I read the news on ADWEEK / ADFREAK and that made me turn around and re-look at the EGO WALL one has created with time. The trophies and citations stared back- as if they knew what was going through my mind. ‘If, I was to lose them will I miss them, are they important to me’. I do not have creative awards and the only ABBY, EMVIES, INMA, IFRA that has been won are proud installation at the organisations I worked for.
But let me get in the shoes of Josy Paul, Piyush Pandey, Pushpinder Singh, Prasoon Joshi and Agnello Dias. They I believe have a variety of statues, citations and trophies. If their ego wall was to be raided and those lovely pieces stolen- what will be more of a loss- The Lion, Lotus, Abby, Elephant, Pencil or anything else. Will the awards have a relation with the work for which they were awarded? Will it be what was their toughest assignment? Will it be what they value most or what they believe the world values most.
There are more questions than answers. Fortunately it has not happened to any one of them. Doubly sure that in India we will not have such a prank. Recently 75 D&AD Pencils from 30 from Rio to Melbourne- one of the most prized item of past winners went missing on Monday. This led to some grief and confusion messages on twitter. It has been a well coordinated work by London agency Lucky Generals a stunt by Lucky Generals, working to promote the awards show. Pencils did come back on Thursday.
As per the agency ‘it was based on the simple truth that, 
sometimes, we only realise the true value of things when they’ve been taken from us’. Tim Lindsay, CEO of D&AD said ‘loved the chutzpah of the Lucky Generals idea. A cheeky & good-humoured way of reminding people that, when it comes to awards, nothing matters more than a D&AD Pencil’. Just for the records D&AD Professional Awards are now open for entry. Last date 17 February to submit.
Exciting ways to promote and drive home the point.
So let me hear from the creative people- which would be most missed. Lion, Pencil, Elephant, Abby, Lotus or any other. Or the most dear one is the small little medal that you won for potato race in class 6th.
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Sanjeev Kotnala with 28 years of corporate experience is the Founder of Intradia World. A Brand, Marketing & Management Advisor, he focuses on IDEATION (Harvest and Liberate) and INNOVATION (InNoWait) process and workshops. He is also a certified Life & ‘Mid life transition’ coach.Email sanjeev@intradia.in tweet @s_kotnala web: www.intradia.inwww.sanjeevkotnala.com.
