(31 March 2006 11:30 pm)

MUMBAI: History repeats yet again and the result of this one was no surprise at all. None other than Ogilvy & Mather yet again dominated the 39th Annual Abby Awards.

The final tally for O&M was two Golds and 32 Silvers. On the other hand, JWT bagged the maximum number of golds (four) and six silvers.

A whole lot of new categories were added this year (which made the entire ceremony a bit tiresome).

Notwithstanding the controversies that surrounded the Abby Awards this year; the event itself was an entertaining one - thanks to the histrionics of Cyrus Broacha and Kunal Vijayakar - who were the hosts for the evening.

For one, many big agencies - Leo Burnett, McCann Erickson, Mudra, Lowe - amongst others, did not participate in the awards this year. Clearly a divide is being seen in the ad world owing to two industry bodies - the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and the Advertising Club Mumbai.

Now coming back to the Abbys… in the INS Think Print category, the gold was bagged by O&M's Vikram Pandey and Manish Darji. Apart from pocketing the INS Gold Trophy, the duo also won an all expenses paid trip for two to Cannes Advertising Festival sponsored by Malayala Manorama. The INS Silver Trophy along with a cash prize of Rs 100,000 went to Bates Enterprise's Arjun Mukherjee and Diptanshu Roy. This was sponsored by ABP.

The INS Bronze Trophy and a cash prize of Rs 50,000 sponsored by Dainik Bhaskar was bagged by JWT India's Amitabh Agnihotri and Ashok T Lad.

Moving on to the other sets of awards, after the first set of awards were announced, O&M's tally was 38 points, while JWT's was 33. Not a huge difference, which made one think that there was at least a chance of a fierce battle for the coveted Agency of the Year award. But that thought was quickly pushed aside as the evening progressed and more and more Men in Black (that's the Abby dress code of the O&M ad gang) went up on stage to collect one award after another.

The Abby Awards this year received a total number of 2500 entries from India and the South Asia region comprising Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Also mention was made of four industry big guns who passed away in the last one year, the most recent one being O&M senior creative director V Mahesh. The others to whom homage was paid were Ad Club veteran Amul Bose, DIREM Marketing Services' Vivek Basrur and Lowe's Neville Balsara.

In the Food and Beverage print (single ad), the silver was won by Percept H for Peprico (Coals). In the film (single ad) the silver was shared by O&M for Mentos (Classroom) and JWT India for Mirinda (Sucker). No Gold was awarded in this category.

In the Healthcare, Household Care, Toiletries and Cosmetics print (single ad) category, the silver was bagged by Everest Brand Solutions for Tortoise Mosquito Coils (keyhole). Whereas in the film (single ad) category, Ramesh Deo Productions won the silver for the Surf Excel "puddle" ad.

The gold Abby in the Clothing, Footwear and Accessories print (single ad) category was bagged by JWT India for Levi's Slim Jeans (Slim Figure # 5) and the silver in this category was shared by JWT India and Alok Nanda and Co Communications for Levi's Slim Jeans (Slim Figure # 1) and Wrangler (Renewed Can and Renewed Can) respectively. Whereas in the film (single ad) category, JWT India yet again bagged the silver for Levi's Slim Jeans (Slim vs Slim).

In the Consumer Durables print (single ad) category, Rediffusion DYR won the silver Abby for Everyready Batteries (Beatles - Abbey Road).

The silver in the Automotives and Accessories film (single ad) category went to O&M for Tata Safari Dicor (Reclaim).

In the Financial Advertising, O&M pocketed the silver for SBI Life Insurance (Sister Act). No gold was awarded in this category. In the Corporate / Organizational Advertising print (single ad) the silver was bagged by O&M for Perfetti Corporate (Conference Room). In the film (single ad) category, O&M yet again emerged winner with a silver for the Hutch (Delhi Marathon) ad.

In the Retail Advertising print (single ad), Percept H won the silver for Ghetto Bar and Grill (Bar stools). In the Business Products and Marketing of Services print (single ad), the silver went to Grey Worldwide for Matchseeker.in (Thailand). In the Travel and Hospitality print (single ad) category, Everest Brand Solutions won the silver for Intercontinental The Grand (Couple), whereas in the film (single ad) category, the silver was shared by Orchard Advertising and O&M for Air Deccan (The Old Man and the Sky) and Cinemax (Theatre) respectively.

In the Media print (single ad) category, O&M won the silver for Kaun Banega Crorepati 2 (Stories). In the Public Service print (single ad) category JWT India won the gold for Indian Red Cross (Give) and also the silver for National Association for the Blind (St. Suresh Nair). In the film (single ad) category, O&M won the silver for Star Care (Girl Child).

Moving on to the Radio FMCG category, the silver was shared by O&M and Grey Worldwide. While O&M won for Cadbury Dairy Milk Desserts (Khane Waalle), Grey won two slivers for Ambi Pur (Ceema's nose and Samir's nose).

In the Radio Consumer Durables, the gold was won by O&M for Fevicol (Guess Brand) and the silver was shared by Brand David Communications and Rediffusion DYR for Nitco (Oh Carol) and Xtra Premium (South Indian) respectively.

In the Radio Services category, the silver was shared by Euro RSCG for Red FM (Bajate Raho - Kaali Murgi) and O&M for Hutch (Hutch Delhi Marathon After). In the Radio Public Service category Interface Communications won the silver for Nanhi Kali.

In the Outdoor FMCG category, O&M won the silver for Brooke Bond Taj Mahal (Parachute). Whereas in the Outdoor Consumer Durables category, O&M yet again won the silver for Fevicol (Mirror).

In the Outdoor Services, Rediffusion DYR pocketed two silvers for Magic Salon (Osama Lenticular) and PVR Cinemas (Banana Mountain). In the Outdoor Public Service, JWT India got the Gold for Indian Red Cross (Give), whereas Grey won the silver for Childcare India (Beggar Boy 1).

In the newly included category of Direct Mail Business and Consumer Services, the gold was won by Everest Brand Solutions for ING Vysya Mutual Funds (Kaleidoscope). The silver, on the other hand, was shared by four agencies - Everest Brand Solutions for XPS Courier (The Grapebox), RMG Connect India for Citrix (Lock and Key Mailer), K Factor for The Richmond Fellowship Society India (You Cannot Live) and O&M for IAPA (Book).

In the category of Direct Mail Product Manufacturing and Distribution Services, the gold was won by Everest Brand Solutions for Autocop (The Box) and the silver was shared amongst Solutions Integrated Marketing Services for Pedigree (Spare The Rod) and Palasa Inc. for Umax (Umax-USB).

In the Print Craft Outstanding Illustration, the silver was shared by O&M for Deccan Odyssey (Game 'Daulatabad') and Deccan Odyssey (Mahim) and JWT India for 75 Years of JWT India (75% Ideator).

Coming to the Interactive Digital Marketing Web Banners, the gold was bagged by OgilvyOne India for HT Martimonials (HT Media Ltd), while the silver was shared by Media2win India for Dominos (Meal for two) and Interface Communications for Blue Star ACs (Text Shaking banner).

In the Interactive Digital Marketing - Microsites / Promosites category, the silver was shared by Tribal DDB India for Itch Guard (The Itch) and OgilvyOne India for Cadbury Dailry Milk (Pappu Pass Ho Gaya).

In the Interactive Digital Marketing - Digital Innovation category, the gold went to Webchutney Studio for Makemytrip.com (Chidiya Uddi) and the silver was shared by Webchutney Studio for Makemytrip.com (Chalo Lanka) and Hungama Virtual Marketing for Banaras (A Mystic Love Story).

In the Film Craft Outstanding Direction category, the gold went to Ramesh Deo Productions for The Times of India (Pakiya Select Hua), while the silver went to Corcoise Films for Toyota (Innova).

In the Film Craft Outstanding Original Music Score category, the Gold went to Ramesh Deo Productions for Tata Safari Dicor (Reclaim), while the silver was shared by Red Ice Films for Maruti, Footcandles Films for KBC2 (Actor) and MTV Citibank.

In the Film Craft Outstanding Animation category, the gold went to Famous House of Animation for Levi's Silm Jeans (Slim vs Slim), while the silver went to O&M for World Wild Life Fund (Save the Tiger).

The gold Abby for the Film Craft Outstanding Performance by an Actor category was shared by Vijay Maurya (KBC2 - Actor / Footcandles Films) and Aamir Khan for the Toyota Innova ad (Corcoise Films). The silver was also shared by Nandita Bandhopadhyay for Anacin Woes (Corcoise Films) and Sumant Mastkar for The Times of India (Pakiya Select Ho Gaya) ad (Ramesh Deo Productions).

The gold and silver for the Film Craft Outstanding Voice Talent was bagged by Star India for Channel [V] promo (Santa Banta) and Star India for Channel [V] promo (Simpoo) respectively.

In the Campaign - Food and Beverage category, O&M bagged two silvers for Alpenliebe Lolipop and Mentos. In the Campaign - Clothing, Footwear and Accessories category, JWT won the gold for Levi's Slim Jeans. In the Campaign - Consumer Durables, Grey won the silver for Haier.

On the other hand, in the Campaign - Homes, Décor & Leisure, O&M won the silver for Fevicol. In the Campaign - Automotive and Accessories category, O&M won the silver for Tata Safari Dicor.

In the Campaign - Financial Advertising category O&M won the silver for SBI Life Insurance. In the Campaign - Corporate / Organisational category, O&M won two silvers for State Bank of India and Perfetti Corporate.

In the Campaign - Business Products and Marketing of Services category, Grey won the silver for Matchseeker.in. In the Campaign - Travel and Hospitality category O&M won the silver for Hutch (Jaipur Festivals).

In the Campaign - Media category, Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd won the silver for The Times of India. In the Campaign - Public Service category, the silver was shared amongst O&M for IAPA and JWT India for National Association or the Blind.

In the Integrated Campaign of the Year, O&M won five silvers for Fevicol, Hutch, SBI Life Insurance, Tata Safari and the State Bank of India. On the other hand, JWT also pocketed a silver in this category for Levi's Slim Jeans.