<FONT COLOR="#FF0033"><B>Abby Awards 2006:</B></FONT> Even the missing agencies got their share of the limelight

Although agencies such as Lowe and Leo Burnett did not show up at the Abby Awards 2006, their creatives, entered by either the film production house or the client itself, won a few awards

People certainly missed agencies such as Lowe, McCann-Erickson and Leo Burnett at the Abby Awards 2006. But that didn’t mean that these agencies didn’t get their share of the limelight.

To begin with, Pranesh Misra, president and COO, Lowe, not only made his presence felt at the event, he was also called on stage to present a few awards.

Then, Lowe had two of its ad films getting a gold and a silver each. The gold was won by Greenply Plywood’s ‘Sardar Kid’ ad, which was entered by Nirvana Films, in the Film Single: Homes, Décor, Leisure category.

Lowe’s other creation that won a silver was the Surf Excel ‘Puddle War’ ad film. Ramesh Deo Productions entered this ad in the Film Single: Healthcare, Household Care, Toiletries and Cosmetics category. The names of Preeti Nair and Arun Iyer of Lowe were included in the credits.

Abhinay Deo of Ramesh Deo Productions comments, “Certain films are really worth entering for awards and, at the end of the year, a team needs to be appreciated for its efforts.”

“We entered the Surf Excel campaign because we worked very hard on it. The due credit must be given to whoever has worked on an ad. I’m sure the issues with the agencies will get sorted out one day,” he says.

Similarly, Leo Burnett, which also decided to stay away from the Abbys, 2006, had its film, the ‘Pakya’ ad for ‘The Times of India’, win a silver. ‘The Times of India’ entered this ad directly in the Film Campaign: Media category.

Interestingly, McCann-Erickson, which also stayed away from the Abbys this year, had its regional creative director, South and South East Asia, Prasoon Joshi, as the chairman of the jury in the Print category.

Commenting on the missing agencies, Ajay Chandwani, chairman, Abby Awards Judging Committee, says, “Participating in the Abbys is an agency’s internal decision and I would say that the best works got the awards.”

“However, I would also say that we missed these agencies and the competition would certainly have been close had they been here. I am sure they’ll be here next year,” he added.

© 2006 agencyfaqs!