WARC announces 2013 Prize for Asian strategy

The Prize returns with an enhanced $10,000 fund and five new awards. Leanne Cutts, VP - Marketing, Mondelez Asia Pacific, will chair the judging panel

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | April 3, 2013

Warc today has launched the 2013 Warc Prize for Asian Strategy, a cash prize for the case study that demonstrates the most insightful marketing strategy in the region. The Prize returns for its third year with an expanded fund of $10,000. In addition to the $5,000 Grand Prix for the region's best strategy case study, Warc has introduced five $1,000 Special Awards that recognise brands and agencies responding to Asia's biggest strategic challenges.

Leanne Cutts, VP -  Marketing, Mondelez International, Asia Pacific, will chair a judging panel comprising senior client-side marketers and strategy experts from around the world.

Other judges announced so far include: Martin Weigel, Head of Planning, Weiden + Kennedy Amsterdam; BV Pradeep, VP - Consumer & Market Insight for D&E Markets , Unilever; Ajay Kakar, CMO - Financial Services, Aditya Birla Group; Rohini Miglani, Director, Brand Building Integrated Communication, P&G Asia; and James Thompson, CMO, Diageo Asia Pacific.

Once again, the Prize is completely free to enter, and is open to brand owners and agencies in any discipline. Entrants must submit a case study detailing an example of strategic thinking making a difference to a brand. Further details can be found on the Prize website,www.warc.com/asiaprize

The purpose of the Prize is to showcase great strategic thinking – the ability to turn insight into breakthrough marketing ideas that transform brands.

As well as the $5,000 Grand Prix, 2013 Prize entrants will be in the running for five Special Awards, the winners of which will each receive a $1,000 cash prize (separate entries are not required). The Special Awards were developed after industry feedback that the Prize should recognise major Asian strategic challenges. They are:

• The Market Pioneer Award for the best example of a brand creating a category or targeting a new market – for example, lower-tier or low-income consumers, or an otherwise underserved market.

• The Cultural Connection Award for the best example of a brand building its strategy around a cultural insight specific to Asia.

• The Channel Insight Award for the best example of a brand building its strategy around new understanding of media consumption and other touchpoint behaviour in Asia.

• The Local Hero Award for the best example of a challenger Asian brand using smart marketing strategy to take on bigger competitors.

• The Asia First Award for the best example of insight or innovation that the rest of the world can learn from.

In addition to these awards, Warc will adopt a Gold/Silver/Bronze award structure to recognise entries that score highly with the judges.

The deadline for entries is June 14, 2013, and the winner will be announced in September 2013. All cases that win an award will be showcased in the inaugural Asian Strategy Report, a study of smart strategic thinking in the region published after the competition has ended.

“We think it's really important that the best Asian thinking is celebrated and promoted around the world,” said David Tiltman, Warc's Development Director. “We've launched the five Special Awards to give added recognition to the smartest Asian marketing, and we'll use the Asian Strategy Report to showcase that thinking in front of Warc's global audience.”

In 2012, the Prize attracted 160 entries from brands and agencies across Asia. The 2012 Warc Prize for Asian Strategy was awarded to a paper from BBH Singapore on the repositioning of financial services brand NTUC Income.

 “We're delighted at how the Prize has built up such an extensive collection of best practice from the region,” said Ed Pank, Managing Director of Warc Asia. “With so much great thinking coming from Asia, it is important to share these insights to help the industry develop smarter marketing programmes in this region and beyond.”

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