Ashish Bhasin @Cannes: India needs to improve quality of presentation

Ashish Bhasin, Chairman and CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network South Asia and Chairman of Posterscope and MKTG-Asia Pacific, has his hands full as part of the jury panel for Media Lions.

Following India’s wins at Pharma and Health & Wellness Lions, the mood is upbeat in the Indian camp.

Bhasin is no stranger to jury duties across the globe, having judged earlier at Cannes Lions in 2007, Dubai Lynx in 2008, Festival of Media Global Montreux in 2013 and Asia’s Most Promising Brands in 2013.

He was awarded the 2015 IAA Leadership Award for Media Agency Head of the Year, was nominated Campaign Asia’s South Asia Agency Head of the Year 2015, Business Excellence Award 2015 and the E4M Hallmark Chairman of the Year 2015. He received UK’s Business Excellence Awards for Media CEO of the Year India and Chairman of the Year India 2013 and in 2014 was awarded the Indira Super Achiever Award and the Media Marketer of the Year, Brief Media Awards.

Bhasin serves on numerous industry bodies, chairs the AAAI-IBF committee, is Secretary for the Executive Committee of the AAAI, is on the Goafest Committee. He is the former Chairman of the Readership Studies Council of India and Board of Governors, MRUC.

Taking some time out of his busy schedule as a jury member, Bhasin gives a Ground Zero insight as to what goes on behind the “windowless” jury room at Cannes Lions. Here’s Ashish Bhasin in his own words...

Intense, yet invigorating

It’s very intense to get into the jury early in the morning and keep seeing a lot of work till pretty late. First, a large number of jurors look at the work, as far as Media is concerned, then there is the shortlisting that happens and towards the end there is a process of awarding metals to some among the shortlisted entries.

I’ve judged in the past as well – in 2007 I was part of the Direct jury at Cannes Lions, I have also judged Interactive in Dubai Lynx in 2008 – so I have some experience. It’s quite rigorous and much hard work than what people think it is.

While judging the entries, we look at 2 or 3 things, one is we look at outstanding work that is really creative and innovative, because work of that quality stands out irrespective of any directions or markers or parameters. We look for really innovative work, the kind that hasn’t been done before and is of great quality. We also look at how much the work is in sync with what the task in hand was and what the brand involved is, because if the creativity or innovation is not in sync with what the brand stands for and the brand USP, then it doesn’t end up being a very effective media innovation in any way. Now, media is divided into several sub-categories, so you also want to make sure that it is fitting for that particular sub-category. For example, a work may be good but may not be appropriate for the sub-category it is entered in, so every time you are judging a piece of work you have to take that into consideration. Often people enter the same piece of work across sub-categories because when they have good work, agencies tend to enter it in 2 or 3 different headings. So, you’ve got to make sure that you are judging for that particular sub-category, that you are putting on the filter for that category and not in general.

On India’s performance

I hope it will be an improvement on last year, because last year wasn’t a great year for India. To be honest, in general as a country, there are a few areas where we need to pull up our socks; literally, when I am seeing entries across continents and across countries, I think the presentation of our work in most cases is still not up to the global standards. You have to appreciate that on any single day, in a windowless room, the jury is in from 8.30 in the morning, sometimes till pretty late in the night and are judging at least 150 entries per day. And you do it for a period of 6-7 days. So, it’s much better when the presentation of your work stands out and speaks for itself; it rests much easier with the juries. Often we say that some of our work is in different languages and so on, I don’t think that’s an excuse because I’m seeing, for example, the Latin American countries, their presentation of the work is far better than the way we present in general.

Within the entries, there are some entries in Media which are done by creative agencies and some which are done by media agencies. I am finding that the presentation of work by the creative agencies is better, while the media agencies have some way to go in how they present their work. So, in general for all agencies in India I would say that the quality of presentation of our work has to significantly improve, especially the videos that we make. Video is very important and everything is closely scrutinised – from its communication to its length to its tonality. The work is viewed by a multi-cultural jury from across the globe, so the language has to be understood, the action, the speed at which somebody is talking, the presentation of visuals, the key thought and idea – all have to jump out from the video itself. It can’t be hidden deep down and you expect somebody to automatically understand it, it doesn’t happen that way.

Every market is different and therefore, there are a lot of cultural and local nuances, but the good thing is that a brilliant idea strikes out. It doesn’t matter what the nuances are, it doesn’t matter what the issues are – a good idea will always stand out.

Busy schedule

Unfortunately, when you are in the jury you don’t have too much time and I am just staying on for one extra day after my jury duties are over, after which I have to rush back due to some meetings, hence, I would not be able to attend many of the sessions. But I do look forward to attending 1 or 2 good sessions around June 23, which is probably the only day that I will have free. Our diary fills up so fast that it doesn’t leave much breathing space at all.

In Media, there are two types of juries – some people are involved up to the shortlisting process, while some people stay on till the awarding process. Coincidentally, this year Nick Waters (CEO, Dentsu Aegis Network, Asia Pacific) is the Jury President for Media Lions.

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