Proud,excited, will aim higher–winners celebrate their Creative Abby wins

The Creative Abbys this year have seen an overwhelming participation from the advertising, media and marketing fraternity. In all, 206 metals were given away across categories on Day Two of Goafest 2017, including Radio, Radio Craft, Broadcaster Abbys, Brand Activation & Promotion, Public Relations, Print Craft, Branded Content & Entertainment and Direct. 

Adgully spoke to some of the winners to share their excitement over their respective wins. 

Kartik Sharma, Managing Director, Maxus South Asia 

On winning at Abby Awards
“We are extremely delighted to win across various categories in Creative Abbys for our clients. We have done some fabulous campaigns over the last few years in the branded content category. Winning accolades like Creative Abbys definitely make us feel proud of our work and motivates us further. We are grateful to our clients and partners for believing in us.” 

Santosh Padhi, Chief Creative Officer & Co-Founder at Taproot Dentsu 

On winning at Abby Awards
“Though we had selective work this year, they were very solid – be it the Airtel Open Network or Adidas Odds, which is one of my favourite, or American Tourister or Panasonic. We hardly had 6-8 campaigns that we entered, but we were very sure that these are the best work that we have produced in the last 12 months and they will end up winning for us.” 

On the winning campaigns
“Airtel and Adidas usually had outdoor, TVCs or direct campaigns, but these campaigns qualified in more than 4-5 categories, because if you do an integrated campaign which has many arms and legs, it does qualify in many categories. We carried these two campaigns in print, radio, direct, outdoor, activation and TVC.” 

How important is it for a young agency to win?
“I think it is extremely important, because unless the industry appreciates your talent, you don’t know where you stand. Goafest is one platform where the entire industry’s creative and marketing people come and applaud the winners. Right from Day One we wanted to have a strong presence in Goafest and we have been among the top 2-3 in the winners’ list for the last eight years.” 

Manish Bhatt, Founder Director, Scarecrow Communications 

On winning at Abby Awards
“In the initial years of Scarecrow, we did not enter the awards because we wanted financial stability and were concentrating on new business. We started entering only later and in the Radio category, because awards are also an expensive initiative. This year, we felt we have enough strength to enter the awards in more categories and it feels wonderful to have won.” 

On the winning campaigns
“We have always been true to the language and culture of the country we live in. We also celebrate simplicity, social causes and also did collaborations this year, which was a new highlight for Scarecrow that paid off pretty well.” 

Ashish Khazanchi, Managing Partner, Enormous 

On winning at Abby Awards
“A fair amount of work goes into creating an ad and it’s a job in itself, because it is somewhere about all the things coming together just right – the idea, the crafting. We are extremely happy about winning this year.” 

How important is it for a young agency to win?
“It is very good for the young kids to see that their ideas and craft are being appreciated by people they think the world of. The best of them are coming and critiquing their work, so they know where they stand and they try to aim higher after every festival like this.” 

Raj Kamble, Founder & CCO, Famous Innovations, India 

On winning at Abby Awards
“I knew we would win because the work that we have done is exactly what we believe in and every single piece that we have entered this year is very innovative. We believe the whole world is moving towards innovation and knowing that the work we have done for Nestle to educate the girl child has won recognition feels great.” 

How important is it for a young agency to win?
“I think it is very important for young agencies to win because it’s their first award and firsts are always special. The average age for employees in our company is 25 years and a lot of my employees are in Goa for the first time for Goafest and they will never forget that.” 

Mandeep Malhotra, Founding Partner and CEO, The Social Street 

On winning at Abby Awards
“We have been in existence for just 20 months and I am blessed with one of the best teams that one could ask for and clients trusting us with work. It is not easy for clients to go ahead and trust a new organisation because a lot of departments are answerable on business relationships. I am excited and thankful to the clients and the team that has made it happen. Last year, when we won 5 metals in total, I promised myself that this is just the start and it has been a great start.” 

How important is it for a young agency to win?
“Extremely important, because recognition not only reinforces our self-confidence, but to get noticed among your peer groups to attract younger talents and awards helps in a big way because clients start noticing you then.”