EMVIES 2006: Media fraternity looks forward to the big day

The judging process of the EMVIES 2006 commenced on June 6, 2006, with the categories under the scanner on day one being Media Strategy with all its sub categories, Media Innovation – Print, Media Research, and the newly added Integrated Media category.

Some of the judges included the likes of Madison Media’s Punitha Arumugam, The Media Edge’s Anupriya Acharya, Zenith Optimedia’s Mona Jain, Lodestar Media’s Nandini Dias, MediaCom’s Jasmin Sohrabji and Harish Shreyan, MindShare’s Himanshu Shekhar, and Maxus’ C V L Srinivas, among many other industry luminaries.

EMVIES Chairperson, Apurva Purohit, explained that over the years and given the expertise of the Mumbai Ad Club, the process involved in EMVIES had further smoothened. “Media is a domain that has been changing fast and the fraternity is very responsive to these changes. Media professionals give their feedback on what needs to be added, changed and further worked on to make EMVIES a much more accepted platform. From that point of view, we have received enough support and this year has been no different,” she added.

The judges gave mixed feedback on the work that they saw in the categories under the scanner on Day One. But what every judge unanimously agreed on was that the quality of entries had gone up multiple folds. Sohrabji, who was judging Research, said, “I think that there has been tremendous improvement in the packaging of the idea. The fact that entries are written and presented much better is an advantage for the industry.”

Lodestar Media’s Arpita Menon opined on similar lines. “From what was seen earlier, the quality of writing and presenting entries has improved. People on the whole know what points to highlight, to present what in which manner, and so on,” she said.

However, there were mixed reviews on the ideas presented. “I think there was a fair mix of unique ideas and some that have already been seen, but I think that is how it is,” said Menon, adding, “There is focus on the packaging and it is a positive thing, but I think it is about time that some focus should be given to the core ideation too.”

Speaking on the category she was judging, TME’s Anupriya Acharya said, “Strategy is a fairly complicated category to judge. In terms of the quality of work, there have been some good entries. Work has become better over time. With the media fraternity being far better attuned to what needs to be done, the awareness is much higher and that reflects in the work.”

She further said that the induction of the sub categories in Strategy had helped. “You can actually categorise an entry in the developmental mode of the product. The judging itself becomes much better with this,” Acharya added.

Presenting a slightly different picture on the print media scene, Bhaskar Group’s Eric D’ Souza said, “Print media ceases to see too many innovations today, and what else can these media entries depict? It may be because of the cost or the availability of other mediums, but print medium isn’t seeing too many innovations and the entries reflect that.”

Bringing another point here, Purohit said that on the basis of the opportunity she’d had to see all the entries and with the EMVIES finding its footing in the industry, “surely the manner in which entries are written and presented, there is a sea change today. At the same time, there still are those that get a beating despite some good work because they haven’t been able to present their entries well”.

She further said, “In terms of ideas, there hasn’t been anything dramatic or truly out of the box that has come out, but there is some really good work that the industry has been able to pull through. Media is still a nascent medium and people are still learning, and I think we are set to see better changes in the domain. A point that I have seen is that for every entry where the senior managers have been involved, the entry is written and presented much better and it shows.”

Purohit is looking forward to Day Two when the first round of judging process will be completed. This will lead to the second round, scheduled for June 15, 2006, which would be a case study presentation of the shortlisted entries.

EMVIES 2006 has much to cheer about. The only platform that recognises excellence in effective media usage has clocked in 369 entries this year. The previous highest number of entries that the Mumbai Ad Club had recorded was 322. Ad Club officials emphasise that this further vindicates the widespread acceptance of the awards in the media and advertising fraternity.

Bipin Pandit from the Ad Club secretariat pointed out, “Even when we had to extend the last date of entries, it was due to the overwhelming response and people still wanting to send more entries. Our phones didn’t stop ringing. This kind of response truly vindicates the position that the EMVIES now holds in the fraternity.”

Pandit further informed that the growth in the Awards could be seen not just in the number of entries, but would also be seen in the event itself. “We have upped the scale of the event. We have moved it to a larger venue to accommodate larger participation, the requests of which are coming in. The event itself will be executed on a larger magnitude now,” he added.

For the Ad Club, the sheer response from the industry has been an indication of the fact that the EMVIES are coming of age. “An increase of 47 entries from the highest that we had recorded, that too in a year when we haven’t even extended the last date by the one week mark that we would usually allow, is really good. This has been a very encouraging experience,” Pandit said.

The next step is the judging process, which is scheduled for June 6 and 7, 2006.

EMVIES 2006 will maintain the two-stage judging procedure that it has in place. However, the Bombay Ad Club has induced further focus on the need to quantify results of a media plan. Apurva Purohit, Chairperson, EMVIES, believes that while this is a small change, it is representative of the fundamental change in the media landscape today.

Traditionally, EMVIES has a two-stage judging process, wherein the first stage will have the entries judged by a panel comprising a jury with a minimum of six members. The size of the panels is large and spread across the various functions. The shortlisted entries of various categories are judged in Stage Two, which is the presentations stage.

The presentations are made in two sets to two panels comprising six jury members, which are some of the most eminent names from the industry. Another change that has been followed since EMVIES 2005 is that of acquainting the judges with the written entries before the presentations are made.

“This is to equalise the benefits that some teams have of a great presentation. To be able to get to the basic of what a great media plan is, it is important to understand the effectiveness of that plan,” Purohit said.

Explaining more on the focus that would be placed on quantifiable results, she said, “This is a reflection of the fundamental change in media – the industry is evaluating media plans on the basis of the result they deliver. You expect points like awareness and other such scores to go up and entries should be able to quantify this.”

As is known, the most coveted award of the EMVIES, the Media Agency of the Year Award, depends on the number of points accumulated by a media agency of the media arm of an agency. The Grand EMVIE goes to the entry getting the highest aggregate score across all categories.

Citing popular demand, the Bombay Ad Club has announced its decision to extend the last of submission of entries for the EMVIES to May 29, 2006. The initial last date was May 23.

“There have been too many people who have given us calls saying that they need more time to submit their entries and we envisage good enough numbers coming for the awards. So, we have decided to extend the submission dates to May 29, 2006,” said Ad Club’s Bipin Pandit.

He is, however, quick to add, “Of course, after this, we would not be able to make any kind of change in the dates because the judging process will begin. We refused many calls requesting extension, but there are cases where we feel that people have genuine reasons to not be able to meet the earlier stated deadline.”

When asked whether he would be able to give any details on the numbers of entries that can be expected this year, Pandit said, “Not just right now. But once the May 29 deadline is over and we can sort it out, I would be able to give out the number of entries this year. What I can tell you is that we are looking at a good number of entries and a wider participation.”

EMVIES has gone the whole hog in 2006 to ensure that the industry is completely involved in the evolution of the media awards. The Bombay Ad Club had organised a pre-judging cocktail, wherein members from the industry were invited to offer suggestions on how the awards could be improved even further. Consequently, EMVIES has induced some changes in 2006.

Beginning this year, the ‘Best Media Strategy’ has been divided into three sub-categories – Consumer Products, Consumer Durables and Services. Ad Club’s Bipin Pandit explained, “This is an important category and we wanted to encourage more entries coming in this category. Also, there is much that is happening across the board in various industries today. This ensures that we have been able to see and award some of the best work that has been done in these sub-categories.”

Another key change in EMVIES 2006 categories is the introduction of ‘Best Integrated Campaign’. This would be the best Integrated Campaign across a minimum of three media vehicles, which demonstrates outstanding media strategy, analysis and clearly directed towards achieving media objectives.

Speaking on this, Pandit elaborated, “Many agencies are at present moving towards offering integrated solutions and many clients are seeking those kinds of solutions. From that point of view, the industry seniors we met at the pre-judging cocktail emphasised on the need of a separate category that would recognise these initiatives from agencies.”

Yet another point, which the EMVIES is placing greater recognition on this time, has been in the ‘Best Media Innovation’ segment. The segment looks at separate awards for innovations in various mediums like TV, Print, Out-of-Home, Cinema, Radio and so on. Of these segments, the medium of Internet has now been converted to Digital.

“The idea is to include innovations that happen not just on the Internet, which would also include the likes of blogs and podcasting, but also in other digital mediums like mobile, SMS and so on,” added Pandit.

In all, EMVIES 2006 presents a heightened challenge and a better opportunity to media professionals.

Action around the EMVIES has commenced with the Bombay Ad Club inviting entries for the event. In the last four years, EMVIES has witnessed an increasing the number of entries – last year saw a peak of over 350 entries. EMVIES Chairperson Apurva Purohit states that this is what the Ad Club is expecting this year as well.

To get a sense of the increasing participation that EMVIES has seen, the number of entries in the first year was 78, which went up to 125 plus, 200 plus and the 350 plus mark last year. Purohit put in a word of caution here. She said, “Getting to the mark of 400 would be a sense of peak. Every agency had participated last year with a decent number of entries, and we are expecting to secure the margin this year as well.”

Purohit believes that between the addition of categories and streamlining of some of the existing categories, the said target can be achieved. Another noteworthy factor that was seen in 2003 was the different industry bodies that participated in the EMVIES. Moving beyond the media agencies, others like research agencies, marketers, channels and interestingly creative agencies had competed to take home an EMVIE. “And we had seen some very good work coming from all of these organisations,” emphasised Purohit.

She further added, “EMVIES really are a pan-industry award for media innovations and I expect the same kind of participation this year as well.” Another area of expectation comes from the quality of entries. Purohit said, “Without doubt, every year we have seen an improvement in the kind of entries that have come and this year wouldn’t be any different, especially in categories like new media, out-of-home, never before used media, we have seen some genuine innovations.”

Hopefully TV and Print will also show the next level of media innovations this year. Nonetheless, all said and done, the expectations from the industry to feature some ground-breaking work is also high.

EMVIES forms are sent across to agencies and can also be downloaded from exchange4media.com. The last date is May 23, 2006.