The Gunn Report 2002: O&M India finds three mentions

O&M India has just found three more reasons to cheer!

According to the latest issue of the annual Gunn Report - The Gunn Report 2002, compiled and presented by creative legend Donald Gunn - the Indian agency is among the 50 Most Awarded Agencies (individual agencies in a single market) in the world in 2002. And two pieces of work produced by O&M India have also worked their way into the Report. While the ‘Second-hand smoke kills' press ad for the Cancer Patients Aid Association (CPAA) is among the 50 Most Awarded Print Ads in 2002, the Fevicol ‘bus' commercial finds a place in the Showreel of the Year 2002… Which, by default, makes it one among the Top 104 commercials from last year (and one among the 140 showcased in the Showreel).

In the list of the 50 Most Awarded Agencies - the actual number is 54 agencies, as there are nine agencies jointly sharing the 45th spot - O&M India comes in a No. 45 (meaning, it is one among the just-mentioned nine). With 8 points, O&M India (Mumbai) shares the honour with agencies/offices such as BDDP & Fils, Cliff Freeman & Partners (New York), two Saatchi & Saatchi offices (Singapore and Torrance, California), two TBWA offices (Berlin and Paris), Duval Guillaume (Brussels) and sister agency, O&M, Frankfurt.

In the 50 Most Awarded Print Ads list, the ‘Second-hand smoke' ad, with 9 advertising points, shares the seventh spot with a campaign for Harvey Nicholl's Sale and an ad for The Economist. The only print ads with more advertising points are the hugely-awarded (and infamously famous) campaign for Club 18-30 Holidays (27 points), the FedEx ‘box' ad (17 points), the campaigns for Dulux Paints, CampaignBrief Asia and Nike (‘Enjoy the Weather'), and an ad for the Land Rover Freelander.

While the Fevicol film was not able to make it to the 50 Most Awarded Commercials list, one cannot term it as a case of ‘missing the bus' (pardon the pun). Making it to the Showreel is evidence enough of how the spot has been judged by the compilers of The Gunn Report. Also, it may be noted that the Fevicol film is among just three ads in the Showreel in the Home Maintenance category - the other two being two commercials for Dulux Paints.

Needless to say, Piyush Pandey, group president & national creative director, O&M India, is ecstatic. "This is one more step in my ambition of putting O&M India in the world's advertising map," he says. "And it is a tribute to the entire team, the entire agency. This is also in line with what Ranjan (Kapur) and the executive committee in India are aiming for as O&M India's next goals. We don't want to be the best only in India. We want to be the best worldwide."

Pandey believes that this feat is the result of a buildup that has been on for the past three-four years. "We had been making a regular and dominant presence at the Asian level, and had been winning sporadically at the global level," he says. "However, last year was very significant even internationally, with big wins at Cannes, the Clios, the One Show and at London (the London International Advertising Awards). These kind of laurels happen when all that falls into place." He adds that the findings of the Report are "very satisfying as they further consolidate O&M India as a center of creative excellence".

While O&M India's achievements are creditable, mention must be made of the big winners. Reebok's brilliant ‘escape the sofa' commercial (conceptualized by Lowe, London) was the Most Awarded Commercial in 2002, picking up 23 points. The ‘twist' ad for Levi's Engineered Jeans (by BBH, London) had to settle for the second spot courtesy a 1-point deficit. Nike's Cannes-award winning ‘tag' spot (by Wieden & Kennedy, Portland) was pushed to No. 3 by a similar margin. The television campaign for Fox Sports (‘boat', ‘leaf blower' and ‘nail gun'), created by TBWAChiatDay, San Francisco, was at No. 4 (with 18 points), while W+K's ‘shade runner' spot for Nike was at No. 5 (with 16 points).

When it comes to the Most Awarded Countries in 2002, the United States and Britain, expectedly, dominate. In fact, as The Gunn report notes, ‘Between them these two markets accounted for 31.5 per cent of all winners at qualifying level in Gunn Reports shows in 2002.' Spain comes next, while the Report states that Germany ‘surged up the table from eighth to fourth'. South American stalwarts Brazil and Argentina come in at No. 5 and No. 6, respectively, followed by France and Japan.

Nike heads the Most Awarded Brands list, with 54 points. Volkswagen (39 points), Budweiser (21 points), Levi's (20 points) and Ikea (19 points) constitute the remaining Top Five. With 44 points to his credit, Frank Budgen of Britain is the top director in the list of the Most Awarded Directors. The second spot is shared by Baker Smith of the US, Daniel Kleinman of Britain and Simon Bross of Mexico City (19 points each), while Joe Pytka of the US and Thailand's Suthon Petchsuwan are jointly at No. 3, with 12 points each.

W+K, Portland, has emerged as the Most Awarded Agency in 2002, with 40 points. Saatchi & Saatchi, London, follows suit with 31 points, narrowly edging past Dentsu (Tokyo & Osaka), which got 30 points. BBH, London, is at No. 4 (with 28 points), while Abbott Mead Vickers/BBDO, London, comes in at No. 5 (with 27 points). Heading the list of Top Agency Networks is BBDO Worldwide. Saatchi & Saatchi comes next, while the third, fourth and fifth positions are taken by DDB Worldwide, TBWA and Leo Burnett, respectively.

For the record, The Gunn Report arrives at these lists by combining the winners lists from all the most important award shows from the world over, which include some global contests, and some regional and national ones. This year's Report states that, ‘For the year 2002 Report, we are including the Top 32 shows in the world for TV & Cinema, and the Top 20 for Print.' A point Pandey draws attention to. "O&M India has participated in maybe half a dozen of the shows the Report has covered. If we had participated in more, who knows…" he smiles and shrugs.

So how is year 2003 going to be for O&M India? "The first of the lot, the (AP) AdFest, is over, and our performance this year has been better than last year's," Pandey says, unwilling to hedge any bets. "The basic body of work looks very strong. Beyond that, I can't say. The more you speculate, the more you go wrong." © 2003 agencyfaqs!