| With 39 agencies across India entering the fray, the
contest received a total of 245 entries. While the participation may
seem a trifle thin, it can be attributed to the initial inertia. When
asked, Gulati said, "Creative quality and not quantity plays
a very important role. We have personally instilled the 'wow' factor,
a pinch of humour, in our entire approach, right from the ads, to
the entry docket, to the second round of creative and even the invites."
The advertising awards are instituted in 15 categories including
foods, beverages, toileteries, household care, business products
and services. In addition to the 15 categories, there will also
be special awards for the radio writer of the year, radio voice
of the year, excellence in sound design, client and agency of the
year 2003. Each of the 15 categories have gold, silver and bronze
awards. Also, a crystal award for the best work across the categories
has been instituted.
The awards for the radio writer, voice of the year and sound design
took into account the execution skills and the diversity displayed,
while the client and agency of the year is based on the various
works that have come in across categories from the agencies.
Commenting on the selection process Gulati offered, "The jury
has been very fair and has stuck to creative quality. All the jury
members have been on the jury of other awards also and so, in all
fairness, they have stuck to the benchmarks of TV/press judgement."
Speaking about the difficulties faced by the organisers Gulati
said, "Difficulties have been very few. Interestingly, when
I first started calling people in early November 2003, I was very
surprised that it did not take long to convince the jury members
on this initiative. They were more than keen and an overwhelming
response has been maintained throughout."
As for the actual events, the organisers have invited about 800
from the advertising fraternity and a seizeable number from Bollywood.
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