9th IAA INDIAA AWARDS were presented at the Taj Lands’ End, Bandra, Mumba on 22nd August 2024. It was the first industry event I had attended in 28 months. So, the pre-and post-event was all about re-introducing my new 40 kg slimmer avatar, which was not easy for friends to recognise, and I had to play ‘Pehcahaan kaun’. However, the evening was dedicated to an IAA INDIAA AWARDS, an award I sincerely appreciate.
I understand awards are subjective and biased based on the jury’s expectations and experience. Hence, the difference in opinion is natural. However, I usually agree with the jury’s choice in the IAA Awards case.
This year, the short-listing jury (of business journalists) with an active interest in marketing and communication did wonderfully well. They made it easy for the final jury (a CEO Jury from top marketing companies) to select winners across 19 categories.
UNIQUENESS OF IAA INDIAA AWARDS.
Just the winners
In IAA India awards, there are just winners- no Gold- no Silver Bronze. I like this format. It forces the jury to be much more stringent in their evaluation. It makes the awards interesting, exclusive, and highly coveted by the winners and the fraternity.
BOLD FRESH GRIPPING CONTENT.
In this piece, I share most of the winners of the IAA INDIA AWARDS. The awards are not completely creatively focused, but they are judged on their engagement with the target audience and reaction in the market. INDIAA AWARDS recognises bold ideas, fresh concepts, and gripping content.
NO ENTRY FEE AND WELL EXPOSED.
IAA AWARDS charges no entry fee, thus democratising the advertiser’s world. INDIAA Awards recognise creative work done for top advertised categories and on which considerable advertising budgets have been expended- thus ensuring that the awarded work is not created for the awards. However, I think it still may not give voice to a small advertiser’s work- unless it does not consider the absolute media weights but considers media weights by the size of the advertiser.
COLLABORATIVE TEAM WORK.
THE IAA INDIA award recognises that campaigns are collaborative work of the advertiser and the advertising agencies. Therefore, the IAA INDIAA award is received by all the co-creators of work on the same stage – Marketing Head, Creative and Media Agencies professionals involved, and if appropriate, will include PR/Digital/Events people.
REQUEST.
If you do not have time to see all the winning creatives- do watch these four films – The Impossible Choice- St Jude Child Care, Red Label- Swad Apne Pan ka , Urban Company- Chhoti Soch and BOLD CARE- #TakeBoldCareOfHer
DO SHARE YOUR POV.
I would love to know your take. Do you see the winning campaigns as the best in their category, or do you think some other brand should have been considered or were equally better? And, if yes, which are these campaigns? The IAA Award 2024 considered campaigns released between July 2023 and June 2024.
THE WINNERS.
STUCK IN THE WRONG JOB.
Henry Harvin Education. Inspector Chetan Bhagat. The ad was direct and very relatable. No, it cannot beat my all-time favourite, HARI SADU, but it was good enough to present the case.
YOUR AMAZON PRIME RECOMMENDATION.
Everyone is telling Manoj. Amazon Prime.
It has everything going for it regarding audience engagement and focused recall of the programme and the channel. Even the last frame, in which his co-star asks him if Manoj Bajpai has watched ‘Family Man,’ was totally anticipated.
TESTED LIKE SAMSONITE.
I loved this campaign. It simply and superbly demonstrated the unbreakable Samsonite luggage using the associated celebrities to advantage. The list of celebrities related to the campaign is long enough for the brand to make the point from different perspectives. The celebrities included Shiva Mani, Vidyut Jammwal, Rukmani Vijayakumar, Sania Mirza, Yuvraj Singh. Garima Arora, Manushi Chhillar, Nikhil Chinappa and Mithali Raj. The one that I liked the best featured Amitabh Bachchan.
BHAI GALE TOH MIL.
Fire-bolt Android Smartwatch. MS Dhoni Meet MC Stan. I saw this video for the first time at the IAA INDIAA Awards. Maybe it did not get enough media weight, or I was never the Target audience. However, the ad is well conceived and demonstrates the product features very humorously. And when the audience completes the dialogue with the character– Bhai Gale to Mil– you know it is a hit. The product remains the focus, and the situation is hugely possible- the solution is brilliant.
THE UNPARENTS- PROTECT LITTLE RIDERS.
A good initiative and the difference we have while riding and weaning protective gear. What makes us not provide for equal safety for the little riders? And are we wearing helmets just because they are required by law? When we put our children’s protection first at all other times, why do we fall behind on two-wheelers and bikes?
E
INSTA PICK UP FOR YOUR SCOOTER.
Gulf Pride Scooter Plus features Smiriti Mandana. In the ad, people keep asking her for her scooter. There is some insight there, but the ad is not award-winning. Maybe the sales or market presence—which I have no idea—did the trick. It was an odd winner that seemed out of place. Maybe it was the category effect—and if it was so, I would have felt better if there were no awards in the category.
DAVID WARNER AND SS RAJAMOULI
CRED—UPI. It’s a very typical CRED ad. CRED is a brand that has been writing its style of advertising. I am a big fan of the approach and have appreciated it. The series featured ILA Arun (Gossip Girls) and Leander Paes ( Buzzkill).
KHUL KARO EXPRESS.
Caratlane. I find it a bit gimmicky and unsure why it won. It’s a bit mushy, mushy, emotive. A scan of the diamond leads to a video—wow- a costly way to deliver the message. But for some, it may be expressive, communicative, and a way for the YES. It does have that relationship and association of Endless Love, Preserved for eternity within every ring. And the ring becomes that exclusive symbol of commitment.
SKIP YOUR MORNING GOOF-UPS
Colgate (Personal Care’) Maxifresh. Interesting. A fresh take on morning brushing and freshness.
SWAD APNEPAN KA
Red Label. Brilliant campaign. The tea category has been surprising and engaging audiences through its very refreshing storytelling campaigns. It is a tough category where almost everything has been tried, demonstrated, and presented—kudos to the teams working on it across the brand for presenting such excellent stories—very Relevant, Original, and Impactful. I wish they get the brand an equally rich ROI in the market and the category keeps producing such good work.
The campaign featured the Train and the Hospital situation—brilliant storytelling, great casting, and top-class films.
HAR KOI PEERA LAHORI ZEERA
LAHOORI ZEERA. Wow, what superb work. Koi bhi situation ho, koi bhi profession ho #LahoriZeera to banta hai!. Where there is not much to say or differentiate, then the advertising becomes the differentiator. Har Ghoont Mein Maza, Har Pal Hai Masaledar.
Har Koi Peera Lahori Zeera is a catchphrase that gets to the tongue of the audience. It is simple, exaggerated, and brilliant.
.
LOOCATOR
Harpic Loocator. An app that helps women locate the next LOO with its rating based on service and hygiene. It’s a great app. A service that is needed. However, the ad does not specify the areas the app covers. I checked with a few women friends, and most were surprisingly unaware of the app, hence the question mark on the scale of awareness the app deserved. My sample size was small- but the respondents were the core audience. Be free to pee with the Harpic Loocator
App
.
JUGALBANDI.
Aisa Jode, Jodi Judi rahe. Fevicol Pedilite. Sincerely speaking, the surprise element from the Fevicol ads is lost for many of the audience. Yes, the brand has been consistent in its communication. The presentation was nice, and the situations were improbably hilarious, but there was nothing new. It may evoke reactions from the audience. Maybe it deserved the award. The expectations from Fevicol ads may be higher.
STOP RUNNING AWAY.
Phone Pe. Health Insurance monthly insurance payment. The problem is well identified, and a solution is natural but something that was not offered earlier. It makes the premium payment easy and less of a burden. The other ad showed the person taking off the plaster cast.
GULAB JAMUN UNCLE IS BACK.
Swiggy. There have been rare cases where a model becomes so associated with the brand and gains celebrity status, so much so that other brands use the character. The audience has loved Swiggy uncle and his exploits, and he was back with Swiggy- doing what he does best- ordering and having things his wife won’t allow. A good campaign is an excellent move by the brand, but next will be the urge not to be repetitive and to find new expressions to retain the core and maybe the loved uncle.
TAKEBOLDCAREOFHER
BOLD CARE. Sexual health brand. Brilliant use of TV serial story format scene to engage the audience. The problem faced by the new young bride with Johnny Sins (her husband) is revealed in a very colloquial language. Enter Ranveer Singh (who one believes is also the brand’s cofounder) to suggest the solution. Bingo- everything is fine. The category is not new, but the products and solutions are now offered through open channels. They are also delivered in 10 minutes on Zepto! And that piece of communication is titled- we ca=me before you. Remember the TTK Lovedepot and the brand Sukham – a herbal performance enhancer that differentiates its offering between Needy and Greedy and is featured in Shark Tank?
TIMEPASS SKIP KARO
RED BUS (Travel, Tourism and Hospitality). One needs to interact with the audience to realise how much Red Bus has impacted the bus booking system. The brand carries a pleasant, positive emotion in the user’s mind. It is frequently used, and the users seem loyal to the core. The campaign focuses on the questions that can be answered and helped by the app, like coverage, routes and live tracking, which are well demonstrated in the campaign.
THE IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE.
St. Jude India Childcare (Voice of Change). This award was truly deserved and won. It’s a brilliant way to propose and emotionally tug on the heart. It clearly explains why and how the choice is impossible, leaving the suggested action unsaid. Remember—because the fight to live begins with a place to live. WATCH IT.
CHHOTI SOOCH.
URBAN COMPANY. (Voice of Change) The content on the YouTube channel of Urban Company is uploaded with ‘Content Warning: Minors must watch under adult supervision’; hence, I felt it justified to repeat it here. What is really behind a woman professional’s success? This short film follows the journey of a young massage therapist who unpacks the stigma surrounding her profession, first for herself and then for her family. All work done with purpose is worthy of dignity. And what society might say is not worth dignifying. Everyone has the right to work with pride and dignity and, more importantly, to be respected. WATCH IT- a winner in more ways than one.
ADDON
There were three other winning campaigns. I could not trace and track it. A campaign that spoke of how one vote can make a difference, the autism awareness and the Google – Poochoge toh mileage. The last one you would have most likely seen.
A campaign I would want to see was the BJP advertisement ‘I AM THE GROOM- MAI HI DHULHA’. Maybe there was no category, or it was safer not to award a political ad.
THANKS TO THE BRANDS THAT MADE IAA INDIAA AWARDS.
A special thank you to the IAA INDIAA AWARD team, IAA and the brands associated with the awa5ds- namely OPEN (Associate Partner), Teads, Mobligent Media Pvt Ltd, The Indian Express, Dinamalar and Bobble AI (Supporting Partners)- to make the awards with no entry fee possible.
BLOG/075/2024 To connect, send an email, join on Twitter S_kotnala or subscribe to the weekly update.
