The Asian Federation of Advertising Associations (AFAA) is all set to judge entries for its first ‘Changemakers for Good’ awards. The extended entry deadline of April 15, 2023 is fast approaching and there is no entry fee. Srinivasan Swamy, Chairman, AFAA, gives us insights into why the awards were introduced and how they will be different.
Mr. Swamy, what made AFAA think of a new award? Why ‘Changemakers for Good’?
Look around. The younger consumer is not satisfied with just product or service attributes. They want to know if the manufacturer is an equal opportunity hirer. Is the advertiser committed to greening the environment? Was any animal hurt in any part of the manufacturing or communication process? And they are even willing to pay a premium for such “good” products.
On the other hand, while our communications industry is struggling to attract and retain talent, we have not positioned ourselves correctly.
Tell me, can you name a single industry, other than ours, that can create messages to raise money to combat natural disasters? Or help change mindsets towards gender bias, or against domestic violence or against animal cruelty? Or has used its powers of persuasion to rid the world of deadly diseases like polio?
We are unique. And we needed a unique award that can focus on these issues.
Hence, Changemakers for Good.
Awards are increasingly being seen as platforms that can be monetised. What is your view?
The contribution of these ‘Changemakers for Good’ to society and of course our industry is priceless. We could never place a value on such efforts. Hence there will be no entry fee.
Can you describe the awards and categories?
We have kept it very simple. Just four awards.
Advertising: For some messaging that has been transformational.
Government: As the largest advertiser in many countries, we wanted to acknowledge good work from the government or an arm of the government.
Industry Leader: People know us as communication specialists. We want the world to know there are those amongst us who are committed to doing societal good as well.
Innovation: This is where technology has been used to communicate a good cause to some remote place or where a completely different approach has been used for the purpose.
So what about the judging process?
We are employing a two-tiered process. National and pan-Asian. Winners in each country will be felicitated locally. The final four from among all these winners will be felicitated on the prestigious AdAsia stage in Seoul, Korea in October 2023.
Finally, how is AFAA’s presence in India?
Well, India is represented in the AFAA by the Advertising Council of India (ACI). And the members of the ACI are the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA), Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI), The Advertising Club and the India Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA).
