<font color="#FF0033"><b>Abby Awards 2005</b></font>: Dark horse Rediff romps home

With agencies like Enterprise, McCann, Ambience and Burnett in the fray, not many were prepared to give Rediffusion | DYR any chances of making a serious bid to the top three slots. Yet, the proverbial dark horse did exceptionally well at the Abbys – picking up a gold and six silvers – even to the extent of surprising itself, one may say.

The agency clocked a total of eight points, the same as Everest, but had to settle for the No 3 spot as it had one gold less than its sibling. However, claiming the third spot at this year’s awards was poetic justice, in a way. After all, last year, Rediffusion had lost out on the third position because it entered its work for Thomson (which won two silver Abbys) under the name of Paragon Advertising.

This year, Rediffusion won its lone gold in the Press Single category for its ad for Colgate Whitening. But the good part is that the six silvers came to the agency from all three major categories – Press, TV/Cinema and Radio. In Press, Rediffusion won two silvers for Eveready (the ‘robot’ and ‘penguin’ ads) in the Consumer Durables category. It was action-replay in the Accessories & Automotive category, with two press ads for Xtramile (‘Tic Toc’ and ‘Aa Choo’) winning silvers. In the TV/Cinema category, Rediffusion won a silver for the ‘football’ film for Tata Corporate. Its sixth silver came in the Radio category for Colgate Fresh Energy Gel’s ‘Pick-up-line’ spot.

In a celebratory mood, Adrian Mendonza, vice-president and executive creative director, Rediffusion | DYR, looked a wee bit wide-eyed. “This year has been great for us. I would especially like to thank our clients such as Indian Oil Corporation for supporting us. Good ads are always a joint effort of the agency and the client.”

With wins at the Abbys, Mendonza is confident that now, besides being known for its strategic work, Rediffusion would hopefully be known for its creative worth as well.

© 2005 agencyfaqs!