Emvies 2024: Wavemaker India and Mondelez India win big
The Advertising Club hosted the 2024 edition of the Emvies, one of India’s most coveted advertising awards on March 22. Wavemaker India and Mondelez India were the talk of the town.
Through the first half of the night, there was stiff competition between agencies, Mindshare, Wavemaker India and EssenceMediaCom for first place. The contest revealed results, as the second half of the night saw an almost sweep by Wavemaker India, bagging one award after another.
Wavemaker India beat its competitors to win ‘The Best Media Agency of The Year’. With a total of 665 points to its name, the agency beat Mindshare, who came in second with 460 points and EssenceMediaCom, who placed third with 325 points.
“The secret of our success tonight is a process that combines strategy, data and an in depth understanding of the media landscape. Media creativity is in our DNA and it is what sets us apart from other agencies. We have a fantastic team of experts who come together and drive our client’s growth across all aspects of marketing and advertising solutions . Solutions that not only encompass traditional media platforms but all across the spectrum of digital, social and content. All backed by data, technology and creativity. Thats our secret sauce,” said George Kovoor, chief creative officer, Wavemaker India.
Ajay Gupte, CEO - South Asia at Wavemaker said, “A lot of hard work goes behind all of this. What we see here at the Emvies is the culmination of a year full of handwork from a lot of people. You need to have great supportive clients who appreciate good work. Wavemaker is lucky in that regard. We are also really fortunate to have an incredible leadership team. My leadership team gives me so much pride. We are all committed to ensuring that both Wavemaker and our clients do well. That is the most important. Apart from the 13 in leadership, we have 700 other Wavemakers who work day in and day out and drive our vision of doing great work. Lastly, investing early in areas which we identify as important and will help our clients move forward. Wavemaker has consistently been investing in these areas be it content, e-commerce, performance, data, etc. It is because of these investments that we have been able to perfect it and take it to our clients in a way that delivers results. That is what is showing.”
Wavemaker India’s client Mondelez India, subsequently secured ‘The Best Media Client of the Year’ award with a total of 440 points, beating Hindustan Unilever who placed third.
Wavemaker India also bagged the Grand Emvie for Mondelez India’s Cadbury Celebrations - Cadbury #MyBirthdaySong campaign which used generative AI to transform the classic birthday song into personalised harmonies.
“You have to have a body of good work to be able to even think about entering these awards. I call the Emvies a great leveller. The judging process at the Emvies is very robust. Secondly, in round two, you have to make a presentation in front of all the clients. It’s a proper non-biased judging process. It all depends on the kind of work you have done and how it impresses the judges. It’s a fair and square game,” said Navin Khemka, CEO - South Asia at EssenceMediaCom.
Additionally, the Emvie for the Best Media Buying Team was awarded to Mindshare for Britannia Industries. Mindshare also bagged the Best Implementation Team of the Year for Hindustan Unilever - Dove.
The Emvie for Diversity Equality and Inclusion (DEI) was awarded to Mindshare for Dove’s Stop The Beauty Test. The Young Emvie of The Year was awarded to Mindshare’s Rowena Rodrigues for Dove - Crafting Cannes-worthy Brilliance!
This year’s Emvies set new records. A total of 1892 entries were submitted of which 471 were shortlisted. All in all, 44 gold, 68 silver, 88 bronze and 1 grand Emvie were presented to winners.
Rana Barua, Group CEO of Havas India, South East, and North Asia said, “The calibre of work showcased at the EMVIE this year was truly phenomenal. Standing out in their unique ways, each entry exemplified the exceptional quality of work our industry professionals consistently maintain, reaching global standards. We are delighted to celebrate these winners, whose creativity and strategic brilliance set a new standard for excellence. A heartfelt congratulations to all the winners for raising the bar in the media industry!”
