MAM
Ad Review ’04: Balki’s onslaught on judging creativity
MUMBAI: The Ad Club’s annual Ad Review 2004, this time round saw a speaker back from the advertising fraternity after three years of witnessing speakers from the marketing community.
The speaker nominated for Ad Review 2004 was none other than the executive creative director Lowe R Balakrishnan- popularly known as Balki.
The issue that Balki raked up was the current judging format and whether one was judging mere creativity or does one actually analyse the thought and the idea behind an ad. Defining creative advertising as interesting advertising, he stated that any advertising forum today judges awards only bases it on the creativity and the simple impact, execution and the basic thought is overlooked. “You could be wiping out a huge problem for a brand by a very simple idea and not receive an award for it,” pointed out Balki.
Balki further added, ” The only way ads will be judged right is if the panel judges it right.”
Putting together a list of commercials that he felt were brilliant advertising for 2004 across categories, Balki said that these were the compilation of ads that he had rated as the best of 2004 across agencies.
The list is as follows:
FOODS
1) Air action centre fresh ( Girl on the swing)
2) Alpenlibe lollypop ( Lage Raho)
3) Choco-tella ( Iske ander chocolate hain)
4) Saffola Gold ( Kal se)
BEVERAGES & TOBACCO
1)UB Export Soda ( Yakee Cool drink)
TOILETRIES & HOUSEHOLD CARE
1) Parachute Sampoora Tel
2) Silk n Shine ( Frog ad)
3) Tortoise mosquito coil ( Ear flapping)
HEALTH & COSMETIC CARE
1) Kohinoor Xtra time
HOME DECOR & LEISURE
1) Asian Paints ( Har Ghar Kuch Kehta hain)
AUTOMOTIVE & ACCESSORIES
1) Sumo Victa (Aap ki pehchaan)
SERVICES FOR HOUSEHOLD SECTOR
1) SBI Life Insurance ( Old couple)
2) TATA AIG Life
3) Manhattan credit cards ( Dinku)
BUSINESS PRODUCTS & SERVICES
1) Hutch ( Dog)
2) Indian Steel Alliance ( Boy girl)
3) Windows XP
4) N Gage
5) Nokia 3105 BDMA ( Tilted neck)
TRAVEL & HOSPITALITY
1) Indian Airlines
2) Air Deccan
Explained Balki, “We dont need to necessarily follow the Canne judging process. Canne passes a creative judgement.”
Balki stated that the ‘Campaign of the year’ was most definitely UB Export Soda, which was a regional campaign in Karnataka.
In his concluding thoughts Balki remarked that most advertising forums force agencies to make a campaign extending into multimedia to qualify as a candidate for the campaign of the year. This he said only encouraged agencies to do false work and waste clients’ money.
MAM
VML India lands two finalist spots at Cairns Hatchlings 2026
The Mumbai agency is back in Australia with two teams, a UN brief and 24 hours to impress
MUMBAI: VML India is heading to Australia again. The Mumbai-based creative agency has secured two finalist spots at the Cairns Hatchlings 2026 competition, one in the Audio category and one in Design, making it the only Indian agency to have reached the finals in both editions of the contest since its launch in 2025.
Four people will make the trip. Senior copywriter Shilpi Dey and senior art director Raj Thakkar will compete in Audio. Art directors Shabbir and Shruti Negi will go head-to-head with the world’s best in Design. The finals take place at the Cairns Convention Centre from 13th May, culminating in an awards ceremony on 15th May.
The work that got them there is worth examining. For the Audio category, Dey and Thakkar tackled a brief for LIVE LIKE MMAD with a campaign called Inner Voice, Interrupted. Using spatial audio techniques, the campaign recreates the overwhelming self-doubt that descends after a long workday, physically panning negative thoughts left and right before cutting the noise entirely to reveal a confident inner voice. Strategically targeted at commuters via Spotify during evening rush hours, the campaign reframes the hours after work as an opportunity for personal growth and charitable action.
For the Design category, Shabbir and Negi worked on a brief for Canteen’s Bandanna Day, a campaign highlighting how cancer pushes teenagers out of their own defining moments. Using a pixelated design language to create stark contrast between a blurred world of isolation and a focused world of connection, the campaign, titled The Flipside of Cancer, shows teenagers fading into the background of birthdays, skateparks and school proms. As a Canteen bandanna appears, the blur flips and the teenager snaps back into sharp focus.
Kalpesh Patankar, group chief creative officer of VML India, made no attempt to disguise his satisfaction. “We are immensely proud to see our teams consistently excel on the Cairns Hatchlings platform since its inception,” he said. “They have masterfully tackled challenging briefs across diverse categories, demonstrating both layered storytelling and a unique creative approach. This exceptional teamwork is truly inspiring.”
Dey and Thakkar, returning to the finals after last year’s run, were candid about the demands of the audio medium. “It’s one of the most demanding mediums, where we only have a few seconds to capture a listener’s world with sound alone, so absolute clarity is essential,” they said. “The true measure of creative work is its ability to create positive change, and our audio submission was made to help those who need it most while encouraging people to silence the inner voices that hold them back.”
Shabbir and Negi, competing in Design for the first time, described the experience as “a completely different beast.” “We see it as an opportunity to showcase our expertise, raise the bar, and challenge ourselves in new ways, while also learning from creative minds from across the globe,” they said.
In Australia, the four finalists will face a live 24-hour brief from the United Nations before presenting in a live pitch session. Twenty-four hours, one brief, one shot. VML India has been here before. It knows exactly what is at stake.
