<font color="#FF0033"><b>Abby 2005 Countdown</b></font>: McCann bets on Perfetti, NDTV, Hanes

McCann Erickson’s prospects at the Abbies this year are bright, says Prasoon Joshi. According to him, the agency has churned out some good work for brands across the board.

In an earlier interview to agencyfaqs!, Joshi enumerated on the campaigns that he thought would add value to the McCann roster. “We are proud of the work we have done for MasterCard, and for Perfetti,” he said. In his list of favourites were also NDTV and Siemens.

This year, the agency has around 20 Abby nominations across categories. “What I like about our nominations is the variety,” said Joshi. Among them, the strong contenders are Happy Dent, Hanes, Big Babool, Master Card and NDTV.

Interestingly, Big Babool and Hanes have already won at the AP Ad Fest 2005, according to information available with agencyfaqs!

For the last two years, McCann has put up an impressive show at the Abbies. In 2003, it won Campaign of the Year gold for Coke and came second with an overall tally of seven points. The Thanda Matlab creative won the prestigious Campaign of the Year award against stiff competition from O&M’s Center Shock and Amaron.

The same campaign also won a gold in the Foods, Beverages and Tobacco category, besides the Copywriter of the Year award for Prasoon Joshi. Last year, the agency bettered its lot with eight points by virtue of a gold for the ‘paanch’ campaign in the Beverages & Tobacco category and another for Sweetex banner in the Outdoor Category.

Industry Buzz: Big Babool has a good chance of winning, both in the Outdoor and Print categories, while Hanes is a strong contender among TVCs. And, if the good show of these entries at the AP AdFest is any indicator, they could well bring home a few metals for McCann from the Abby. NDTV too has a fair chance, but it could face stiff competition from Bennett and Coleman, a regular winner in the Media sub-category: The radio spot for Coke gets the industry nod as well.

© 2005 agencyfaqs!