Saluting newspaper advertising at its best, the Dainik Bhaskar INK awards are now a recognized industry standard for the brightest and most creative ideas in newsprint in India. The INK awards also showcase the power the Print medium has in impacting the lives of its readers and touching its consumers. An endorsement of innovation in newspaper advertising by creative agencies, media agencies, newspaper publishers, advertisers and all those who are involved with it, the awards bring together the newspaper and advertising fraternity to applaud its finest talent.
INK is judged by an independent panel of highly acclaimed thought leaders in the newspaper advertising ecosystem-creative directors and top managers from advertising agencies, senior professionals from media planning and buying agencies and marketers with direct control over many of the largest advertising budgets.
Intense scrutiny during the judging process ensures that winning submissions truly reflect the best in newspaper advertising and reward the creative and brands successfully using innovation and creativity to push newspaper medium to new levels. With two intensive phases of judging by some of the most demanding executives, winning an INK is definitely one of the most sought after honours in advertising.
When asked about his thoughts on the awards and the entries, Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Mediabrands India, said, “It was a great opportunity to judge such awards and a fantastic way to recognize Print advertising. Compared to last year, there is lot more diverse work that has come in. I’m delighted that not only creative agencies but media agencies also are participating.”
Kaacon Sethi, Chief Corporate Marketing Officer, Dainik Bhaskar Group, said, “There is lot of good work happening in Print and we need to find the right platform and do the right things around it, so that it gets the direct visibility that it requires. In that sense, these awards are a great platform.”
Ajay Kakar, Chief Marketing Officer – Financial Services, Aditya Birla Group, said, “Often people say or speculate that Print advertising is dead. I think the INK awards remind us of the importance of Print ads and that they are still alive and kicking.”
‘The Idea’ was a big factor in judging the awards. “We looked at two different things. The media agency awards were judged on innovations and the objective behind idea. The creative awards on the other hand, were evaluated for copywriting, art direction skills, ideas. Above all, THE idea,” said Sinha.
“We were looking for how the Print medium was used effectively. What kind of results were they able to retrieve? How interesting was the advertising? And we kind of stayed clear of stuff that has been done before. For example, simple placement, the whole jacket versus the other jacket. We went beyond the placement thing. We focused on the effectiveness of the medium,” said Sethi.
“Entries that stood out were the ones that brought out the core value proposition of the brand and gelled with the medium. Some of the creatives were such that we actually discussed them indepth spontaneously. We got involved. For a moment we became consumers or readers of the communication. That’s the beauty of judging these awards,” said Kartik Jain, Executive Vice President and Head Marketing, HDFC Bank.
This year, the ‘INK Legend of the Year’ is being introduced. It is the highest honorary title to be presented at the INK Newspaper Advertising Awards. It is awarded to a person who has contributed tremendously to the newspaper advertising industry in India. The recipient of ‘INK Legend of the Year’ is an advertising veteran who has worked with several top brands in the domain of Print, and has won notable awards and accolades at various national and international platforms for excellence and creativity in Print advertising.
The Awards night promises to be an evening to ink about.
