The Hindu Business Line : Abby awards

OK, we told you first, and others then speculated about the spat between the AdClub Bombay and the Advertising Agencies' Association of India (AAAI). Now it's out in the open. The Abby awards from the Advertising Club Bombay will be held on March 31 at the prestigious Turf Club grounds. This is at Mahalaxmi where fortunes are made and lost betting on horses.

We are not accepting any bets on the Abby awards.

It will be a two-horse race. O&M and Lowe will sweep the Abby awards. And no, we are not crystal ball gazers. We just have our ears to the ground. The AdClub Bombay is going to have a tough year as far as the awards go. Most of the big creative agencies have not sent in their entries for the Abbys yet, and the chances that they will are very slim.

So who would be entering the Abby awards?

Well, apart from Piyush Pandey and his O&M (incidentally, President of the AdClub is Kalpana Rao who represents O&M), the other prominent agencies entering their work for the Abby awards include Lowe, which is a major coup for Piyush Pandey. Yes, we should have guessed a peace pipe was being smoked when Piyush Pandey was seen at the Lowe party giving out prizes to Lowe staff. Honestly, Pranesh and Piyush have been responsible for getting Balki back into the Abby scene.

Just imagine, without Lowe you would have had FCB Ulka (no, we will not tell you how many Abby awards they have won in the last five years), Interface (yes, we are aware they are connected with FCB Ulka, and no, we will not tell you how many Abby awards they have won in the last five years), David (does that count, or will you say it is an Ogilvy company?), Rediffusion and some other agencies.

Prominent among the no-shows at the Abbys are Lowe (nothing new about that), McCann, Contract, Mudra, Leo Burnett, Saatchi, JWT, TBWA, and many others. Now that heavyweight Balki has swung towards the AdClub, two questions are uppermost in our mind. Will JWT and others who were steadfastly keeping away from the Abbys return to the fold? Regular readers of this column anticipated such a scenario. Well, it's happening. Sad!

AAAI

The AAAI is going the whole hog and is hoping to organise a two-day creative festival a la Cannes. The dates are April 28 and 29, and the venue is sunny Goa. It is intending to have a creative seminar with two top international names and a complete ad village on the beach where their awards ceremony will be held. It has even tied up with Star TV and Hindustan Times as the sponsors (Ad Club has Sony and The Times of India). It also intends offering a real steal-deal to anyone under thirty. All you young people, pack your bags and get ready to head for Goa.

Well, the lines are drawn and hectic preparations are on. May the best people win. Watch this column for insightful updates.

Is Lowe entering the AAAI awards? Well, Balki has participated in the past. Maybe he will, this time as well. And of course, Piyush, who has not entered the AAAI awards for the past six years or so, will not enter this time as well.

Provocations

The eagerly anticipated `Alyque Padamsee interrogates Piyush Pandey' was like the proverbial curate's egg. Good in parts. The hall was packed and overflowing (wonder why the Subhas Ghosal Foundation booked a small hall), the audience was a nice mix of the seniors and youngsters of the industry and Gerson Da Cunha, who conducted the proceedings, was his usual graceful self. Maybe one expected too much but while there might have been a mild sizzle, there were no fireworks. Pandeyji answered the way he normally does, straight and spontaneous. Alyque could not resist talking about his own great achievements (Lalitaji, etc) and the audience seemed well satisfied on the whole. For the Subhas Ghosal Foundation, this was a coup. Yet, putting together another Provocation would be a rather tall order. You'd first have to find an equally interesting pair of people. May we suggest `Balki interrogates Piyush Pandey?'

Lights out in Mumbai

Marine Drive

Mumbai's skyline has a bleak and desolate look about it. With a looming power crisis (remember, Mumbaikars have never known about load shedding), the neon signs that add that touch of colour and glamour to the Marine Drive and Malabar Hill skyline have been switched off. Apart from the obvious revenue loss to the outdoor agencies, India's commercial capital looks a little down-and-out without the advertising flashing on the darkened horizon.

Victoria

More Stories on : Advertising | Mumbai Mosaic

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
The big rural picture

`A first home'

Innovation is it!

Abby awards

How wealthy was my valley?

A smarter way to build your brand?

Pushing and pulling won't work

Slurp!