With the Abby Awards 2024 powered by The One Show just a few days away, the advertising industry is buzzing with anticipation. Celebrating its 55th year, the awards have moved back to Mumbai due to the ongoing general elections. 

However, Ajay Kakar, chairperson of the awards governing council Abby Awards 2024 powered by The One Show and managing committee member, The Advertising Club, remarked that the sentiment for Abbys stays the same as it was in the previous years. 

He commented, "The show must go on! Recognition and inspiration are more important regardless of the location." 

The Advertising Club partnered with the One Show in 2022 and this will be the third consecutive year of this partnership. The Abbys will take place during the three-day Goafest scheduled to be held between 29-31 May. The Abbys partnership with KPMG as an independent verification partner continues.

Manifest spoke to Kakar, to get the lowdown on this year's participation considering its move to Mumbai from Goa, agencies that have returned and new categories that have been introduced to keep up with the ongoing trends in the A&M ecosystem. 

Legacy of the Abby Awards 

Reflecting on the significance and enduring relevance of the Abby Awards in the Indian advertising and media marketing industry, Kakar remarked, "Abbys has been around for 55 years and has remained the gold standard of the Indian advertising and media marketing industry. The two magic formulae are: one, to remain relevant and contemporary; and two, not only to change with the times, but to ensure neutrality by being for the industry, by the industry, and for the industry. Ours is the only award show that is not a commercial venture or run for profits. It is run by the industry to promote, encourage, and inspire the industry."

Move to Mumbai

Discussing the impact of venue changes on the Abby Awards, Kakar shared, "Entries make no difference where the location is. If we look at the entries and registrations, we have crossed all records. We have moved to Mumbai because of the ongoing general elections. Even the Indian Premier League had to move to the Middle East because of a similar circumstance many years ago."

He added, "It's the mood, the spirit, and the celebration. On the other hand, since our industry is Mumbai-centric, there are going to be a lot more people who are going to just walk across and participate, without worrying about their bosses' approval to travel, or whether their agency has the budget. People from other markets who needed to travel to Goa will just have to travel to Mumbai."

Participation 

According to the data shared by The Advertising Club, this year has seen a notable increase in participation across various sectors at the Abby Awards. Media agencies have shown a rise in engagement, with 73 participating this year compared to 63 last year. Similarly, creative companies have also increased their involvement, with 198 participating this year against 181 last year. The number of entries from media agencies has surged to 1,258 this year, up from 1,019 last year.

The overall entries are up to 3,506 (from 3,301). Entries from creative companies are 2,248, 34 less than in 2023. 

Introduction of new categories

Kakar remarked that in their endeavour to remain contemporary, they have rolled out three new age categories such as digital, mobile, and technology, which collectively garnered 626 entries from 75 companies. 

"A new vertical called 'health' has been added this year with sub-categories such as OTC oral medicines, OTC products, and pharmaceuticals, among others. A new specialist agency award being introduced is 'health specialist of the year' for the best performance by a company in this vertical," he shared. 

Diversity in the jury process

Highlighting the efforts to ensure diversity and quality in the judging process, Kakar noted, "We have this year 23 categories and therefore 23 jury chairs with 204 jurors. Again, we aimed to remain contemporary not only in our process and categories but also with the jury, which at the end of the day ensures the quality of the awards. Out of 204 jurors, 68 of them are female judges contributing to a ratio of 33:67. Out of the 23 jury chairs, nine were women, reflecting a 40:60 ratio. It's not about age, the past or experience; it's about the present and the future. So we have 53 new, young, highly decorated judges who are introduced to the process, making up 26% of the jury this year."

Agencies that have made a comeback

Reflecting on the expanding participation and trust within the industry, the speaker remarked, "If you have a good thing going well, people join, and therefore it's not only about the 73 agencies, but if you look at the agencies who are now with us who till recently were not. Lowe Lintas has been away from creative awards for decades and has returned. Other than that McCann Worldgroup India, DDB Mudra, VML, and Famous Innovations have also shown interest in participation this year. These agencies are not only participating as jurors but have also given us that trust as participating through entries, which is something to be proud of."

Support system

Wrapping it up, Kakar highlighted the significance of international perspectives and diverse participation, he concluded, "We have Kate Stanners (chairperson and global CCO, Saatchi & Saatchi) and Jon Austin (co-founder, SuperMassive), who are with us from the international perspective. The international perspective, whether it's with Stanners or Austin or The One Show, is important because many Abbys winners go on to achieve success at The One Show and the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. This underscores the Abbys' role as early warning signals for emerging talent. Additionally, this year, we've seen a surge of entries from creative and digital agencies, alongside notable interest from content companies, broadcasters, publishers, PR firms, video craft companies, design agencies, NGOs, and branded content creators."