The Goafest 2018 has just begun, exchange4media spoke to some of the nominees across various categories. Here is what they had to say:



MV Shreyams Kumar, JMD – Mathrubhumi Group 
We are glad to be shortlisted under various categories in the publishers Abby. It is an honour to be appreciated by such a prestigious jury. Our Grihalakshmi Aartha Yaanam (the menstrual journey) campaign entry is a unique activity to communicate our brand’s encouraging and successful attempt to break the silence surrounding menstruation and heaving a healthy discussions regarding alternate sustainable solution for handling sanitary waste which has a winning potential. I look forward to a great innings at Goafest this year.

NOMINATED FOR: PUBLISHER ABBY



Vinay Maheshwari, Senior Vice President, Brand Communication and Sales and Marketing Division, D. B. Corp. Ltd.

It is a moment of pride and honour for us that all seven of our initiatives entered for the awards, have made it to the shortlists for Publisher Abbys. When the industry recognises good work, it is not only a huge motivator in itself but also a testimony of our standing. Our initiatives like Yougle, Jeeto 15 Crore, Live Positive, GST Knowledge Source and Independent Newspaper campaign in Maharashtra only strengthen our belief that our philosophy of putting the reader’s needs at the centre works well for us. Great campaigns are usually backed by creative content and good market research ultimately resulting in enhanced brand equity. We believe our campaigns have done just that!

NOMINATED FOR: PUBLISHER ABBY



Krishna Menon, Group CMO, Sakal Media Group

Being nominated in the Abbys (in the publisher’s category) is a great accomplishment for Sakal Media Group. We had an entire bouquet of events to showcase, such as- Sakal Premiere Awards- Celebrating and felicitating Marathi Film industry, Sakal Schoolympics-The only sports competition across Maharashtra, Sakal Tanishka- Internet Google Sathi Program- Activating Internet Sathis (Women ambassadors) to train women in villages (small attempt to give it back to society), Sarkarnama-A digital platform focusing on various aspects of politics, Sakal Beauty of Maharashtra-Celebrating Womanhood, Sakal Khara Punekar- content led activation bringing families together through contest, etc. We look forward to win some awards and are excited about it. The entries look promising this year and this certainly raises the bar for next year.

NOMINATED FOR: PUBLISHER ABBY



Basant Rathore, Sr VP – Strategy, Brand & Business Development, Jagran Prakashan Ltd

Apart from nominations in 4 categories in the Publisher’s Abby, our campaigns have also been shortlisted in 5 other categories in Creative and Branded Content & Entertainment. It feels good to have your work endorsed by the best in class jury that Abbys puts together. Our team has put in a huge amount of effort to bring these campaigns alive and create a tangible difference for society and our brand. And an award win would be the best acknowledgement of this effort.

NOMINATED FOR: PUBLISHER ABBY




Priti Murthy, CEO OMD India

We had entries shortlist for Appy Fizz and Hasbro. OMD’s strategic focus of ‘consumer first’ is well represented in our shortlist work. The idea emerged from consumers and their eagerness to be engaged upon. Our work is about consumer interaction and integrations and we are excited to focus on delivering results emerging out of ‘Consumer First'.

NOMINATED FOR: MEDIA ABBY




Niti Kumar, Managing Partner, MediaCom:

I believe that the Vicks Touch of Care campaign is a true reflection of the changing social fabric of modern India. Vicks has sensed the openness and inclusiveness that’s inherent to today’s youth culture and built a beautiful story around it. Gauri Sawant, a transgender adoptive mother, redefines the traditional concepts of ‘care’ and ‘motherhood’ - and by associating with her the brand achieves a wonderful balance of keeping its core values strong while also being a modern and progressive brand. Choosing a digital-led media approach was also a smart strategy to build youth connect and drive shareability for the campaign. This one just goes to show that 100 year-old brands can also be cool in the age of tech start ups!

NOMINATED FOR: MEDIA ABBY




Abhik Bannerjee, General Manager, Madison Media

In 2017, Asian Paints launched a revolutionary paint that could control indoor pollution, Royal Atmos. Our challenge was not just to create brand awareness but also showcase the existence of indoor pollution that most of us are not aware of. To generate awareness, we partnered with leading TV and Radio channels where the lead protagonists/RJ wore the mask in their daily lives to create curiosity. Then we umasked the campaign with 'The week we unmasked India'. On PR and Digital, leading celebrities and native platforms propagated the importance of breathing free with Royale Atmos.

NOMINATED FOR: MEDIA ABBY




Jyoti Bansal, Managing Director, PHD India

When an Auto brand is not part of the Auto Expo in India, it needs some really out-of-the-box thinking to trend and create conversation during those days. That’s what we did with #VWLegendaryTestDrive – upstaging the brands inside, with a 30-car VW convoy outside. Bold, creative, something that was not done before, making the right connect with the consumers – we had just the right ingredients for a great consumer activity.

NOMINATED FOR: MEDIA ABBY




Ranjeet Kate, CEO, Vijay Karnataka

Vijay Karnataka created a platform where young Kannadigas could share their ideas on India and write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi under ‘Modige Makkala Patra’ (Children’s letter to Modiji) on Children’s Day in November 2017. The underlying idea was to encourage print readership amongst youngsters in Karnataka state, where readership is a challenge. It also gave a chance to the PM to understand that youngsters understand all important issues in the country, from Demonetisation to GST and seek a new perspective to the education system in the country. This campaign from VK bridged the gap between young minds in Karnataka and the Prime Minister of the country and thus deserves an Abby award.
NOMINATED FOR: PUBLISHER ABBY




Rohan Chincholi, Head of Digital Media & Business Head, Digital (West/South)

Why should we win for our campaign for Tata Ace - Keep Loading in the Use of Media - Best use of Digital Media - Best use of Digital Display Advertising category. Increase in traditional media spends and ad clutter have resulted in lot of spillover and media wastage. Today digital media is emerging as a primary force in influencing purchase decision offering both focused targeting and measurability of success. This project successfully highlight the core promise of ‘Keep Loading’ with 15% higher load carrying capacity using something as simple as a mnemonic. For a market driven by functional communication, Innovation was essential. We delivered media innovation based on insights from the customer’s media consumption.

Also, with increasing number of Commercial vehicle customers also engaging in the online space consuming digital content, it was important for us to address every aspect of this digital spectrum to the fullest. Our planning architecture utilized each of these aspects of OSEP (Owned, Shared, Earned & Paid) media to address two distinct things –
a. Own a Mnemonic on digital that can be resonate with Tata Motors
b. Strengthen the core promise of the ‘Keep Loading' of 15% extra load capacity

NOMINATED FOR: MEDIA ABBY

The organising committee of the Abby Awards this year announced a 'Master Jury' for the Creative Abbys for the first time. The master jury comprised 15 prominent names from the industry who got together to deliberate and decide on who gets to walk away with the Abbys. The idea was to have the best of the industry judge the awards and to add more credibility to the process. This is what they said:

Prasoon Joshi, CEO of McCann World Group India and Chairman (Asia Pacific)

The most significant part of this year’s judging was a single jury going through all the work together, which brings in consistency and makes the process seamless. We had meaningful discussions around overall quality of work this year, which always gives an opportunity to introspect. The organizers, especially Ajay Kakar, painstakingly made sure that the judging this year was a memorable experience.


Nitesh Tiwari, Director


I was keenly looking forward to be a part of the Master Jury but unfortunately couldn’t make it due to last minute personal crisis. Introduction of Master Jury format reflects the passion of the Abby Awards Governing Council to handpick the best work of the year by the most respected names in the industry.


Bobby Pawar, Chief Creative Officer and Managing Director South Asia, Publicis Worldwide

It is the best judging experience I have had so far at the Abbys, considering all categories were being judged by a uniform standard. The credentials of the jury members were impeccable; no one had to shout to make himself heard, there was mutual respect. Most importantly, everyone had won enough laurels themselves so there was no need or attempt to try and gather awards for his team or agency. I must commend the organizers who are responsible for the Abbys Awards, be it Partha Sinha, Ajay Kakar or Vikram Sakhuja for breaking away from the set norms and taking such a bold step as far as judging is concerned.


Arun Iyer, Chairman & Chief Creative Officer, Lowe Lintas

It was a good two days of intense and transparent discussions on what work should be winning, what is the signal that is going out to the industry and it was wonderful how we had so many different perspectives coming together. The stature of the jury was fantastic. However a lot of agencies who do the bulk of work had kept away from the Abbys, so the big popular work that we know of and have heard of couldn’t come to the table because of the agencies opting out. So I would have liked more of that work too.

Agnello Dias, Chairman & Co-Founder TapRoot India

This year the Abby Awards judging process was a refreshing change from the years gone by. One single jury discussing, evaluating the best work in the country made us see things in a completely different perspective than just category-centric as it was in the past. If this change stays and grows, it wouldn't be long before the show gets back to its great past.

Santosh Padhi, CCO and Co-Founder, Taproot Dentsu
Good to see some of the best versatile creative minds of our industry coming together to pick some of the best work submitted this year.

Amer Jaleel, CCO and Chairman, Mullen Lintas

It was actually quite unique. Quite a few of us there were not participating in the awards. So at some level that was quite chilled as an experience because it became all about the work. It was almost like being in another country and jurying their awards. The debate and discussions around the ideas never had any colour of partiality or even a suspicion of it. At the same time we were all there to take part in bringing back the Abbys to their former glory. So all in all, there was purity in the mission without anybody having an agenda.

A JURY OF MASTERS ACROSS ALL CATEGORIES

Sidharth Rao, CEO and Co-founder, Dentsu Webchutney (Digital and mobile and digital craft)

In a way, this year’s jury process started much before the actual jury process itself. There was a proactive, conscious effort from the Abby Awards Governing Council to be sincerely transparent and that marker was set early on with the open house in February. We’ve seen a lot of the feedback and suggestions from there incorporated during the jury selection and the process itself. Something that particularly pleases me this time around is the significantly wider jury delegation from Digital, especially from some of the younger, newer agencies – what I feel is a true representation of our industry in 2018.

Madan Bahal, Managing Director, Adfactors PR (Public Relations)

The judging process was a great experience for all the jury members, which for the first time comprised only PR Agency CEOs. It was interesting to see an increasing level of integration across the body of work we judged. Another interesting aspect was that the submissions for PR Abbys came from a diverse set of players including PR firms, Advertising Agencies, Digital agencies as well as clients, directly.

Sam Balsara, Chairman, Madison World (Media)

I am delighted to have been invited to chair the Media Abby Award jury for 2018. It was an enjoyable experience. Thank you Ajay for asking me.

Raj Nair, CEO and CCO, Madison BMB (Direct)

My experience of heading the jury was very distinctive, indeed. It was truly a jury of heavyweights who brought a wealth of experience in the category to the judging process. Creativity was awarded when it was backed by solid strategy, great execution and visible results. All discussions were meaningful, while being ruthless, when necessary. In all, a great time was had by all and largely, I would say this on behalf of the jury: everyone felt that the best work won, in a transparent and impartial process.

Viral Pandya, Co-founder, CCO, Out of the Box (Design and still craft)
To me, it has indeed been a very sincere and responsible job. Must say, I have
been fortunate enough to be among the stalwarts of Design who were present in the room. (And, gosh, there were 14 of them!) Needless to say, that my jury team has been amazing. And, of course, they need no introduction in terms of their credibility. They are the role models in the industry. The truth is, I feel inspired by their work, every now and then. I feel that the work this year, at Goafest, that’s going to win, is fresh, endearing, empowering, bold, and emotional. And sparkling, in terms of execution. I am also happy that we have carefully chosen the right metals, post a lot of discussions, debates and healthy conversations. (And we came out alive on the last day!)

Rohit Gupta, President, Network Sales and International Business, Sony Pictures Networks, India (Broadcaster)
It was a brilliant experience for me. The kind of participation we got in terms of entries made the whole experience really good. The approach to judging this year was very professional because first the entries went through a screening process and then the jury sat and deliberated. So, there were several open-ended discussions and it was fairly independent. While the quality of entries that we received were good, I still believe we are not getting enough entries in the broadcast category. So, once it establishes itself, the next time you will see far more entries coming from across broadcasters. This will encourage other broadcasters to come in next year. On the personal front, judging the entries along with all my colleagues from the industry was a great experience and it was a great team effort.

Pradeep Dwivedi, CEO, Sakal Media Group
The Abby’s this year has been path-breaking right from onset with the announcement of Master Jury. For the Publisher’s awards, the experience was very interesting as we had almost the same number of entries as last year, while the categories had reduced. This led to an engaging screening by an eminent jury balanced across geography, language and industry leadership. The merits of entries and the creative quotient of the campaign became supreme criterion almost naturally. For me, one of the things that stood out was the quality of work and the clear recognition that many other publishers are also doing great work on the ground, but somehow don’t pitch it at Abbys. A few of the like-minded jurors have agreed to take up this cause and help build an even more widespread entrant base for next year via roadshows, and celebrate the Print industry in India which is growing and thriving, clearly bucking the global trend. I would also applaud the process rigour established by the AdClub’s dynamic President, Vikram Sakhuja as well as Awards Governing Council Chairperson, Ajay Kakar and the wonderful logistical facilitation by AdClub/AAAI teams led by Bipin Pandit.


Tarun Katial, CEO, BIG FM

The ABBYs continue to maintain credibility with a fair judging system that warrants the recognition of the best creative work showcased across categories. Over the years, the ABBYs have succeeded and will continue to succeed in highlighting innovation and excellence in communication and advertising.

I had a fantastic experience as the jury chair for the branded content & entertainment category this year. It was a great opportunity for me and other industry experts on the panel to look at all the incredible campaigns. May the best win.