Indiantelevision.com Team

(13 October 2007 2:00 am)

MUMBAI: Ogilvy & Mather (O&M) was well on a 'moto-rollah-coaster' ride, followed by Lowe, in a closely contested battle for the agency of the year at the Advertising Club of Bombay's Effie 2007 awards, last evening.

O&M's creative work for a roster of clients including Motorola, Cadbury, Asian Paints Apex Ultima, Motoflip and Worldspace helped it win the Effie Agency of the Year, fetching a total of 70 points (2 golds, 3 silvers, 2 bronze).

Lowe, which finished a close second at 65 points (1 gold, 1 silver, 3 bronze) found consolation in winning the Grand Effie of the Year and the People's Choice Award for the Best Case Study presentation for USAID - Yehi Hai Sahi (Condom Bindass Bol campaign).

The corporate advertising campaign fetching a gold in its category, was made for the client PSP-One, ABT Associates who incidentally won the Effie Client of the Year award.

In the Consumer Products category, McCann Erickson's 'White Palace' campaign for Happydent White won the agency a Gold, along with the Yahoo! Big Idea chair Award. The campaign's TVC has already won a silver and a bronze at the Cannes Lions 2007.

(Pics by Mitesh Bhuvad)

Meanwhile in the Integrated Advertising Category, O&M's campaign for Hutch, during the Hutch Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival won it the gold. The campaign, which reportedly revived interest in theatre as an art form in Bangalore, banked on the 'Drama is everywhere in India' insight and helped sell out the festival's tickets a week in advance, apart from getting corporate attention into the festival as well.

After Hutch, O&M struck gold again, this time for Motorola's MotoFlip W220. It's 'People will talk' campaign has helped take Motoflip into the top ten selling handsets in India, a market that is largely dominated by Nokia.

The Brand Equity Bravery Award meant for advertising 'that's bold and daring' went to Lowe for its ICICI Prudential Retirement Solutions campaign (Retire from work, not life).

Meanwhile, the Marico Uncommon Sense award was scooped up by JWT for Sunsilk (Sunsilkgangofgirls.com).

Speaking at the start of the Awards, Effie Committee chairperson Pranesh Misra said that Effie 2007 had a 30 per cent increase in the number of entries received. He also pointed out that there was a 35 per cent rise in the number of organisations participating in the event.

The Effie Awards invite participation from both the client and the agency. The judging criteria includes client brief, creative strategy and advertising effectiveness.