LONDON, UK — WARC, the global authority on marketing effectiveness, has today launched the 2021 WARC Awards for Asian Strategy to showcase Asia’s smartest marketing thinking, highlighting breakthrough ideas from across the region.
Launched in 2011, the Awards, previously known as the WARC Prize for Asian Strategy, are free to enter and are open to agencies, brand owners and specialists in any marketing discipline across the region.
This year’s competition will be chaired by Lynette Pang, Assistant Chief Executive, Marketing Group, Singapore Tourism Board, who is responsible for building the Singapore destination brand globally and helms the global marketing efforts of STB.
Commenting on her upcoming chairing role, Pang, said: “As Asia moves determinedly forward to bounce back strong from the changes wrought by the global pandemic, the role of strategists and strategic marketing becomes mission-critical.
“I am thrilled to be the Jury Chair for this year’s WARC Awards for Asian Strategy and look forward to seeing work that will serve as both a showcase of, and guiding light for, Asia’s next generation of strategists.”
Joining Lynette Pang are an eminent judging panel made up of 50% senior marketers from brands including Diageo, Lifebuoy, L’Oréal, Pernod Ricard and Visa, and 50% agency strategy experts, with global networks such as Havas, Grey, Mindshare and PHD represented. Overall there is a 56%/44% male/female gender split. The 25-strong jury is as follows:
- Lynette Pang – Assistant Chief Executive, Marketing Group, Singapore Tourism Board – Jury Chair
- Charu Aggarwal – Chief Strategy Officer, India & SEA, Havas Group
- Antoin Breen – Marketing Director, Pernod Ricard Vietnam
- Bitop Das Gupta – AVP & Strategy Lead, Grey Group Bangladesh
- Hazlina Dayangku – Head of Marketing, Samsonite
- Melissa Henson – Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Manulife Philippines
- Issa Ignacio – Strategic Planning Director, TBWA\Santiago Mangada Puno
- Anita Kanal – Vice President, Consumer Marketing Asia Pacific, Visa
- Stuart La Brooy – Senior Marketing Director, Strategic Partnerships, Diageo
- Mi Li – Chief Marketing Officer, Advance Intelligence Group
- Nhan Mai Ngoc – Senior Brand Manager, Lifebuoy, Unilever Vietnam
- Akira Mitsumasu – Vice President, Global CX & Marketing, Japan Airlines
- Masahito Namiki – President & CEO, Interbrand Japan
- Nicholas Nyeow – National Sales Manager, Kara Marketing Malaysia
- Huiyan Pan – Regional Marketing Lead (Branding & Partnerships), Shopee
- Avinash Pareek – Head, L’Oréal, Wavemaker India
- Nathalie Pellegrini – Chief Performance Officer, Mindshare APAC
- Hari Ramanathan – Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer, VMLY&R Asia
- Ali Rezgui – Group Planning Director, Publicis Group APAC
- Saloni Shah – Head of Digital, Consumer Products, L’Oréal India
- Jaskaran Singh Kapany – Former Head of Marketing, Paytm India
- Jason Tan – Executive Director, Zenith Singapore
- Luke Tucker – CMO, Citibank Singapore
- Alex Woodford – Vice President, Client Partner, APAC, Essence
- Cynthia Zhang – Managing Director, PHD Shanghai
The jury will award Grand Prix, Gold, Silver and Bronze accolades as well as five Special Awards recognising specific areas of excellence, one of which is new for this year:
The E-Commerce Excellence Award (new) – for the best use of e-commerce platforms and features to further amplify brand objectives.
- The Early Adopter Award- for the best example of a brand using a new innovation or emerging tech or platform.
- The Long-Term Strategy Award- the best strategy designed to build a long-term brand platform, executed over a period of three years or more.
- The Customer Journey Award- for the best example of a brand creating a compelling path to purchase.
- The Research Excellence Award – for the best use of research in the development of strategic ideas.
Chiara Manco, Commissioning Editor, Case Studies, WARC, says: “We look forward to working with our largest judging panel to date for these awards, to bring to the forefront the very best of Asia’s strategic thinking that is driving business growth at a time of enormous change – effective strategies that will also inspire others globally.”
The deadline to submit entries is 14 July. More information about the awards, including jury bios and how to enter is available here.
