IPA award shortlist announced

agencyfaqs! News Bureau

NEW DELHI, September 23

The Institute of Practioners in Advertising (IPA), London, announced the shortlist for the prestigious IPA Advertising Effectiveness Awards in London on September 21. This is the 20th year of the awards. About 40 advertisements spanning the entire range of products from food to mobile phones have been shortlisted.

Prominent among them are the Siza advertisement by Saatchi & Saatchi, of Cape Town, the "Is that the Time" ad by Leo Burnett Limited of London, the "What a Difference a Day Makes" ad by BDH, TBWA of Manchester, and the "Little Miss Muffet" advertisement by D'Arcy of London.

The awards are hotly contested. The essentials of the contest have not changed. The judges of the contest tried to isolate the elements of communications from the other elements of the marketing mix. The main criterion, according to the IPA, was the quality of the evidence offered to show that communications have made a contribution to the business.

The IPA is the industry body and professional institute for the UK's thriving and highly potent advertising agency business. They advise, promote, set standards and reward advertising that works. The IPA is a non-profit making organisation and is funded by member subscriptions.

Many of the advertisements that made it to the shortlist have common features, and made an appreciable difference to the clients.

For example, the "Fuzzy Navel" ad that was created for television, by Court Burkitt & Company had the brief of making a new alcoholic drink brand take root in the shifting sands of Europe's drinking culture. The agency had to get over the ceiling that the cocktail industry had reached in the 1980s in Europe. An adaptive advertising strategy kick-started growth, encouraged trial, helped Archers weather further shifts in drinking patterns and also played a vital part in its defence. The creators of the advertisement now feel that they have been able to turn back drinking fashions towards the Archers, presaging a further period of outstanding growth.

The "Dino Time 97" ad for Kraft Jacobs Suchard's cheese named Dairy Lea, on television, with the tagline, "The Dairy Lea that you can Dunk", enabled Dairy Lea to transform itself into a multi-purpose Powerbrand across existing and newly created categories. According to the creators of the advertisement, the ad augmented Dairy Lea's value by more than twice the total advertising outlay.

Not all of the shortlisted advertisements addressed the concerns of the consumer world. Some of the advertisements addressed social issues. One example of this was the "Little Miss Muffet" ad of D'Arcy, in the TV media of the United Kingdom, that had been commissioned by the department of education of the British government. The mandate to the advertising agency was to mobilise parents to help improve the reading ability of their children. The ad was raised by concern about lower reading skills of British children.

The ad, with the tagline, "A little reading goes a long way" showed a member of the minority African British community, teaching his child to read. The advertisement arose from the fact that significant evidence suggested greater parental involvement was key to reading improvement among children.

The campaign overcame attitudinal barriers and lack of confidence among parents, mobilising them to become more active in their children's reading. It also won the support of the teaching profession.

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