Reincarnated PAS AWARDS – Effies Enter Pakistan!

The harp is blown and the stage is set, as the first ever Effie Awards Pakistan is closer than ever. The official Effie portal has already started getting nominations and the awards team is into managing the submissions since the first call for entries end on 31st January and subsequently 7th and 15th February as they last two deadlines.

Initiated in 2011 and structured on world class standards, PAS Awards has left the industry for good with some incredible memories, achievements and letting the industry know who is who!

As Effies enter, we may be dubious about the awards programme despite being an international awards show. We must be reasoning, if Effie’s is just a repackaged or rebranded version of PAS Awards or there has been some major changes in the awards show?

To ponder upon, it is very elemental to know the stance of PAS. Back in 2011, when PAS Awards were being formulated, Effie helped PAS in structuring the programme and PAS followed their model at every step. So essentially, the judging criteria will remain the same. For instance, all submissions will be evaluated on four criteria: Challenge and Objectives (23.33%), the Big Idea (23.33%), How the Idea was Executed (23.33%) and the Results (30%); each with their specific weightage. However, the process will become more robust in terms of the evaluation of the entries as well as our requirements when it comes to processing them. For instance, the score review for short-listing entries and determining the finalists will be done by a special group with participation from Effie Worldwide. Furthermore, there will be a higher minimum qualifying score in place when it comes to short-listing entries or choosing a finalist. This means that there is a probability that there will be no winners in a certain category (if they do not receive the minimum number of points), or in some cases there may be a silver and bronze winner but no gold, states Qamar Abbas, Executive Director PAS.

Then comes the big Question What is new about Effie Pakistan apart from being Internationally affiliated Award! Let’s give a glance to know more.

• It will be the first time we will have 3 awards in each category as

1)    Bronze

2)    Silver

3)    Gold

• Effie Global Index has been introduced with which the brands and agencies will become part of global rankings for their efforts and effectiveness. Every Gold, Silver, Bronze and Effie Grand Prix winner will be awarded points via this system which will be compiled by Effie Worldwide and this will enable them to be part of Effies’ global index.
• Sadly, one of the most interesting categories Best in OOH, Best in Digital, ATL and Print categories are being dropped as platform specific categories or any category that is judged on creative only are not part of the global effie programme as campaigns are treated as marketing efforts that are judged on effectiveness only being the core essence of Effie awards.

Few new categories have been introduced like David vs. Goliath, Topical Marketing and others have been redefined.

• Few new categories have been introduced like David vs. Goliath, Topical Marketing and others have been redefined.

The Credibility of Awards Programme:

At Effies all entries are judged on same level and are scrutinized through a tedious process. The Jury consists of credible, experienced experts belonging to the field of marketing, advertising, academia, creative, media and research from around the world that have a proven track record. The Jury is led by a Jury Chair who is not involved in judging process but only assists and monitors that the Jury team is judging with free and fair intention without any bias towards any submission. It must also be noted that if any Judge is directly or indirectly linked to a submission he/she recuses from the entire category.

Apart from this what makes the awards programme legit and fair is the added support from auditing firms who ensure that the entries have been judged fairly without any sort of rigging. So each and every entry is treated equally as the basic objective of the awards show is to support, encourage and recognize best initiatives of brands and the agencies.

The Verdict

To conclude, PAS has gone for the moonshot by bringing in Effies to Pakistan. It is an initiative that will aid in showcasing our local efforts on international levels. On the other hand, team PAS must consider that earlier they have been victim of PR crises which must now be dealt with proper course of action to clear any ambiguity which arises to and damages the name of Effie Awards Pakistan.

At the end, it’s very early to say that PAS Awards still exists under the cloak of Effie awards. However, I will leave this point on your end as to how you see these upcoming awards. Until then let’s wait and watch with your popcorns as how it turns out to be.