Of sun, sand and metals

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: I was sitting at the AAAI office scrutinising the entries for the media awards at the GoaFest and was wonderstruck by the huge response by agencies. There are 472 entries, a more than double increase over last year [needless to say making the job of the AAAI secretariat that much more difficult in spite of a reduction in categories to 13 this year.

What is really heartening is that some new categories like digital, branded content, sponsorships have got a spate of entries along with the old faithfuls—like TV, print and outdoor innovation. The icing on the cake is the large number of entries in the multiple media category signifying that campaigns entered this year have been well thought through and executed across multiple media and not been a flash in the pan. A multiple media campaign normally implies a single thought being carried across many media and therefore is more difficult to execute—the large number of entries in this category, in a way symbolic of the state of the media planning and buying business in India. We have arrived.

Another feature, which baffled me, is the large number of entries by creative agencies, especially in the categories of outdoor, ambient media and stunts. Considering creative awards are also part of the GoaFest (and probably pride of place at the festival) I was intrigued by this large-scale participation in just a few categories. It is no coincidence that these were the categories I had the toughest job scrutinising as I was left with the feeling that a lot of this work was not real but created only for the awards. I was also glad to see that participation in the media awards was across all media agencies—big and small and there are no people withdrawing for stated or hidden agendas as in the case of the creative awards. This bonding and spirit of togetherness has been demonstrated during the course of the year when we faced various challenges and issues.