Ogilvy Mumbai only Indian agency to win at Young Guns 2013 Awards

The Campaigns 'Cleft To Smile' and 'Message Barte'r won in the logo and digital solutions category

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | April 14, 2014

It is often said that the future belongs to the younger generation. If that is true, then the future of O&M Mumbai seems to be in safe hands as the agency has just won two awards at the Young Guns 2013 Awards.

The Young Guns Awards (YGA) is now in its 12th year of recognising young talent globally. The awards provides a window to the creative leaders and influencers of tomorrow by judging creative work in the  fields of Advertising, Communication Design, Digital Creative, Advertising media and Public Relations from around the world, submitted by people under 30.

Abhijit Avasthi

"Both the ideas work so well because they are simple yet charming. And they are both unconventional in the sense that they have used social media in new ways. :{to:) CleftToSmile is a typable logo that anyone with a keypad can use to spread much needed awareness about cleft treatment in India. Message Barter on the other hand is a cheeky way to get the country's biggest celebrities to spread awareness for Akanksha, an NGO. We're really glad both these ideas have done well on the international stage," said Abhijit Avasthi, National Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather India.

Navin Talreja

Navin Talreja, President, Ogilvy Mumbai & Kolkata, commented, "I am proud that two of our entries have achieved international acclaim. What's more is that both these ideas were led by the young talent in Ogilvy Mumbai. Our digital capability has also been established in the idea and execution of Operation Smile and Akanksha. Young Gun Awards are a much sought after recognition for younger talent and to be the only winners from India is quite something. Congrats and kudos to the winners."

O&M's 'Cleft to Smile' campaign won in the Design - General Graphic Design - Logo space while the 'Message Barter' campaign won in the Digital - Digital Solutions - Something else category.

Eugene Rebello

The team for the Cleft To Smile campaign consisted of Eugene Rebello, Laukik Golatkar and Rahul Mahajan.

The Cleft To Smile campaign was created for the charity 'Operation Smile' and raise awareness about the cleft. It tried to bring the cleft in the public eye by making it the world's most tweeted logo :{to:) Cleft To Smile.

Rakesh, Parth & Jigar

On the other hand, the 'Message Barter' campaign for NGO Akanksha aimed to address the problem of having insufficient teachers. This campaign was made by the Young Guns Team of Rakesh Jha, Parth Gadhia and Jigar Fernandes.

The kids from the school Akanksha then conducted activities to spread promotional messages for top celebrities at prominent public places, be it Chetan Bhagat's new book or Amitabh Bachchan's latest film. They then sent a video of these activities to the respective celebrities, asking them to spread a message for Akanksha in return. The celebrities tweeted about Akanksha's need for teachers and the barter was complete. We reached 18 million people at no cost. Traffic to Akanksha's website and teacher applications shot up.

The Cleft To Smile campaign found a special mention from Johnny Dantonio, a Jury member at YGA, 2013. "Many Young Guns submissions deserve special recognition, but one in particular left an impression on me. India's branch of Operation Smile provides free cleft treatment for those affected. Their Cleft To Smile campaign aims to raise awareness through a logo: :{to:). The execution of the logo itself is both simple and poignant, and the idea of providing the public with an accessible icon is refreshing. It allows anyone with a phone or keyboard to simultaneously be a steward for the brand and an advocate of cleft treatment. In addition to immediately communicating the purpose of Operation Smile, the use of relevant symbols creates a call to action without a single word, providing an opportunity to raise cleft awareness globally through public amplification in the social space," he said.

Sohini.Sen@BestMediaInfo.com

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