The Hindu Business Line : There will be fewer entries at Cannes this year

New Delhi, Jan. 2 At about Rs 44,000 (€620) for Film Lions and about Rs 25,000 (€350) for an Outdoor Lions, entering events for advertising awards will be a luxury for agencies in the current economic situation.

Online entry for the Cannes Lions international advertising festival, the most recognised of them, opens on January 29. Agency heads say they will not be able to accommodate entries as a goodwill gesture. “Earlier, we looked at ads and said Yes!, No! and Maybe. We were more generous with the maybes on the off-chance that they may be picked up. This year, awards will be a luxury, and we will have to be more critical and strict,” says Mr Sumanto Chattopadhyay, Executive Creative Director (South Asia), Ogilvy & Mather. The agency sent the largest contingent to the awards last year.

There are two aspects to recognition, fortune and fame. For a creative person, an international win, particularly if it’s to be their first, can really be a motivator, says Mr Chattopadhyay. Beer bonding sessions are skipped for late night chais with the chowkidaar, as entry deadlines near. Creative people sometimes factor in an agency’s award leniency when choosing their employer.

Getting prudent

“Recognition is important, but to what extent can you satisfy egos, and at what cost? The economic slowdown is not only an India reality, agencies worldwide are going to be more prudent about how they spend their money,” says Mr Colvyn Harris, CEO, JWT.

These awards also work as an agency’s creative mark sheet. India had a great run at the Cannes Lions 2008, winning a total of 23 Lions. It also won its first ever Grand Prix for its Lead India campaign. A total of 931 entries had been sent last year (the US sends in four times as many). There will be fewer entries this year, and, hopefully, they’ll raise the level of quality says Mr Prasoon Joshi, Chairman, McCann WorldGroup India, who chaired the Cannes Lions 2008 Outdoor jury last year.

Number game

Following the controversies at the last Goafest, some agencies have decided to steer clear of “scam” ads, or those crafted and released, specifically and just in time to qualify for awards. According to Mr Ramanuj Shastry, CCO, Rediffusion DYR, a younger leadership is refusing to play the numbers (of wins) game.

“There is a healthy scepticism of fly-by-night work that really doesn’t help build a reputation…Clients have also changed. Who would have thought that P&G would walk away with the advertiser of the year at Cannes ’08. It’s just as true in India,” he says.

The other international awards include the One Show in New York, Clio and D&AD.

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