Sign up for afaqs! Newsletters
<FONT COLOR="#FF0033"><B>Cannes 2006:</B></FONT> No award in film category, but lots of optimism
With six entries in the Film category at the Cannes Advertising Festival, everybody saw bright chances of winning at least one award. But that was not the case
Saturday would have been a great day for India at Cannes had the ad agencies managed to bag an award or two in the Film category. But as it turned out, none of the six Indian entries short-listed in that category won an award.
In all, Cannes witnessed 500 entries this year in the Film category. India’s short-listed entries were from Leo Burnett (three entries), O&M, JWT and Publicis. But none of them could win a lion.
What went wrong? “There is nothing right or wrong,” says Piyush Pandey, chairman and national creative director, Ogilvy & Mather. “Awards in this category aren’t easy to win. The degree of difficulty is high. Moreover, advertising is subjective.” Pandey adds that this has been a great year for India at Cannes, with so many short-listed and award-winning entries in the other categories.
Elsie Nanji, vice-chairperson and chief creative officer, Ambience Publicis, says, “It just means that we need to try harder.” Though the Cannes jury is strict, Nanji believes there is scope for a lot of improvement in the Indian entries.
KV Sridhar (Pops), national creative director, Leo Burnett, says it was disappointing to hear the result. He thinks we were being ‘over ambitious’. He is pacifying himself by saying that ‘all good things come to an end’.
According to Pops, some of the reasons for the Indian entries not winning could be the lack of proper execution of the campaigns and the ideas not being very powerful. “The Film category is the most competitive,” he adds.
According to Pandey, there is reason to be happy for the good that has happened. “After all, beyond a certain point, you can only hope and pray,” he says candidly. Pops is also optimistic and confident that people are taking an interest in our work and noticing us.
Not winning in the Film category, which they had hopes for, has definitely not discouraged the admen. They believe that with every award, they are reaching new heights.
© 2006 agencyfaqs!