Some important takeways for ad industry from Kyoorius Creative Awards 2018 jury

The two-day jury process for Kyoorius Creative Awards 2018 wrapped up yesterday (May 15, 2018). A specialist jury, selected together with the One Club of Creativity and composed of the top creatives from across the world, judged all submitted entries according to the Kyoorius and One Show awards criteria. 

In its 5th edition, Kyoorius Creative Awards is further fortifying its partnership with The One Club of Creativity. The Awards also incorporate One Club’s high-integrity judging process and proprietary back-end voting technology platform, to ensure credibility and fairness of the Award. 

During the judging process, the jury based their decision on three criteria, reviewing if the entry is:

  • an original and inspiring idea
  • well-executed
  • relevant to its context

In the categories relating to craft, work is judged first on the strength of the craft, then on how it contributes to the success of the idea. 

Unlike any other awards in India, the Kyoorius Awards have no winning tier structure of gold, silver and bronze – all the best work is awarded a Blue Elephant. 

Rajesh Kejriwal, Founder and CEO, Kyoorius
Rajesh Kejriwal, Founder and CEO, Kyoorius

Rajesh Kejriwal, Founder and CEO, Kyoorius, commented, “The jurors at the Kyoorius Creative Awards, with their innate knowledge and experience, will contribute to this vision of acknowledging the finest original and innovative work. We look forward to hosting an insightful and rewarding event that honours the best in advertising.” 

Among the many firsts globally, Kyoorius is continuing with its tradition of hosting an Open Jury Session, wherein the jury sessions are open for the creative community and media professionals to attend and witness the session in progress. Apart from making the entire process very transparent, the sessions provide key takeaways and insights from the discussions and the entries displayed. 

Adgully was present at the Open Jury session and spoke to some leading creatives in the advertising industry who are part of the Jury for the 5th edition of Kyoorius Creative Awards, to get their impressions on the Awards, the entries received, and more. 

What are your impressions on the entries received and judging process?

Chief Creative Officer & Co-Founder, Taproot Denstu
Chief Creative Officer & Co-Founder, Taproot Denstu

Santosh Padhi (Jury Foreman): I think the first part is not as exciting, that is, the collection and consolidation of the entries. After the shortlisting process,you feel good about being in the industry and that’s where you are charged and excited. Right now, we are in the process of shortlisting so we are not as excited as we will be in a couple of hours. 

National Creative Director and Senior Vice-President, J Walter Thompson India
National Creative Director and Senior Vice-President, J Walter Thompson India

Tista Sen: There are a lot of entries from clients and media houses. The categories we are judging are for Excellence in Creativity, but I feel a lot of stuff that is supposed to go in other categories may have been entered here, so that’s taking up a lot of time. I agree with Santosh Padhi that we’re waiting to have a discussion. So far it’s a silent vote and we’re just shortlisting what’s in and out. Once we start the discussions with all of us on the table, it will be more interesting. 

Sumanto Chattopadhyay: I echo what Tista is saying. I think, on the one hand, everybody has entered their work with a lot of hope, so you don’t want to be rude about it, but at the same time I think sometimes people are a bit delusional, and I would suggest that they rather save their money. However, I think this is good for Kyoorius to have a lot of people submit their entries. Having said that, I think there are a few highlights and a few pieces that really stand out. So, as Padhi was saying, right now we are just shortlisting, when we start judging the final winners we’ll see some good stuff coming out. 

Kartik Iyer: I think the pressure on the industry is showing in the work. I would say that on Day 2, the work we have seen is fairly good and quite interesting. The first day was a little tiresome, it didn’t help that people sent in wrong entries in wrong categories and that just increases the time and fatigue. The overall pressure on the industry and the opportunities to actually do good work are decreasing. I mean the opportunity is decreasing and the pressure is increasing and it’s showing in the entries. The amount of work that has come in has also dwindled. Something needs to happen if the standard is to remain where it was. 

Bobby Pawar: What’s happening is that there are a lot of entries from lots of places. That’s good. Some pieces shine as usual, one of the things I’ve noticed that’s becoming a trend is that the ones that really sparkle are getting fewer and fewer. Even the industry average is coming down and that’s the thing we’ve all got to watch out for. 

Are these awards a fillip to the creative community working in the agencies?

Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, Soho Square, Ogilvy Group, India
Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, Soho Square, Ogilvy Group, India

Sumanto Chattopadhyay: Absolutely, I think we are in an industry that’s not the best in terms of pay. Creative peoplein the industry live for the metal, not the kind used in coins but in terms of trophies. So yeah, I think that it’s really important for the younger, or as you say the unknown people, who might be the Big Names in the industry tomorrow but as of yet are undiscovered. I think for them award shows like these are super important and super motivating. 

You know there is this whole talk about lack of talent in the industry as senior people in the industry, what is the industry doing about this lack of talent?
Sumanto Chattopadhyay: I don’t think there is lack of talent at all in the industry. Unfortunately, I don’t know whose fault it is, but we’ve become devalued in the industry. Our clients want to pay us less for the work we provide and that has impacted the talent, because people are probably seeking out other creative fields as well. You can make more money writing a TV series or a movie than an ad. Having said that, I think there’s loads of talent and if we got together as an industry, we could be valued for what we are doing, but I think our industry itself is in a flux. The definition of advertising is changing, so it’s going to take some time for it to settle down. 

Kartik Iyer: I can only speak for myself. When we were growing up, we used to look at these books and awards shows and fall in love with the work of legacy agencies like Ogilvy. There was a great sense of pride to be a part of that. Today, I don’t think anyone has the time to stop and build those things. Everyone is running in different directions and I don’t think any one specific person is responsible for that, it’s just the way the world is moving. Like brick and mortar retail is being challenged by e-commerce, instinct is being challenged by data; you can’t choose one over the other. To be able to strike that balance is going to be a challenge. 

I would be lying if I said I do anything more than what comes naturally to me in leadership. As an agency, our greatest strength is that we have a certain culture that has survived and thrived, and we try our best not to change that. The agency is supreme and those who like it stay and subscribe and those who don’t, leave. We don’t try to stop anyone from doing so. 

Chief Creative Officer and Managing Director South Asia, Publicis Worldwide, India
Chief Creative Officer and Managing Director South Asia, Publicis Worldwide, India

Bobby Pawar: It is eroding as we speak and the winds are blowing faster than ever. It’s a very simple thing. Money is being sucked out of the industry in terms of fees and things like that. It’s becoming far more challenging. Therefore, remunerations are going down and at the same time creative people have many more apertures to express themselves than ever before. You can be an art director in movies, TV shows, you can be a writer in so many different things, you can be a stand-up comedian, and you can do so many more things. 

There are awards and then some more. In a year we see a plethora of advertising awards. In the long run do these awards really help?
Deepa Geethakrishnan: I think in terms of visibility it always works in some form or the other. In terms of economics, I don’t know how it pans out for different awards or different clients, but inherently to be able to pick out things that are nice or celebrate things that are nice, it’s a good thing. 

CEO, Happy McGarryBowen
CEO, Happy McGarryBowen

Kartik Iyer: I’ve been a creative person all my life. The awards are, of course, primarily benefitting the creative people. The fees are there for the planners, and the clients get recognition for the performance of the campaign, but the creative awards are primarily for the creative people. It helps them in getting hired, getting paid more, and also helps raise morale because at the end of the day the for business guys, as long as they meet their targets, it’s good. For the creative guys, you do something you are proud of and that adds to the glory of the agency. Overall, it helps an agency in HR and creates the image that you are an agency that’s doing good work and being recognised. It also helps attract talent. That’s the way it has always worked. 

Bobby Pawar: I think done right, they benefit everybody who is a part of it. More importantly, it can benefit the brands and the consumers because if you raise the standard of the work, it’ll be more engaging and shareworthy, and brands will be better. Also, the more shareworthy work is the more rewarding it is to consumers who have spent time with the brand. I think it’s a win-win situation all around. It just depends on what you promote. 

Is there any work that is outstanding? What is the X-factor that you are looking for when you are judging an entry?
Kartik Iyer: At the end of the day everyone is looking for something new. I’m not sure how original things can be, because at the end of the day we creative people, in advertising, use existing knowledge and repurposing them. That is the kind of creativity we do. Having said that, there is a certain quality in the filmmaking overall, an improvement, but the general formats are pretty evident. It’s either a beautiful song, or it’s an emotional tear-jerking story. It’s getting blurry for the jury to identify the work with the brand. Sometimes the stories are so beautiful, and it ends with the brand logo, and you’re like, why did that happen! There is no connection between the work and the brand. 

Bobby Pawar: When somebody takes a different approach to things even in the way the story is crafted. A story can be told in many classical ways, but if you approach it differently, and do it really well, you go beyond the idea. The execution overwhelms the idea and takes it to another place. That’s where we can take a lesson from. A lot of times we stop at the idea itself, when we should be pushing it and making it something we did not even think about when started. 

How has the brief given by clients to agencies changed over the years?
Kartik Iyer
: There is no brief from the client most of the time. That is the truth. The brands that do spend time giving a brief, add too much information that is not really relevant. These are very difficult times and everything is changing in and around the industry. We’ll just have to wait and see who survives. Who will be the creative of tomorrow, who will be the agency of tomorrow? All of that is being questioned.

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