and chores. We thought husbands could be seen as a source of comfort, as someone who could encourage their wives to go ahead and get a check-up done. This could later have a spill over effect on mothers, sisters and friends," says Grover.

With a campaign they named 'I Care. I am Here.', he explained that the suggested media vehicles were chosen by deciding on "contextual targeting" with campaigns in financial dailies and radio spots in the morning, to target men on their way to work. Other media included heavy social media and digital activity, integration with Aamir Khan's TV show 'Satyamev Jayate' and on-ground activation.

Talking about the winning team, Vinod Nair, managing director, Network Advertising, says, "The Maxus team was fundamentally rooted in its approach. We found the thinking to be innovative and they were great presenters. The winning team will represent India at an international contest. Hence, in addition to strategic thinking, excellent presentation skills were a must, which the Maxus Team displayed."

"We looked at content, innovative approach, presentation skills and ability to handle impromptu situations. Two other teams came close to winning but Maxus eventually scored better than the rest on these counts," adds Balsara.