The Times of India, JWT sweep at Tamizh awards

Meher Khanna - Televisionpoint.com | Chennai
The Times of India (TOI) Chennai and ad agency JWT India struck gold at the first ever Tamizh Advertising awards with TOI's TV campaign, 'A Day in the Life of Chennai' (featuring Nakka Mukka) turning out to be a super-hit with the jury.

On October 01 evening, the duo bagged three golds, one silver and two bronze trophies for TOI's TV, radio and print campaigns. The agency missed the 'Sakala Kala Vallavan' (Best Agency) trophy by a whisker, losing out to O&M by a margin of just one award.

JWT India won the gold in the TV campaign category for 'A Day In The Life Of Chennai' featuring the hit song, Naaka Mukka, gold for Best Soundtrack for the same campaign and gold for Best Ambient Launch for the Building-Boat-Dhoti-Saree newspaper launch campaign.

The 25 member team, headed by executive creative director Senthil Kumar also bagged silver for the radio ad announcing the launch of 'The Times of India' Chennai edition, bronze for the TOI's print launch ad and bronze for Chennai Times YouTube Internet channel launch.

Speaking to Televisionpoint.com, an elated Kumar says that the JWT team decided to appeal to the Tamil sensibility right from the beginning. "From the word go, we knew we had to appeal to the average Tamilian and make him or her fall in love with the brand. We tried some interesting concepts and we're delighted that they worked out so well," Kumar said.

The Chennai edition of The Times of India was launched on April 14 this year, which is celebrated as Tamil New Year's day. Kumar said the film was a satirical look at Chennai, and attempted to capture the ups and downs of city life.

"We tried to tell the story using cinema and politics - two forces that rule our lives. Naaka Mukka was rewritten, with permission from music director Vijay Antony, to present an interesting Tamil narrative," Kumar said.

Other winners included Sasi Advertising, Ogilvy and Mather India and TBWA. Ogilvy and Mather India bagged the Sakalakala Vallavan award for the year, while JWT were Runners Up. As a brand, TOI won the most awards.

R Seshadri, president, Advertising Club Madras said they planned to take the Tamizh awards to international destinations in the near future.

The panel of judges included Ramanujam Sridhar, chief executive officer, Integrated Brand-Comm; Thomas Xavier, chairman and national creative director, Orchard Advertising; Vishnu Vardhan, film director; Pradeep Milroy Peter, head, programming, Star Vijay; and Remi, executive vice-president and content head, Hello FM.