The coveted Grand Prix, Abby awards at Goafest 2008 were bagged by the following agencies: JWT India for brand Nike Cricket (Traffic) under film single category and for brand The Times of India (Lead India Poised) under integrated advertising, Leo Burnett for Luxor Highlights (Che, Charlie, Hitler) under print single and out of home categories and Mudra Communications for Cycle Pure Agarbathies (Jai Dev Jai Dev). Production house Nirvana Films also won a Grand Prix for brand Neo Sports (Gas) under film craft direction category. Ogilvy & Mather (O&M) which won the highest number of medals 58 (5 gold, 14 silver, 39 bronze) across different categories could not win a Grand Prix this year although it got a nomination for brand Neo Sports in the film single category. Grand Prix winner JWT won 28 medals ( 5 gold, 6 silver, 17 bronze), Leo Burnett won 35 medals ( 2 gold, 1 silver, 4 bronze). Another high performer was Contract Advertising which won 29 medals (1 gold, 10 silver and 18 bronze). Some of it's award winning campaigns were for brands Crossword (Jane Austen), Shoppers' Stop (kid) and Code Red Films (Gladiator). Agnello Dias, chief creative officer JWT India said, "We were very happy with the work we did for Nike Cricket and so was our client. This campaign had established Nike cricket gear in India within a year, a process which otherwise takes three to four years." Sonal Dabral, chairman, Bates David Enterprise, and a part of the Abby jury had told Business Standard earlier that these awards are given on the basis of a combination of how good the idea is and how well it is executed. The awards received a total of 1,300 entries and participation from all the top 24 agencies except Lowe India and McCann Erickson. The year 2008 was the first year Abby took place in Goa and also for the first time that Ad Club and Advertising Association of India (AAAI) had come together to host the awards together. The Goafest 2008 was concluded on Saturday.
