“The winner takes it all / The loser standing small’ – this song by Abba sung eons ago still encapsulates the ups and downs in any award ceremony. And EMVIES 2006 had its fair share of ecstasy and heartburn.

And the one agency that was perhaps the most ecstatic was Mindshare, which bagged the Media Agency of the Year award this year as well. Said Vikram Sakhuja, “Winning so many awards feels great. We won 11 awards last year and we thought that it was a tough record to break. However, we managed to break our own record and this is what is exciting. These awards are for Mindshare’s team.”

Was he expecting to better Mindshare’s performance at the EMVIES last year? Sakhuja replied, “I did know that we had done a good job when we were shortlisted.”

O&M won the Grand EMVIE for the Hutch Delhi Half Marathon. Expressing pleasure over O&M’s performance, Pratap Bose, the agency’s CEO, said, “It is lovely to be a No. 3 media agency. Winning the Grand EMVIE reinstates that fact that we are a 360-degree agency.”

Renuka Jaypal, President, OgilvyOne India and National Business Director-Telecom, OgilvyOne Worldwide Mumbai, added here, “We are really, really happy to get this award. This is definitely a motivation for us to work better for the upcoming Hutch Delhi Half Marathon in October 2006.”

Sanjoy Mukerji, Operations Director, Hutch, said, “I am absolutely delighted on winning the Grand EMVIE. O&M has done a fantastic job in capturing the spirit of Delhi. The Hutch marathon campaign has taken into account the multi-cultural aspect of Delhi by not only talking about South Delhi, but also Gurgaon, Moti Bagh and other areas which make Delhi what it is.”

Mukerji added, “The campaign managed to unite everyone from Delhi. We also sent shoes to people in Delhi as part of our Direct Marketing initiative.” Incidentally, OgilvyOne Worldwide won a Gold for Best Media Innovation - Direct Marketing for the Hutch Delhi Half Marathon.

Sam Balsara, Chairman and MD, Madison Communications was happy with Madison Media, which was ranked No. 2 at EMVIES 2006. He said, “Winning the People’s Choice Award feels nice as every award is special. What is particularly pleasing is the fact that our performance at Cannes 2006 as well as EMVIES 2006 has been impressive. Moreover, with a client base of only 25, we have managed to win three Golds and two Silvers.”

Apart from winning the People’s Choice Awards for Best Case Study Presentation, Madison also won awards for Media Innovation in Radio, Events and Cinema and also Best Media Strategy for Consumer Products as well as Services.