Happy Bangalore’s meet merit campaign calling for entries for the Kyoorius Advertising Awards
To launch the call for entries campaign for the 2014 Kyoorius Advertising Awards, Kyoorius and D&AD joined forces to honour the finest work in Indian advertising, with the “Meet Merit” campaign conceptualized and created by Happy Bangalore.
Positioned as a truly principled and neutral platform with the highest standards in judging criteria, Kyoorius Advertising Awards intends to be recognized as a symbol of the highest creative achievement. A specialist jury has been selected together with D&AD, consisting of the top creative professionals from across the world, ensuring a fair and thorough judgement at all levels; in their words ‘regardless of how big the brand or how small the names behind it, how wide the media reach or the number of retweets’.
“The team at Happy worked closely on understanding our awards and have truly captured its essence — challenging entrants to meet merit — because the Kyoorius Awards are about works that work.” said Rajesh Kejriwal, CEO & founder of Kyoorius magazine.
The multi-channel campaign comprising of web films, print and outdoor, assures that the ‘Merit’ in a work is the sole metric on which it will be judged; bringing Merit to life by likening it to the eerie something/someone that never leaves your side, pushing you to your limits and then some.
“While awards are definitely important to push the envelope and lead people to newer and better things, the efforts to win these awards take a different perspective. Award shows worldwide (save a few) are plagued with scams and back-patting creative directors in the jury room. We were clear that Kyoorius Advertising Awards would be more about recognition of real, great work than just about glory. And since it’s the first time in India that such a rigorous process is going to be applied, it was almost like meeting someone called merit for the first time. Someone who is unforgiving and recognises only the best. Hence Meet Merit.” said Kartik Iyer, CEO & co-founder of Happy.
The press and outdoor campaigns used the archetypal office setting to provide spook, while the web films were left to the imaginations of three independent directors; and the results range from mildly unnerving to outright wicked, going by the responses on social media.
“The look and feel of the campaign, starting with print, was inspired by Japanese and Korean horror flicks. We wanted to capture the haunting essence of merit, of it being the surprise element that jumps at you from unexpected corners of your mind to double-check your commitment at work. We wanted to create something unique and striking for our peers in the industry and this idea seemed perfect for it. The shoot was done in Prague and the elements came together really well just like we envisioned it. May the spook be with you!”, adds Praveen Das, CCO & co-founder of Happy.
Credits – Creative Team: Kartik Iyer, Praveen Das, George Abraham, Athul C T. Account Management: Ajay A Kumar. Films – Dance/Pencil: Director: Rajaram Rajendran, Production House: Eleven Elements. Hot Cat: Director: Ayappa, Production House: Early Man Films. Good vs Evil: Director: Raznish Ghai, Production House: Asylum Films. Print campaign – Photographer: Miro Minarovich. Executive Producer: Josef Pavleye. Production House: Pavleye Artist Management, Prague.
