MindShare, Maxus, Leo Burnett win at Asian Marketing Effectiveness Awards, 2006

MindShare, India, has bagged three awards at the Asian Marketing Effectiveness Awards, 2006. In the Best Integrated Marketing Campaign category, MindShare bagged a silver for its work on Pepsi’s ‘Oye Bubbly’ campaign. ‘Oye Bubbly’ reached out to the consumers using multi-media channels and was initially intended to celebrate the wins by the Indian cricket team in the Pepsi Cup Cricket Series. Later on, it became a widespread phrase which connected with the Indian masses in triumphant moments during the cricket series. The result was a steep rise in the consumption of Pepsi by 25 per cent in the first week of the campaign.

In the second category for Most Effective Use of Sales Promotion and Point of Purchase, MindShare bagged a bronze for installing Spy Decoder Cards on the Pepsi 1.5 litre and 2 litre bottles. The consumers won an award when they flashed the special cards on the TV screen, whenever Pepsi aired a blue wipe during its commercials. This resulted in all-time high sales for Pepsi, apart from its already high brand recall.

The third win came as a commendation for working out the Night of Dares event in Bangalore for Mountain Dew under the category of Most Effective Use of Sponsorship. The event drove brand awareness through the use of various traditional media and resulted in making the event a success through public relations.

Leo Burnett bagged a bronze for Most Effective Use of Public Relations for a campaign for the Prerana anti-trafficking cell.

Prerana is a non-governmental organisation which is trying to put a curb on the growing number of girls between the ages of 14 and 18 years entering the commercial sex industry. After it was found that girls in this age group form close to 50 per cent of the commercial sex workers in Mumbai alone, Prerana launched the ‘Shattering the Lure of The City ’campaign. The campaign targeted the official authorities and also parents to make them aware of the perils their daughters faced when lured to the city with job promises. Television and outdoor were used extensively. The campaign was followed by a meeting of 30 NGOs to discuss the matter and made an impact on the government officials, resulting in immediate closure of the dance bars in the city.

Another Indian agency which won a commendation for the Best Small Budget Marketing campaign was Maxus for its work on Dr Fixit. Dr Fixit, a brand of Pidilite Industries, provides waterproofing solutions. It targeted Indian homes run predominantly by males, using cricket as its basic medium. Every time a fielder dropped a catch, a message popped up on the screen saying, ‘Leaky hands? Dr Fixit Waterproofing Solutions’. Another message read,‘Waterproofing Solutions. Unfortunately Not for Pitches’, whenever the game was interrupted by rain.

MindShare’s digital and online division, known as MindShare Interaction India, also bagged a commendation for Castrol Activ 4T under the category, Most Effective Use of Interactive Marketing—New Media. The campaign, called ‘Bikes Ki Nayi Bhasha’, targeted males in the age group of 18-35 years and used mobile phones and the online medium to put its message across.

While MindShare dominated the show for India in 2006, it was O&M which had led the charge last year. Back then, O&M won two bronze awards, one in the Most Effective Use of Direct Marketing—Print category for IBM and another for the VIP Frenchie X Line underwear for men in the Best Integrated Marketing Campaign category. Last year’s other winners include MindShare Fulcrum (which bagged a silver for the Most Effective Use of Branded Content for Lux Soap), Leo Burnett and McCann-Erickson, which bagged a commendation each under the category Best Insights/ Strategic Thinking, for Indian National Congress and Saffola Cooking Oil, respectively.

The Asian Marketing Effectiveness Awards (AMEA) were instituted in 2003. These are the only regional awards to recognise marketing campaigns in terms of effectiveness for overall improved business performance. AMEA identifies the apparent result achieved at the end of a campaign when a company differentiates its product or service as a brand.

There are 18 categories spanning various marketing disciplines and covering the aspects of advertising, direct marketing, product design, strategic thinking, brand content, sales promotion and event marketing.

The event took place on the evening of June 28 at The Grand Hyatt in Hong Kong. The year 2006 saw 446 entries from all over Asia. The winners were felicitated with commendations and bronze, silver and gold awards. The one best entry that in actual effect established a considerably improved business performance was awarded the Platinum Award for its campaign.

© 2006 agencyfaqs!