Mirchi Kaan Awards: McCann Worldgroup wins Agency of the Year

The Crystal Award was also bagged by McCann Worldgroup, while Cadbury India was titled Client of the Year.

The awards ceremony for the eighth Mirchi Kaan Awards was held at the Comedy Store in Mumbai on September 28. This year, the awards saw participation from over 20 agencies, receiving more than 220 entries from all over India. The entries were judged across 15 categories.

McCann Worldgroup was adjudged Agency of the Year. The agency won the prestigious Crystal Award for the 'Penguin, Tiger and Whales' ad created for Radio Mirchi. Radio Writer of the Year was also given to Team McCann.

On the win, Prasoon Joshi, executive chairperson and regional executive creative director, McCann Worldgroup, tells afaqs!, "Audio and visual have always been McCann's strengths. Although we did not perform that well last year at the Mirchi Kaan Awards, we have done outstandingly well this year." He adds that radio as a medium is very close to his heart and he is really very proud about the win. In all, McCann won eight golds, seven silvers and five bronzes.

This year, too, Cadbury India walked away with the Client of the Year honours.

Most Outstanding Voice of the Year was awarded to nine-year-old Naman Jain for the 'Moment of weakness - Father Son' ad created by Leo Burnett.

Other agencies which also won metals include Leo Burnett (7), Contract Advertising (4), Ogilvy India (4), Mudra Communications (3), Draftfcb Ulka (2), Radio Mango (1) and Interface Communications (1).

McCann won gold in General Singles for the Gajju and Vijay, Head-Tail and Machchar ads created for Radio Mirchi, Dish TV and Zingo, respectively; whereas Leo Burnett won gold in General Singles for Moment of Weakness - Father Son created for Saathi. In General Campaign, McCann won three golds for its Radio Mirchi and Happy Dent (Bijli ki Samasya) campaigns, whereas Radio Mango 91.9 and Contract Advertising India won one gold each for the Radio Mango World AIDS Day and Cadbury Diwali Celebrations campaigns, respectively.

Best Use of Radio As a Medium was awarded to the media agency Mindshare for its idea cellular campaign Ajab Prem Ki on-air Kahani.

This year, for the first time, Radio Mirchi had introduced the Sound Design awards. McCann has won a silver and two bronze metals in this category.

"This year, we have tried to make the judging process very stringent, in order to avert any possibility of plagiarism. The evaluation process of the awards has been robust and that is the mainstay of the awards for this year," says Prashant Panday, chief executive officer, Radio Mirchi.

Incepted in 2004 by Radio Mirchi, the awards are known to reward creativity in radio advertising.

This year, the jury comprised names such as Agnello Dias, chairperson and co-founder, Taproot; Deepa Krishnan, president, creative, Lowe Lintas; Prathap Suthan, chief creative officer, Iyogi; Rekha Nigam, managing director, Vihaan Communications; Sunil Thoppil, vice-president, McCann Erickson; Ashish Khazanchi, national creative director, Publicis Ambience; Josy Paul, chairperson and chief creative officer, BBDO India; Amit Akali, senior vice-president and national creative director, Grey; Ramanuj Shastry, chief creative officer, Saatchi & Saatchi; Malvika Mehra, national creative director and senior vice-president, Grey; K S Chakravarthy, national creative director, Draftfcb Ulka; Manoj Shetty, senior creative director, Ogilvy India; Prasoon Joshi and Meera Sharath Chandra.

The jury had met on September 24 to shortlist the best radio ads across 15 award categories. Ernst & Young managed the validation process of the entries.

TV host Cyrus Broacha was the host for the evening. Several names from the media and advertising industry were present on this occasion, including Sam Balsara, chairperson and managing director, Madison World; Paritosh Joshi, CEO, STAR CJ; Ambi Parameswaran, executive director and CEO, Draftfcb Ulka; and L V Krishnan, CEO, TAM Media Research and chairperson and CCO, Contract Advertising.