EMVIES 2003: Who will be Media Agency of the Year?

It has no desire of doing an encore. That is pretty clear. Last year, WPP Media lost out to Lodestar as the Media Agency of the Year at the prestigious Bombay Ad Club-organised EMVIE Awards ceremony. This year, however, the media behemoth has come prepared.

Of the 23 shortlisted case studies presented at the Rama Watumal Hall, KC College of Management Studies, Mumbai, 10 were from WPP Media, implying, a representation of 43.48 per cent. Lodestar and MediaCom followed next with three entries each while Madison and Euro RSCG had two entries each and Ogilvy Landscape (O&M's outdoor wing), Zenith Media and Malayala Manorama (for Best Marketer of the Year) had singular entries to their credit.

Despite the lopsided list, the interesting aspect of this year's shortlists, was a greater representation of agencies - a welcome relief from last year when Lodestar and WPP Media dominated the show. Says Apurva Purohit, president, ZEE TV and jury-member at the shortlist stage, who, incidentally led Lodestar to victory last year. "There were almost two to three case studies from different agencies implying that many who had participated had crossed the initial hurdle (preliminary round)."

Says Kalpana Rao, chairperson, EMVIES Committee, "The number of entries this year was almost 130 - a huge increase from last year, when the figure stood at 80. Also, the quality of presentations this year is much better than last year, and, we provided copies of the shortlisted case studies to the jurors for reading, which was collected from them prior to judging."

The various categories for which judging concluded on June 21 included: Media Research - Horlicks (MediaCom), Town & Country (Madison) and Viewmatrix (WPP Media), Media Marketer - Malayala Manorama, Media Innovation - Outdoor - Tata Safari (Ogilvy Landscape), World Aids Day and Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan (Euro RSCG), Media Innovation - Print - Arrow Shirts (MediaCom), Pepsi aha Intrusion and Kodak Moments (WPP Media), Media Innovation - Internet - IBM-CIO-CTO.com (WPP Media), Media Innovation - TV - Arrow - Vodka Chasers (MediaCom), Whirlpool - Khulja Sim Sim (Lodestar) and Tide C.I.D copy (Madison), Media Innovation - Cinema - Tata Safari - Road and Close-Up Couple Corners (WPP Media), Media Innovation - Radio - Scorpio Live (Lodestar) and Kodak Moments FM (WPP Media) and Media Strategy - Kwality Walls, Clinic Plus Relaunch and Lifebuoy Relaunch (WPP Media), LML Freedom (Zenith Media) and Zod! Are you game (Lodestar).

Most entries as Purohit of ZEE asserts focused on how the "client's business could grow", indicating a positive change in the mindset of media professionals. "It is definitely a plus point, media is moving away from the routine of ‘I will deliver GRPs' to ‘How can I help my client's business grow'."

The maximum points accumulated by an agency will mean that it is the coveted Media Agency of the Year, and, if the grapevine is to be believed, WPP Media could walk away with the trophy "by virtue of quantum". "By default, they will be the Media Agency of the Year," points out a rather disgruntled planner from a rival agency.

The final results, however, will be out on June 26 at 7.00 pm. © 2003 agencyfaqs!