Of print advertising, tough juries and un-awarded Abbys...<font size="1" face="Verdana"><b><font color="#FF0033"><u>Abby Awards!</u></font></b></font>

One of the more heartening aspects of the Abby Awards 2002 was the conspicuous absence of controversy - both in the run-up to the awards, and after (at least till now). True, after the awards, there was some amount of grumbling about "deserving" ads and campaigns "not winning". But this was mostly desultory, and can be attributed more to a sense of disappointment than anything else.

Rigging, favouritism, ‘influencing juries'… None of the usual allegations that dog award ceremonies were voiced this time (again, so far!). To the Bombay Ad Club's credit, if anything, most ad folk were heard talking of how the jury had apparently got ruthlessly strict this year. And this perceived no-nonsense attitude seems to have gone down well with most agencies.

Another interesting feature about this year's awards was the number - and quality - of print ads on display. Some of the most creative pieces of advertising were, in fact, seen in print. The ‘railway station' ad for Bisleri; the ‘mehendi on hands' ad for Femina; the ‘fence' ad for Colgate Gel; the ‘iron' ad for Live-in Lites; the ‘Swiss cheese' and ‘watches' ads for Schindler; the ‘clarity' ad for Toshiba; the ‘evolution' ad for Kotak Mahindra Primus; the ‘Before-After' ad for eye donation; the ‘quit' ad for Odomos; the Navbharat Times, Shoppers' Stop, Fevicol and Tata Safari LX print campaigns… Even the ads done by Contract and Saatchi & Saatchi in the Unpublished Work category were quite outstanding.

In fact, a look at the number of Abbys awarded in the Single Press and Single TV/Cinema subsets shows something interesting. In Single Press, 19 entries won Abbys (including two gold Abbys). In Single TV/Cinema, nine entries won Abbys, with only one gold going. Does say a thing or two about the assumptions that agencies don't really care for print any longer, and that creativity in print advertising is moribund!

Which brings us to the INS-sponsored ThinkPrint Contest. The contest - which was aimed at according print advertising its rightful place under the media sun - was about adapting Pepsi's new ‘Sumo wrestlers' television spot into a press ad. It might be recalled that last year too, the Abby function had the INS-sponsored Clutter-Busting Contest, which was won by Rensil D'Silva and Anup Chitnis of Mudra Communications.

At this year's ThinkPrint Contest, the Malayala Manorama-sponsored INS bronze trophy (with a cash prize of Rs 50,000) went to Quadrant Communications. The Outlook-sponsored INS silver trophy (with a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh) went to Mac Communications, while the Hindustan Times-sponsored INS gold trophy (with an expenses-paid trip for two to Cannes) was won by Concept. In this context, it must be mentioned that the Ad Club and the INS representatives slipped up by not displaying the award-winning ThinkPrint ads anywhere at the venue.

But what was most striking about this year's awards function was the number of Abbys that were not handed out. Take the number of gold Abbys awarded. Last year, 20 gold Abbys were shared by O&M, Lowe (then Lowe Lintas), Enterprise Nexus, Quadrant, Leo Burnett, McCann-Erickson, Ambience D'Arcy, Ultimedia Technologies and the Rensil D'Silva-Anup Chitnis combine. This year, O&M, Leo Burnett and rmg david account for the five gold Abbys that passed hands. Entire categories went un-awarded this year, and even the Best Continuing Campaign of the Year category did not have a gold winner (O&M won the silver). And there was no Best Campaign of the Year category…

This was also a year of ‘diminishing returns', so to say. Most agencies returned poorer, compared to last year. O&M's gold Abby count is down to two from last year's four. Enterprise won three golds last year - this year it has just three silvers to show. HTA had quite a few silver Abbys last year, while this year it drew a blank. Quadrant's three gold Abbys from 2001 have been whittled down to two silvers. Ambience had won a gold last year, but no repeat performance this year for the agency. McCann too had carted home a gold last year - this year the agency didn't figure anywhere. Lowe, of course, was not participating. Of the big agencies, the only ones that can be pleased with this year's results are Leo Burnett and Contract. Burnett had won two gold Abbys last year… that figure is intact. And Contract has actually managed growing the number of Abbys won. Last year, the agency had just one silver Abby - this year it's up to four. rmg david too has reason the rejoice, of course.

All this is, perhaps, the result of a stringent jury that has taken on the task of ensuring that the standards of award-winning work are way up there. Which is a step in the right direction, in some ways. After all, ad folk should not go red in the face when referring to some pieces of advertising as ‘award-winning work'. "I think you must have a harsh jury that pushes you - it's good for the industry," says Piyush Pandey, group president and national creative director, O&M. "I think the jury was strict and the peer group good."

Pandey, however, argues it both ways. "I think there should have been more golds," he says. "Yes, perhaps the jury was a bit too harsh, and we, as an industry, must think about it. But we have the satisfaction of knowing that the jury didn't give away awards for free. And personally, I'd rather see a harsh jury than a lax one."

But there's a flip side to tough juries - the killjoy factor. Already there is talk about how the Abby Awards 2002 lacked fizz because there just weren't enough reasons for agencies to cheer. "Yaar, bachhe logon ko encouragement chahiye," remarked one art director. "As it is, there's no bronze at the Abbys. Then you stop giving silvers and golds. If you make it so strict, where's the fun?"

Tough or easy, standards or fun… How to strike the right balance? That's something the Ad Club will have to figure out in time. © 2002 agencyfaqs!