Effies 2012: Ogilvy India on a roll; clinches Grand Effie, too

Cadbury India won the Effie Client of the Year Award this time. Meanwhile, both Lenovo Tech-Doers Award and Marico Uncommon Sense Award went to Ogilvy India.

For Ogilvy India, monopolising the main awards for the fourth consecutive year didn't quite cut it. The already victorious agency punctuated its winning spree last night with three special awards, namely, the Grand Effie, Lenovo Tech-Doers Award and Marico Uncommon Sense Award. As far as the Marico Uncommon Sense Award goes, the agency successfully defended last year's title.

It was Ogilvy's Kuch Meetha Ho Jaye campaign (Milk growth story from 2005-12) for Cadbury Dairy Milk that pulled in the Grand Effie for the agency this time.

Also, the agency's 'The Photographs Case' campaign for Fox Crime helped it win the Lenovo Tech-Doers Award, while 'Managing a Billion Expectations' campaign for Satyameva Jayate did the trick when it came to the Marico Uncommon Sense Award.

Addressing the fleet of wins at the Effies 2012, a delighted Piyush Pandey, executive chairperson and national creative director, Ogilvy India, tells afaqs!, "It's fantastic and that's the way it should always be. Today, I am the proud head of this agency and I'm particularly glad that what we win at the Abbies is what we win here at the Effies. It shows that we do work that is creatively great, connects with the consumers and positively impacts our clients' businesses."

The Effie Client of the Year Award didn't land too far from Ogilvy's winning turf. The agency's client of many years, Cadbury India, walked away with the trophy, just as it did last year, with 85 points.

Second to Cadbury on the Effie Client of the Year awards list was STAR India with 75 points, followed by Bharti Airtel and Marico with 55 and 40 points, respectively. Finishing fifth was Hindustan Unilever with 30 points, followed by Jubilant Foodworks, Vodafone India and HardCastle Restaurants with 25 points each. With 20 points each, Titan and Coca-Cola India were at the ninth and tenth spots.

Last year's Grand Effie went to Taproot India for its 'Change the Game' campaign designed for Pepsi Foods. In 2010, Draftfcb Ulka bagged the Grand Effie for its launch campaign for Tata Docomo.

For the record, this year saw a spike in the number of agencies that participated in the awards; the number grew from 29 to 50. A total of 357 entries were received, of which 128 were shortlisted for the awards.

This year, Colors was the presenting sponsor, Marico was the associate sponsor, Lenovo was the technology partner and Cadbury India was the category sponsor for consumer products.

The Effie Awards are organised by The Advertising Club (erstwhile Ad Club Bombay). The authorities conducted five rounds of judging, of which two were held in Delhi. The entries were judged by 124 experts, of whom 68 were from the client side of the table.

Last night's award ceremony was held at Mahalakshmi Race Course (Turf Club), Mumbai.