<b><font color="#FF0000">Effie 2004</font></b>: Price's no barrier to agencies

The Effies 2004, organised by the Advertising Club of Bombay on October 18 in Mumbai, stood out not only for the number of entries it attracted (79 in all as compared to 62 last year), but also for the enthusiasm of the participants.

"Across categories, there was a greater level of participation by agencies this year. And clients seemed to be backing the efforts of their agencies," says Kalpana Rao, chairperson, Effie Committee.

Price seemed to be no deterrent to the participants this year, given the fact that each entry amounted to an outlay of Rs 17,500 for the agency. "The reason for the steep entry price is because we have to pay royalty to the New York American Marketing Association, who are the promoters of the Effie Awards," says Rao.

Participation calls for strict adherence to procedures, including writing case studies in a certain format. "This is where a number of the participants tend to falter. The presentations are not much of an issue when compared to the written case studies. Many tend to be verbose in their case studies, when the requirement is to communicate the point effectively without being too lengthy," Rao explains.

In all, a total of seven agencies made presentations on October 18. Last year, the figure stood at eight and the number of entries shortlisted during the first and second rounds of judging were 25 and 16, as compared to 22 and 14 this year.

The first round of judging, incidentally, concluded on September 15, while the second round of judging was completed on September 24. The jurors numbered 23 in all, with Dorab Sopariwala acting as the proctor during judging.

Going by the over-whelming response to the Effies this year, Rao is hopeful that the entry tally will touch the 100-mark next year.

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