Maxus wins big at Emvies 2014

When Ajit Varghese spoke to dna after his elevation as CEO, Maxus Asia Pacific in September last year, we asked him whether he had any unfinished agenda having helmed the GroupM agency's India operations for seven years. "May be winning at Emvies is an unfinished agenda," he said, matter-of-factly.

Known to be fiercely competitive, yet always gracious in the praise of rivals, Varghese passed on the Maxus India baton to his then COO Kartik Sharma. The entrepreneurial spirit with which the agency is run stays on. At the 14th edition of the Emvies on Wednesday night, Maxus was the clear winner. Ahead of runners-up Lodestar UM by a good 55 points. And older sibling Mindshare which had taken away the title for six consecutive years was a distant third.

But the icing on the cake was that not only was Maxus the Best Media Agency of the Year, it also won the Grand Emvie along with client Tata Global Beverages for the 'Power of 49' campaign. In fact Tata Global Beverages shared the Best Media Client of the Year with Hindustan Unilever for its seven wins for the 'Power of 49'.

"We have accomplished a lot over the last seven years," Varghese told dna. Unable to attend the ceremony as he was in Shanghai, the Maxus South Asia managing director, said, "Emvies was a summit that was left unconquered. Although we came close and gave a tough fight but you know there is less room for No.2 and No.3 in life. We wanted our clients to feel the No.1 status of their work getting showcased as "the best". "

And what's his sentiment now that the Summit is scaled? "What a feeling to get it all. Agency of the Year, Client of the Year and the Grand Emvies. I truly believe that today every Maxusite who is and has been part of this journey feels he or she is a winner. That's makes us proud. Cheers to Kartik and team to continue the Maxus Creativity, Passion and Entrepreneurial spirit. A new journey has begun with a bang!"

Among other notables, Samyak Chakrabarty of DDB Mudramax bagged the Gold in Young Emvie of the Year with the Silvers shared by Alka Bhavnani of Mindshare and Vikesh Jain of Maxus.

Earlier, Pratap Bose, the recently re-elected president of the Advertising Club, under the aegis of which organises the Emvies Awards is organised, unveiled its new logo. Designed by leading Bangalore-based consultancy Ray+Keshavan, Bose highlighted the dynamic nature of the logo with an easy adaptability to a variety of creative scenarios.

—In arrangement with MxMIndia.com