Leo Burnett, McCann, JWT, Taproot vie for honours

With Ogilvy & Mather and Creativeland Asia opting out of the Creative Abbies in the run-up to Goafest, the field has been left wide open. This year, Leo Burnett, McCann Worldgroup, Taproot and JWT are tipped to grab a haul of honours at the Creative Abbies, to be held on the final day of Goafest.

Publicis Groupe's Leo Burnett is likely to lead the pack, thanks its work for McDonald's, Tata Capital, Kaun Banega Crorepati and Indian Idol. McCann's campaigns include those for Western Union, Saffola and Nescafe.

While Taproot has worked for PepsiCo (Mountain Dew), Bennett & Coleman, Bharti Airtel and Nirma, JWT has worked for brands such as Pepsi.

This year, most of these agencies had sent a large of number of entries for the creative awards. Leo Burnett, for instance, sent about 200 pieces of work; McCann and JWT 300-400 and Taproot 150. People in the know say the top 20 agencies account for 60-70 per cent of the 4,300 entries for the creative awards this year. Last year, the number of entries stood at 4,200.

K V Sridhar, national creative director, Leo Burnett India, says, "We are excited about the work we have put up this year and are hoping it bags metals."

"We are counting on Bennett & Coleman, Mountain Dew and Airtel. Let's see where it goes," says Santosh Padhi, co-founder and chief creative officer, Taproot.

Prasoon Joshi, president (South Asia), McCann Worldgroup, says, "We are keeping our fingers crossed. We had not entered our work in the Abbies last year. Let's see where it goes this year."

In the last few seasons, Leo Burnett has figured among the top three or four agencies at the Creative Abbies. Last year, it stood second, after Ogilvy & Mather, in terms of the number of metals (with a tally of 36), while Ogilvy had 50. Though Taproot won 34, it was declared runner-up, thanks to the six golds it bagged, second only to Ogilvy's haul of 11 golds.

Could this year be the turning point for Leo Burnett? One can only wait and watch.