Entries for Effies up by 21 per cent this year

The Effie Awards have been advanced by about a month, from January to December 16, for this year to ensure all concerned have an uninterrupted holiday season, say Effies chairman Vikram Sakhuja and Co-Chairman Mitrajit Bhattacharya

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | December 15, 2016

(L) Vikram Sakhuja and Mitrajit Bhattacharya (R)

Effie is one award in the Indian advertising industry that focuses on the marketing effectiveness of a campaign. As the organisers like to put it, it is the only award that recognises the 'work that works in the marketplace'. Every year, the Effies are held in January but this year the event is taking place on December 16 at Taj Lands End, Mumbai.

BestMediaInfo tried to find out why these awards were advanced and the response to the entries this year. We caught up with VikramSakhuja, awards Chairman and Mitrajit Bhattacharya, who is the Co-Chair.

This is the 16th edition of the Effies. What is new with the marketing communication awards this time around?

VS: The awards are the same. The work I believe is even better.

MB: Effies stand for gold standard in judging effectiveness of marketing cases. There is nothing new this year apart from more stunning new work from 25 categories spanning the entire gamut of products, services, specialty and new launches.

Any particular reason to host Effies earlier than the usual January?

VS: To ensure people have a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

MB: Judging the Effies is a mammoth exercise. Close to 275 judges judge across three centres on seven different days. Majority of the judges are from the clients' side. The Christmas/ New Year's holiday season used to come right in the middle of judging, which meant a lot of juggling of dates for the jury. Hence we pushed the judging and the awards to November-December so that people can enjoy their year-end peacefully. The eligibility period of October 1 (previous year)- September 30 (current year) has remained unchanged.

What are your expectations from Effies 2016 in terms of quality and number of entries?

VS: We have received 20 per cent more entries this year. And the general feedback from judges who have judged Effies before is that the work is better this year. Deep insights, great ideas, wonderful executions, innovative go-to-market and stunning results. We've got it all.

MB: Fantastic response. Record entries, 21 per cent up from last year. The agency count has remained steady. All 25 categories were well represented.

What have been the judging criteria for the awards?

MB: It is an intense process spread over five sessions of round I judging followed by two sessions of round II. Effies asks judges to evaluate a marketing case on overall effectiveness and provide four separate scores on -- strategic challenge + objectives; idea; bringing the idea to life and results. You may note Effies reward 'work that works in the marketplace' and hence is coveted.

How has been your association with Effies until now?

VS: This is my second year and I'm loving it. I was the co-chair with Ajay Kakar last year from whom I learnt a lot and this time I'm teaming up with Mitrajit. It is an amazing forum to immerse yourself in the most effective work of the year. It is inspiring to see the commitment of close to 300 judges from our fraternity across three markets and it is brilliant to work with the Ad Club secretariat which runs this production with commitment and efficiency.

MB: Great learning experience.

What according to you is better for a brand? Should the brand campaign have good creatives or should it be more sales oriented?

VS: A campaign should make a brand stronger in equity and sales. Creativity for the sake of it has less meaning.

MB: Both aren't exclusive. Why can't a good creative push sales for the brand? You will see many such examples among the winners this year.

It is a general belief that PSAs are more for awards than for clients. What is your take on it?

VS: Not sure what you mean by that. Nothing wrong with PSAs. Just that the Effies put a strong focus on results. We are careful about not letting scams through.

MB: I can't disagree there is a tendency to overact in this category. The idea is to identify genuine work that fulfils all the criteria.

Do you see more entries of PSAs at Effies as compared to the previous years?

MB: Not substantial, however there is some growth that we have seen.

With the kind of entries that you have received, I would like to know more about how social media has affected the creativity of the campaigns?

VS: We're seeing an increasing use of social media in campaigns. And there is also some creative use of it. That said, social media is far from being the only route to creativity.

MB: Social media is an integral part of any marketing communication strategy. It's the new normal.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

Info@BestMediaInfo.com