Alokananda Chakraborty
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IC of IAA to launch Showcase of Indian Advertising at AdAsia 2003

The India Chapter of International Advertising Association (IC of IAA) is also inviting agencies and advertisers to enter work to be featured in the Showcase

The India Chapter of International Advertising Association (IC of IAA) has formally announced that Volume II of its Showcase of Indian Advertising - a hardcover edition that aims to showcases the best of Indian advertising - will be launched at AdAsia 2003, being held at Jaipur, Rajasthan, in November this year. In this connection, the IC of IAA is also inviting agencies and advertisers to enter work that has been created between April 1998 and December 2002. While the last date for submission of entries is May 20, the IC of IAA informs that it would stretch the deadline "by a few days" to allow agencies and advertisers to enter work worthy of being in the Showcase.

For the record, the Showcase of Indian Advertising Volume I was released three years ago, and contained over 300 pieces of work (from 25 agencies and more than 130 advertisers) across categories and media. The inaugural volume had been edited by the late Frank Simoes, while Ivan Arthur had overseen its creative coordination. The selection panel for Volume I had been headed by K Kurian, and comprised Arthur, Usha Bhandarkar, Pheroza Bilimoria, KS Chakravarthy (Chax), Sudarshan Dheer, C Gangadharan, Preeti Vyas Gianetti, Viru Hiremath, Panna Jain, Ravi Kant, Bharat Kapadia, Kiran Khalap, Gopi Kukde, Sunil Lulla, Elsie Nanji, Ashok Nerker, Piyush Pandey, Roger Pereira, Shilpa Shah, Vinod Sharma and Kailash Surendranath. The Volume I project had been steered by Amol K Bose.

Speaking to agencyfaqs! about Volume II of the Showcase, Mukul Upadhyaya, chairman of the current project's steering committee, and member of the IC of IAA's managing committee, revealed that the IC of IAA expects some 3,000 entries for the latest edition of the book. "Volume I had been hugely successful and was well received by the advertising and marketing industries," he says. "This gives us the confidence that agencies and advertisers will respond positively to Volume II." He adds that agencies and advertisers can enter work under 39 categories, involving all media except Internet/Web and Direct Mail. Incidentally, a CD consisting of television and cinema commercials and radio spots will accompany the second volume. The Showcase would be given complimentary to delegates attending AdAsia 2003.

"AdAsia is a fantastic opportunity for India to display the best advertising it has created over the past four years, which is why we chose it as the venue to launch the Showcase," Upadhyaya explains. "The book will have the best work, which will complement everything India has to exhibit at AdAsia. The Showcase is a great opportunity for Indian agencies and advertisers to give delegates a lot to remember Indian advertising by."

While the selection panel for Volume II is yet to be constituted, Upadhyaya assures that the panel will have the best judges of advertising and creativity in India. "There is little doubt that we will get the most eminent and respected names in the industry to select the work, as we already have their support for the cause," he says. He adds that the panel will be dominated by creative "as the basic purpose of the book is to showcase creativity".

Entries are free of charge, which enables agencies and advertisers to enter as many pieces of work as they deem fit. However, Upadhyaya reveals that entries that are subsequently selected for display in the Showcase would be charged Rs 3,000 apiece, "to cover processing and production costs, administrative costs etc". He adds that the IC of IAA would not be imposing any limits on the number of entries that would make it to the book. "We will select the finest work, and are prepared to even double the number of pages if we have work that merits it," he says. "The only criteria that we shall apply to selection will be relevance, originality and impact - the new ROIs of advertising." For the record, enquiries can be directed at adshowcase@mail.com. © 2003 agencyfaqs!

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