Medicine & OTC in AAAI sweepstakes

Our Marketing Bureau in Mumbai

The countdown for the seventh ‘Triple A Awards’ has begun. On February 24 this year, the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) will be presenting its annual awards for outstanding advertising at the Oberoi Towers, Mumbai.

Recognising the significance of healthcare advertising, AAAI has constituted a new award called ‘Medicine & Over-The-Counter Products’ this year.

Says Mr Ramesh Narayan, president, AAAI: “Keeping in mind the new marketing trends in the Indian marketplace, we have introduced this award for the first time. In addition, we have also introduced a new category for ‘Single-Release Advertisements’. Because, there are
times when corporates release just a single ad in a year.”

According to Mr Narayan, this new category ‘Single-Release Advertisements’ will not be subjected to the scrutiny of AAAI’s ‘scrutiny committee’.”For instance, to mark ‘World Aids Day’ companies release single ads. For major events too, Indian corporates now opt for single-release ads,” adds Mr Narayan.

In a bid to ensure that scam ads do not reach the judging table, AAAI had set up the ‘scrutiny committee’ last year for the first time. Comments a leading advertising professional in Mumbai: “This move was accepted by the industry and the other award competitions in India are now adopting this practice.”

Currently, AAAI has over 88 ad agencies on its rolls.”Our members contribute for over 85 per cent of the country’s total adspend. Enthused by the large turnout for our annual awards function last year, we have decided to host our annual show at the Oberoi Poolside, this year,” adds Mr Narayan.

Last year, AAAI received a record 1,300 entries from as many as 30 agencices and 19 agencies walked with 57 awards for their outstanding work. The year before last, AAAI had cancelled the ‘Triple A awards’ owing to the proliferation of scam ads.