Effies judging goes digital as Delhi plays host

For the first time, the second round of judging took place in Delhi yesterday with 18 judges deciding the fate of 128 shortlisted entries

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | November 27, 2012

With the Effies 2012 judging in its final leg, The Advertising Club organised the second round of judging in Delhi for the first time where 18 judges from Delhi assessed 128 shortlisted entries yesterday. After this, Mumbai will host the second round of judging on November 29, 2012. The awards ceremony will take place on December 4, 2012 in Mumbai.

Ajay Kakar, Chairperson, Effie Committee and VP of The Ad Club, said, “In its 12th year, we have received a record number of entries. This year the number of entries at Effie has reached all-time high with 357 entries which is 20 per cent more than last year's record 300 entries. In terms of agency participation, we have seen more than 50 per cent of jump in the number of agencies compared with last year. This year, 50 agencies have participated against 29 agencies in 2011. This year we also introduced two new categories – Direct Marketing and Best Ongoing campaign. We also introduced a final round of judging in Delhi.”

“Most significantly, we have made the judging paperless and introduced online judging for better coordination between the judges. Everyone judges at his own pace on a computer screen and gives weightage and attention to the entries that they deserve. Therefore, we have gone digital not just for the sake of technology but to make the judges completely independent. At the end of the judging, we will have more than 120 judges from Indian marketing and advertising fraternity,” added Kakar.

Effies uses four criteria to judge the effectiveness of a campaign. They are: 'What is the strategic objective', 'What is the big idea', 'How the idea has been brought to life' and 'What are the results'.

Naveen Gaur, President, Lowe Lintas and Partners, who was one of the judges yesterday, said, “As a judge, I see that there are a lot of efforts and hard work behind every campaign and it's our responsibility to judge them very minutely. A digitally equipped judging process has made our work quite easier.”

Satbir Singh, Managing Partner and Chief Creative Officer, Havas Worldwide India, said, “This is my first year of judging at Effies and what I feel as important is that you see work from every category at one place.  In other awards judging, you are able to see the work from a particular category you are judging.”

Bipin Pandit, COO, The Ad Club, said, “We started online judging at Emvies this year and then introduced it for Effies. We have specialised software that helps smoothen the entire process of judging. Today, 18 judges are here in Delhi and we expect more than 22 judges in the last leg of judging in Mumbai on November 29.”

Also read: Ogilvy leads Effie 2012 shortlists

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

Info@BestMediaInfo.com