Effies 2011: Taproot India wins the Grand Effie

Cadbury India bagged the Client of the Year; while Ogilvy & Mather won the Marico Uncommon Sense Award and BBDO India won the Brand Equity Bravery Award.

When it comes to the Effies, while the exaggerated celebratory ambience of other awards nights is missing, the enthusiasm is as strong. At the eleventh edition of the Effies, organised by The Advertising Club Bombay, the winners went home proud.

It was Taproot India that won the Grand Effie for its 'Change the Game' campaign designed for Pepsi Foods.

Speaking to afaqs! on the win, Santosh Padhi, chief creative officer and co-founder, Taproot India, said, "It is a great honour to win an award again for Pepsi Change the Game campaign, especially at the Effies. It is a big thing for a small agency like ours, with only 30 people, as compared to a big agency with 3,000 people."

Cadbury India, with four golds and two silvers in its pocket, was declared Effie Client of the Year with a total of 80 points.

Chandramouli Venkatesan, category director, chocolates and strategy at Cadbury, told afaqs!, "We are lucky to have partners like Ogilvy India, Contract and Interface. It is the agencies that have put us on the podium and helped us win the Client of the Year award."

Following Cadbury India, the other top clients this year were Vodafone India (45 points), Hindustan Unilever (35 points), Pepsi Foods (35 points) and Ceat (25 points), respectively.

Among the other special awards handed out during the evening, Ogilvy & Mather bagged the Uncommon Sense Award. The agency won the award for its much talked about BlackBerry For Everyone campaign for Vodafone India.

The Bravery Award, meanwhile, went to BBDO India for its 'ShaveSutra - How to Turn a Mundane Solitary Chore into a Pleasurable Duet' campaign crafted for Gillette Mach3 Turbo Sensitive of P&G/Gillette.

For the record, in 2010, Draftfcb Ulka took home the Grand Effie for its launch campaign for Tata Docomo; the 'Dare to Do the New' campaign won two golds and a bronze. Also, Tata Teleservices was declared the Effie Client of the Year with a total of 45 points in 2010.