Adfest revamps Special Awards for greater transparency

The repositioning acknowledges that TV is no longer king. The Agency of the Year Award can now be won by any agency, regardless of whether it's an advertising, digital or direct agency

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | February 13, 2013

Adfest has revised the way its Special Awards are tallied, making the process more transparent for agencies, production companies and marketers entering the Adfest 2013 Lotus Awards.

The following Special Awards will now be tallied as follows:

Network of the Year: This accolade will now be awarded to the agency network that wins the highest number of Grande, Gold, Silver, Bronze, and finalists in all Lotus categories, excluding Film Craft, New Director, and production-based Print Craft sub-categories. (Previously, all Craft categories contributed to the Network of the Year winner.)

Agency of the Year: Previously called 'Advertising Agency of the Year', the Agency of the Year Award will now be awarded to any advertising, digital, integrated, PR or communications agency. The agency that wins the highest number of Grande, Gold, Silver, Bronze, and finalists in all Lotus categories, including Direct Lotus, Promo Lotus, Interactive Lotus and Mobile Lotus (but excluding Film Craft, New Director and production-based Print Craft sub-categories) will claim this title.

Interactive Agency of the Year: This will be awarded to the agency that wins the highest number of Grande, Gold, Silver, Bronze, and finalists in the Interactive Lotus and Mobile Lotus categories.

Production Company of the Year: Previously called 'Film Production Company of the Year', this Special Award now tallies all Gold, Silver, Bronze, and finalists wins of the Production Company credits regardless of medium (including Print Production, Sound Production, Post-Production, Film Production, and other production-related companies). Only Craft categories will contribute to the final tally including Film Craft, New Director and production-based Print Craft sub-categories to award the craftsmanship in production.

Advertiser of the Year: This accolade will now be awarded to the advertiser that wins the highest number of Grande, Gold, Silver, Bronze and finalists in all Lotus categories, excluding Film Craft, New Director and production-based Print Craft sub-categories. (Previously, all Craft categories contributed to the Advertiser of the Year winner).

There have been no changes to the Direct & Promo Agency of the Year Special Awards. It will be awarded to the agency that wins the highest number of Grande, Gold, Silver, Bronze, and finalists in the Direct Lotus and Promo Lotus categories.

The Grande for Humanity is a brand new award recognising excellence in Public Services. Adfest's panel of Jury presidents will determine the winner of this award.

As the Grand Prix of the Lotus Awards, all Grande winners (formerly also called 'Best') will score 10 points. The Grande winners in the Integrated Lotus (previously 360 Lotus), Innova Lotus, Lotus Roots and Effective Lotus categories will now win 15 points (up from 12 points previously). The Grande for Humanity will also be awarded 15 points.

While Adfest no longer accepting campaign entries, juries may group single entries into a campaign if they agree the single executions are stronger as a campaign. For example, an agency that enters three executions of the same Press campaign can now win 5 points (which equates to a Silver Lotus) for the first execution, and 1 campaign point apiece for the subsequent two executions entered (totaling 7 points). The scoring and tabulation of the Adfest winners will be done by Bangkok Computerize and Informatics Services Co., Ltd.

These revisions were initiated by the Adfest Collective, a group of six advertising executives who are responsible for ensuring the Lotus Awards remain fresh, relevant and in demand.

“In repositioning the Special Awards, Adfest is acknowledging that TV is no longer king. The Agency of the Year Award can now be won by any agency, regardless of whether it's an advertising, digital or direct agency,” said George Mackenzie, Managing Director of Robber's Dog Production Company in Auckland and an executive member of the Adfest Collective.

“Adfest has also opened up the Production Company of the Year award so that any production company – be it in print, music, film or production – can win. All craft disciplines, not just film production companies, play a role in rolling out ideas today,” added Mackenzie.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

Info@BestMediaInfo.com