They say Karachi is a resilient city and nothing can dampen our spirit, not even a cyclone. That did turn out to be the case, even though the much-anticipated inaugural Dragons of Pakistan award ceremony had to be moved from Friday, August 30th, to Sunday, September 1st, because of the high-speed winds caused by the cyclonic storm.

The event was well worth the short wait and it was a testament to the dedication and determination of the organisers, Syed Saad Hashmi of Adstreet, Syed Amir Haleem and Nazia Ahmed of Skale Interactive.

Having been a part of the local advertising fraternity for most of my career since I first joined Lowe and Rauf in 2005, I, like many others in the profession, am well acquainted with Cannes Lions and the Effies. However, I am not sure how many of us know about the Dragons. I recall several years ago seeing an ad in Aurora about Bullseye winning a Dragon award, but until recently, I did not know much about these awards and their significance.

Over the years, Pakistan’s isolation from the rest of Asia has been reduced and we have competed in regional awards, proving our mettle there and the Dragons have played a key role in putting Pakistan on the Asian marketing map. The awards were initiated in 2000 by Mike Da Silva, a personality with more facets than the fictitious Don Draper. Da Silva, as a young Australian, was always interested in advertising, but the local agencies were too small in his home town of Adelaide. After a stint in the Australian army corps as a medic, he headed to London, where he made his mark in the global marketing industry. After working with clients such as Qantas and winning acclaim as director of the Marketing Agencies Association GLOBES (a post he held for 19 years), he was motivated to establish an Asian marketing communications award, as he did not see many entries from Asia in the awards shows he adjudicated.

Thus, the Dragons were born in 2000. In 2012, the Dragons of Malaysia awards were established, and in 2023, the Dragons of Pakistan awards were held with Adstreet as a partner. This year, the Dragons of Sri Lanka will be held for the first time. The entry fee is a nominal 200 AUD so that the objective of allowing smaller agencies to compete is not compromised.

The Dragons Awards focus on effectiveness and the entries are judged four times by different judges. The weightage in the final score is 30 points for concept, 30 for execution, 20 for campaign strategy and 20 points for results. There are a total of 17 categories, and this year Pakistani marketers were awarded gold, silver and bronze Dragons across 10 categories.

A differentiating factor about these awards is that they take into account the level of market maturity, cultural, religious and legal issues as well as the target audiences.

Da Silva professed a desire to give back to the marketing industry he so loves, and love is also what prompted Syed Saad Hashmi to form Adstreet as a platform for marketers to come together and drive the industry forward in a positive direction. Hashmi met Da Silva at the Dragons of Asia in Kuala Lumpur in 2022 in his former capacity as COO of Bullseye. It was there that he discussed with Da Silva his dream of having these awards held in Pakistan. Given that the objective of these awards is inclusion and expansion, Da Silva agreed to set up Dragons of Pakistan in 2023, and those awards were held in Kuala Lumpur.

During the event, three individuals were awarded special Red Dragons:

Red Dragon Master: Client – Rifah Qadri of Easypaisa
Red Dragon Master: Agency – Ahmed Kapadia of Synergy Group
Red Young Dragon Master – Shiza Imran of Starcom

Personally, it was a full circle moment for me, as Raeda Latif, my brand management teacher from my MBA days and I were seated at the same table. Latif won a Silver for Pakistan Stock Exchange’s investor awareness programme in the small budget campaign category. Also given that Pakistan’s ad industry is often labelled as not creative, it was a moment of pride that this year Pakistan beat both India and Malaysia as the country to win the most Gold dragons. Pride for Pakistan and pride in Pakistan is what the awards were all about. There is no doubt that, as a marketing fraternity, we are ready to rise.

Tyrone Tellis is Senior Manager, Corporate Sales and PR, Bogo. tyrone.tellis@gmail.com