Advertising Club awards focus on communication with consumers

The third 'Consumer Connect Awards 2006', organised by the Advertising Club Calcutta, gave away awards to brands that managed to communicate best with consumers.

"Consumer Connect scores depended mainly on consumers' knowledge of the product and what the usage experience was like, how much the consumer wanted to buy the product, how the consumer thought and felt about the ad, and how easy it was to remember the brand by seeing the ad. Other factors, like ease of availability, was also taken into account while deciding the winners," Melvyn Pinto, advisor, Advertising Club Calcutta, told Business Standard.

Only campaigns released between April 2005 and March 2006 were eligible.

Campaigns that used multiple ads were limited to three communication initiatives in any media, for ease of research.

Around eight brands in the FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) category and 13 brands for the consumer durables category participated. Trophies were awarded on national and local basis.

"The Consumer Connect Gold National Trophies were for advertisements created by brands out of Kolkata, while the Calcutta-specific trophies were for work created in city," explained Pinto.

The National Trophy for Consumer Services was bagged by 'naukri.com' while the Calcutta Trophy for Consumer Services went to 'Radio Mirchi'.

In the consumer durables category, the National Trophy went to 'Indica V2' while 'Sreeleathers' bagged the Calcutta Trophy for Consumer Durables.

In the FMCG category, the National Trophy for Consumer Products was bagged by 'Kurkure'. There were no awards for a local brand in this category.

The National Agency of The Year (highest score in all categories) went to JWT while 'Response' bagged the Agency of The Year Trophy from Kolkata.

The event was sponsored by Sanmarg, The Telegraph, ITC, Radio Mirchi, Seagram, Chantilli, 'Chobbish Ghanta', and Kingfisher.

"The future of advertisements lies in the hands of the 'democratic media' "� the internet, ipod and mobile users. Also, democratic media is popular among advertisers today because here one can target all age groups and advertise all categories," said Kiran Khalap, co-founder, chlorophyll brand & communications consultancy private limited, and one of the judges at the Consumer Connect Awards.