ZenithOptimedia India celebrates ZO Shresht Awards

A unique way to prepare itself for entering into various national and international awards in future.

Neha Saraiya | Delhi | June 27, 2011

Often, we look for platforms like Goafest and Cannes to sit back and applaud our talent, lest we forget to acknowledge our agency's internal endowment. Resting on the same notion, Publics Group's Media buying offshoot, ZenithOptimedia recently celebrated 'ZO Shresht Awards' in the capital.  As the name suggests, the awards galore was an in-house event organised by the agency to mark and celebrate the effort led by their heroes-cum-employees throughout the year. Also, it was conducted with a purpose of familiarising the team of the process of participating in any award shows- right from the process of short listing the work within the agency, to filing, supporting and updating  it within a stipulated time.

The awards  were segmented into six major categories including, 'Best Integrated Campaign', 'Best Use of Media-TV', 'Best Use of Media-Print', 'Best Use of Media-Radio', 'Best Use of Media in Outdoor' and 'Best ROI campaign'.

Decoding the idea behind the event, Satyajit Sen, CEO, ZenithOptimedia explained, “The award has been instituted to recognize efforts of individuals and teams who have gone beyond the call of duty and put work before self to make significant contribution to team objectives. The whole exercise was done in a way that we could get familiar with the process to enter our outstanding works into various awards. You may call it our preparation for the upcoming awards functions.”

When asked why ZO took such a long time to go for the awards, Sen said, “Frankly saying, we couldn't start this because we kept our work first. Now after such hard work, the time has come to get appreciated so the preparation or rehearsal took place.”

Explaining the energy and excitement within the team, Sen told BestMediaInfo.com, “The whole arrangement was done by our internal team. Out team members took over the stage and mesmerized all with their electrifying performances.”

The winners of the awards were teams who have worked on different accounts. Like in the 'Best Integrated Campaign' category, Silver metal was awarded to 'Uninor' team while Yakult group won gold in the same arena. For 'Best use of TV as a Media', 'Teacher's' team fetch silver and ibibo tamed gold.   Similarly the print silver award was bagged by Uninor (Dynamic Pricing) team, Radio Gold by 'Maggi Bhuna Masala' bunch and OOH silver by 'Everyday' squad while 'Best ROI campaign' went to 'Times Jobs' side in form of a Silver.

But the starlet of the awards ceremony titled as 'The Shresht ZOite', was handed over to the Reckitt Benckiser operations team for their unending zeal and dedication to their work. As Sen elaborates further, “This year the award has been won by the Reckitt Benckiser Operations Team for their outstanding effort in handling the entire operations of one of the leading spenders in the country, starting from scratch. The team spent many a nights slogging, making office their home. The recognition of this effort was recognition of their character- a true representation of the human side of the media business, where passion meets work and ordinary men out perform beyond the call of duty. “

The awarded campaigns and their impact:

Uninor which won the Silver in the Integrated Campaign Category –

Fought clutter by claiming “It's my time now” and taking forward this proposition across media in the most efficient and innovative manner. From running spots specially produced for the key protagonists of soaps on TV to giving the consumers a chance to be an RJ for a day. It was acknowledged as the most powerful launch, building rapid awareness and become among the fastest mobile subscriber to get its first million subscribers.

Yakult  which won the Gold in the Integrated Campaign Category

A new brand in a relatively new category with limited budgets managed to gain market share at lightning speed. Effectively, Delivered on the family health drink proposition. Ride on the opportunity the brand ambassador Kajol, new film launch 'We Are Family'. Took the simple idea of Family and the presence of the Brand ambassador across media by carrying out a 360 degree campaign driving brand saliency.

Ibibo won the Gold in the Best Use of Media TV Campaign

Changed the game of Cinema to interactivity - by creating the game “Mumbai Underworld” and leveraging  the fetish for Bollywood by tying-up with the movie “Once Upon A Time In Mumbai”. They used celebrity endorsements, Facebook & live characters from the movie in the game. There was a spike in the time spent on the website and the number of people visiting the site, and continued engagement. A win-win for the film and the website.  A true example of when the media became the message and the messenger.

Teacher's that won the Silver in the best use of Media - TV

Celebrated the spirit of Achievement through a huge Pre-post and On-Event PR coverage of the Teacher's Achievement Awards across 15 leading News channels ; 54 English & Vernacular dailies and magazines and 75 websites across various Business, Entertainment and Information portals. It led to a 20% growth in the brand post the event.

Uninor - Dynamic Pricing that won the Silver in the Best use of media - Print

Another example of innovative use of a static medium to deliver the message of dynamism. Uninor Discounts in  Every Page of the Newspaper, taking forward the new campaign based on discounts depending on the time and place. Uninor innovatively used different sizes and space in Print to communicate the message of 'dynamic pricing'. With every page the discount kept on increasing with increasing size of the ad demonstrating price differentials.

Maggi Bhuna Masala won the Gold in the Best use of media – Radio Category:

A classic case of using a macro opportunity to leveraging a brand proposition. The Bhuna Masala ready mix formula proposition - bargained to Fight inflation by creating a tactical radio campaign when the price of onion sky-rocketed last year. The RJ's invited people to call in and bargain in order to reduce the price of onion. The best bargainers were given gift hampers. This helped in building the value proposition of the brand. The campaign also led to a huge spike in its sales.

Best Use of media in Outdoor – Everyday, Silver:

The classic brand fading popularity was rejuvenated by reaching out through the use of an effective direct, non-traditional media. Everyday gained market share by creating drama in the lives of the people living in West Bengal.  Nestle looked beyond traditional media to reach out to the people of Bengal; by integrating the brand with Jatra – a well known folk theatre by weaving the brand into the script seamlessly and serving tea as refreshment.

Times Jobs won a Silver in the ROI category:

Changed perceptions by making it relevant for people looking at job opportunities at the mid and senior level. They took forward the insight that “emotions drive people to quit jobs” and created a campaign on print and online leading to a 100% increase in resume acquisition. The website is now the leading Job Search Portal in India.

Neha@BestMediaInfo.com

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