Ad agencies curb enthusiasm for fests

Arvind Sharma, chairman of the Indian subcontinent for Leo Burnett, says his agency may send just one or two delegates to Cannes this year as he "feels compelled" to cut costs. "Sending delegates to Cannes and global ad festivals gives the team exposure to work on a global scale," says Sharma. That's the reason Leo Burnett sent eight to Cannes and five to the Adfest in Thailand in 2008. But things are different this year; Sharma says he is not sure what client spends would look like during the year.

Many other ad agency bosses are tempering their enthusiasm to send delegates to the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, which will take place in France during May 13-24.

Euro RSCG CEO Suman Srivastava says his agency is planning to give all ad festivals a miss this year. “We will not send delegates to any of the global awards this year,” says Srivastava. Euro RSCG is reducing by 25-30 per cent the budget for nomination of entries.

This is in contrast to the past few years when a growing number of Indian ad professionals had made their trip to Cannes an annual ritual. But this year, don't be surprised if you find some of the leading lights in town even as the Cannes festival rages on.

Several agencies are planning to reduce the number of people they send to international awards functions. Cannes 2008 saw Ogilvy & Mather send 20 people, while Rediffusion DY&R, Lowe, JWT and Leo Burnett sent up to 15 each.

Even those who are sending representatives are planning to reduce travel and accommodation costs and the number of entries sent to global ad festivals. The average cost per participant at Cannes can be upwards of Rs 500,000 for the five- to seven-day visit.

In 2008, Rediffusion had flown 12 people business class to Cannes and hosted them at some of the best hotels. This year, the agency will be more cost-conscious. Sagar Mahableshwarkar, chief creative director, Rediffusion, says the agency may not cut the number of people, but will definitely economise on travel and accommodation."

Other popular global ad awards like D&Ad, Clio, New York Festivals, Media magazine awards, London International Awards, and Art Directors Club (ADC), New York, also may feel the heat. Bobby Pawar, chief creative director, DDB Mudra, whose work in 2008 includes Union Bank, Amrutanjan and Simply Marry, said, “We are planning to limit our entries to two to three key awards functions like Abby Ad Awards, Effies and Cannes.” In the past, the agency participated in all the popular shows.

On an average, agencies nominate close to 30 entries across categories, like outdoors, film, digital and press, for global awards like Cannes, and nearly 80 entries for Indian awards like the Abby Ad Fest.

“The entries sent to global awards in 2009 will be extremely focused. Only the extraordinary will be nominated. There will be a drop of up to 50 per cent at least this year,” said Mahableshwarkar.