The Advertising Club, Cochin
TARGET: To provide a common platform for advertising agencies and ad professionals to interact, share thoughts and also to unwind through varied infotainment programmes.
ORIGIN: The Advertising Club, Cochin, was formed 18 years back (1994) with a view to bring all those connected with media, print, visual or related fields, under one roof.
The club is governed by a 11-member committee and has around 500 members. It offers two modes of membership to aspirants. The individual annual membership can be had for Rs. 1,500, while corporate membership, which allows the agency to nominate five members, is being offered at Rs. 5,000. The tariff includes admission fee.
ACTIVITIES: The Advertising Club organises an assortment of programmes. However, the Pepper Awards, which is into its seventh edition now, has been the chartbuster. The success of this event has been so huge that it has almost turned out to be the tagline of the club.
“Last year we received around 1,000 entries for the awards. The event, which began as a local programme, has now spread its wings to the whole of South India”, says Sandeep Nayar, president of the club. “For the conduct of this event we have formed a Pepper Creative Awards Trust,” he adds. The Pepper Awards are given away in 30 different categories.
Yet another landmark programme of the club is the ‘Deadline Contest’. The annually held event, which is open to all creative minds, involves a half-page design contest based on a social issue. This will have to be submitted within 24 hours after the topic is announced. The club has monthly programmes like seminars, creative workshops etc. Sporting events such as shuttle badminton and cricket are the other regular happenings. Earlier, the club used to conduct a quiz contest for its members and publish an in-house magazine, both of which have not been suspended. In the recent past, the club had also introduced a short-term course on various aspects of advertising and the response to it has been overwhelming.
IMPACT: The Advertising Club has made its presence felt in Kochi through its programmes. The Pepper Awards has carved a niche of its own in this segment. Its creative programmes and sports events have also helped create a substantial following among members.
GETTING IN TOUCH: To know more about The Advertising Club and their activities call 0484-4026067, 93880 44690 (president) 9747522599 (secretary), Email: pepperawards@gmail.com, Website: www.adclubcochin.com
