| Agency of the Year |
 |
| Leo Burnett Solutions Inc. topped the points table at The Chillies - the annual Sri Lankan Advertising Awards. The 10 year old agency affirmed its dominance and prowess in the industry by winning the highest number of awards and gaining a tally of 121 points to become the Agency of the Year at this year’s Chillies. Leo Burnett scooped the most number of points for the night winning accolades across the Print, TV, Radio and Non Traditional Media categories, including 2 Gold, 11 Silvers, 14 Bronze Awards and 10 Finalists. |
From Wushu martial arts mixed with Ravi Bandu, a cabaret featuring advertising's own, a Bollywood dance number to a special appearance by TV/Cinema star Roshan Ranawana, Sri Lankan advertising's biggest night showed that, no matter the state of the economy, this industry knows how to put on one hell of a show.
While Chillies night yielded a never before witnessed abundance of awards (1 Best of Show, 1 Grand Prix, 9 Gold, 24 Silver, 49 Bronze and 49 Finalist in all), almost more awards than the previous three incarnations combined, the days that followed were marred by the inevitable controversy that follow the Chillies, what is proving to be the new hallmark of these awards. It was ultimately Leo Burnett (with 2 Gold, 11 Silver, 14 Bronze and 10 Finalist equaling 121 points) that proved the undisputed winners, at least in terms of points.
Triad was next in line (with 1 Grand Prix, 2 Gold, 6 Silver, 11 Bronze and 14 Finalist equaling 101 points) followed by JWT (with 1 Best of Show, 5 Gold, 3 Silver and 4 Bronze equaling 74 points). However, even though many Sri Lankans can now claim to be experts on the results and the controversies, how many can say they know about the work that led to the local industry's biggest haul of awards to date?
| 3 Times Winner Triad gets first ever Chillies Grand Prix |
 |
| Triad won the first ever much anticipated Grand Prix awarded at the Chillies.
This is the first time that the Chillies has awarded a Grand Prix, which is a recognition of the Best of the Best work. Triad’s haul of the night included the award for the ‘Best Campaign of the Year’ together with 2 Gold, 6 Silver, 11 Bronze and 14 Finalist awards. Winning across categories and brands, the work recognised as outstanding were campaigns for Sri Lanka’s top brands like Sri Lanka Telecom, Hutch, Elephant House, Laugfs, Heladiv, Nippolac, CIC, Singer Sri Lanka and Perera & Sons as well as social responsibility initiatives done for Sri Lanka Army and the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing. Triad’s record at the Chillies: 2006 – Agency of the Year, carrying away Best of Show award; 2007 – Agency of the Year, with the highest haul of Gold; 2008 – Agency of the Year, claiming the only Gold awarded; 2009 – Winner of the first ever Chillies Grand Prix (JH) |
For instance, how many know that the most awarded client was Leo Burnett's Stage Light & Magic (with 1 Gold, 5 Silver, 7 Bronze and 2 Finalist) or that JWT's Best of Show Winner, Reborn, also received 1 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze. Further, the most Gold was won by JWT's Badu (winning 4 Gold, in total) for entries in the "Print - Single" (1 Gold), "Print - Campaign" (1 Gold) and "Non Traditional - Point of Sale: Poster Single" (2 Gold) and "Non Traditional - Point of Sale: Campaign" (1 Gold) categories. Additionally, Triad won the only Grand Prix awarded as well as Gold for Sri Lankan Army's "Senehasa" in the "Non Traditional - Activation" category and for Heladiv's "The Gotta" in the "Non Traditional - Packaging Design" category, while Leo Burnett's won by Gold for Hilton's "Average Age Promotion" in the "Non Traditional - Consumer Promotions" category and for Stage Light & Magic's "Hannibal" in the "Non Traditional - Point of Sale: Poster Single" category.
Even with the controversy overshadowing the work, The Sunday Times FT wanted to know what those responsible for the top 3’s winning work thought about the Chillies, particularly the work. As such, they were asked to each identify one entry (not their own) which they found particularly memorable from all the entries they had witnessed during the various Chillies events: The results were rather unexpected, as none of the usual suspects who won big was identified; which just reaffirms that creativity is both very personal and very subjective.
The entry chosen by JWT Executive Creative Director (ECD) & Vice President, Chandini Rajaratnam, was Sisil's "Refrigerator", which won Triad a Bronze in the "Non Traditional - Ambient" category. This campaign utilised an air-conditioned bus to simulate the inside of a Sisil refrigerator for the masses, with bus doors, etc. modeled after refrigerator doors, etc. Indicating that this was a good example of creativity, Ms. Rajaratnam further implied that the piece had the ability to garner mass market appeal.
Leo Burnett ECD, Trevor Kennedy, identified the Phoenix O&M's Galle Literary Festival entry, which won a Silver in the "Non Traditional - Point of Sale: Campaign" category, as his choice, saying it was "clever" and "brilliant" and that many would have taken the same idea and gone the conventional route rather than attempting something unique. This campaign used sensationalistic book titles placed in uncoventional venues, such as in DVD stores, perfume shops, supermarkets, etc., to draw attention to the festival.
| Best of show triggers a Gold Rush at JWT Colombo |
 |
In a stunning display, JWT was crowned 5 times with gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze awards at the Chillies 2009. The biggest ever award of the Chillies, the Best of Show came as a huge bonus as JWT clearly dominated the show with metals where it mattered.
JWT also took away gold in the campaign of the year – non traditional media. The clearing of 5 gold and the best of show is a record for any agency taking part at the Chillies. JWT was not among the major honours in the last two years but fired a convincing gain this year to sweep metal in all 3 categories. |
Team Triad’s Dilith Jayaweera, Joint Managing Director of Triad Advertising, indicated Mobitel’s “Always Remember” TV commercial (TVC) which won Silver for Leo Burnett in the “TV – Single” category, to be his favourite. This TVC showed a man on a journey who happens upon a procession of elderly women carrying milk to their village, a situation which encourages him to call his mother. Shot using a panoramic, sweeping cinematographic style which is more commonly seen in feature length films, this TVC has proved very popular in recent times.
Asked to benchmark this year’s work against last year’s, Ms. Rajaratnam indicated that the overall standard had improved, particularly the process of ‘ideation’ as well as work in the Non Traditional and Print categories, while TV and Radio quality has actually dropped. She added that smaller ad agencies were continuing to catch up to their larger counterparts, and this was partly due to events like to the Chillies 2009 Judges Forums which allowed knowledge sharing with international creatives. Also, this has led to Sri Lankan advertising agencies being no longer limited by “a frog in the well” mentality, with all agencies gaining more confidence and entering international awards shows.
Mirroring her sentiments, Mr. Kennedy also suggested there was a significant improvement over last year’s work, saying that the volume of good work has gotten much higher than in any previous year.
He further indicated that there were plenty of good pieces that had a chance to win at awards shows outside Sri Lanka but there were no guarantees.
- Jagdish.
|
E-mail