Effie Awards 2003 to be given away on August 22

This year's Effie Awards - organized under the aegis of the Bombay Ad Club, in association with principal sponsor Yahoo! India - are being given away in Mumbai on the evening of August 22. The two rounds of judging for this year's awards have been scheduled for August 8 and 13, a spokesperson for the Ad Club reveals. The annual awards, distributed for effectiveness in advertising and communication, is into its third year in the country, after having debuted here in 2001 as a part of the India Advertising Festival - Synergy 2001.

Speaking to agencyfaqs! about the awards, MG (Ambi) Parameswaran, executive director, FCB-Ulka, and president, The Advertising Club of Bombay, says that the response to the Effies has increased significantly over the past two years. "The Effies have grown in size and stature year after year, as the Indian Effies are the only national-level award for advertising effectiveness," he says. "Last year, we spun the event off into a standalone award, with its own cache. The response last year was great, and this year it is even better." He adds that this year, interest in the awards have heightened, with "a lot more clients and agencies making the effort to find out more about the awards. If you go back two years and see the quality of entries, and look at what we had last year and what we are expecting this year, you will see that the Effies are growing."

While the exact number of entries received this year is still to be disclosed, Parameswaran maintains that the number of entries from all over the country is increasing every year. "The award process is very well regulated by the AMA (the New York American Marketing Association), and we have to stick to their procedures," he explains. "So the entries have to be made as per a pre-designed format, irrespective of the category. So, if a campaign has not produced any noticeable effect on the brand's sales or image, it will stand no chance. I think, slowly, agencies and clients will start saying, months in advance, ‘This campaign is worth entering for Effies.' If that happens more and more, we would have served the entire industry very well." Parameswaran does, however, reveal that this year, entries have been received for both big and small campaigns. "You may well see some small campaigns giving a tough fight to big-bang campaigns," he cautions.

While the names of this year's jury members are not being revealed at this juncture, Parameswaran draws attention to Kaushik Roy's (head of marketing, Reliance India Mobile) role as the Chairperson of the Effies Committee. "Kaushik was the Chairperson last year, and this year too he has been kind enough to take on this responsibility," he says. "Kaushik has brought in Dorab Sopariwala (of ORG-Marg) as the Proctor for the Effies. He has also lined up a great group of judges, drawn from advertising, marketing, media and marketing research."

As was the case last year, this year too, Effies are being given away in four categories - Consumer Durables, Consumer Products, Services and Corporate Advertising. In addition to the Effies, a popular award - The People's Choice Trophy, decided by the audience at final presentation - will also be given to the best case study presentation. Interestingly, for the first time in the awards' history in this country, this year, Effie trophies are being given away to winning clients as well their respective agencies. Explaining this decision of the Ad Club, Parameswaran says, "We believe that great advertising is one that produces results in the market place, and often, this is a direct result of teamwork between the agency and the client. So, this year, we are planning to give two trophies to each winning entry - one for the agency, the other for the client."

This is the second year running that Yahoo! India has sponsored the Effie Awards locally, and Parameswaran is delighted with the association. "Yahoo! is a powerful medium that can help build brands and by associating with the Effies, Yahoo! India is sending a strong message that Yahoo! can be an integral part of an effective brand building campaign. As the award grows, we are sure they would want to continue with their support, just as some of the Ad Club's other sponsors have stayed with key awards and reaped immense benefits. We look forward to their continued support."

For its part, Yahoo! India is pleased with the opportunity the Effies presents. "The Effie Awards reward campaigns that worked for clients most effectively, and therefore, the Awards provide Yahoo! India the appropriate platform to communicate online success stories to a relevant audience," observes Neville Taraporewalla, director, sales and business development, Yahoo! India. "We believe that the Effie Awards brings together creative and strategic minds, and the event allows us to encourage these creative minds to use the dynamic opportunity the Internet presents for their clients." © 2003 agencyfaqs!