Singapore – Effie Asia Pacific is pleased to announce the successful completion of its final round of judging that saw the emergence of 122 finalists who will vie for highly coveted top honours at the 2020 APAC Effie Awards.
The 122 finalists were shortlisted after four days of intensive assessment and evaluation by some 90 distinguished jury members. This final round of judging was moved to a fully virtual platform in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, with the jurors participating via video conferencing.
The judging was led by the Awards Chairman, David Porter of Unilever, and eight distinguished Heads of Jury, namely, Akira Mitsumasu of Japan Airlines, Anupriya Acharya of Publicis Groupe South Asia, Daniel Barnes of BC&F Dentsu, David Guerrero of BBDO Guerrero, Kainaz Gazder of Procter & Gamble, Melissa Tang of Mindshare Singapore, Rupen Desai of Dole Packaged Foods and Susie Wong of Fuji Xerox Singapore.
There was wide representation across Asia Pacific, with finalists hailing from 12 territories. India is leading the shortlist with 23 finalists, followed closely by Australia and New Zealand tied at 22 finalists. On the agency network front, the shortlist is led by Ogilvy, with 27 finalists, followed by BBDO, with 12 finalists and McCann Worldgroup, with 10 finalists.
“This year’s judging was conducted under very different conditions and I would like to publicly thank the Jurors, Heads of Jury and our great organising team for their pioneering work. This is probably the first time a major competition in our industry has been managed virtually, from end-to-end. We are all grateful to our diverse group of 190 jurors from 18 territories. They participated in two rounds of judging and completed the process with all the rigour that the Effies is rightly famous for. Evaluating so many high-quality entries has been a stimulating and rewarding experience for everyone involved. I am delighted to introduce our finalists and am looking forward to us unveiling the winners in September”, Awards Chairman, David Porter said.
Two Philippine teams have also made it to the shortlist, namely GIGIL and Leo Burnett Manila for their work with Levi’s (Studs) and McDonald’s Philippines (The McDelivery Pin), respectively.
The APAC Effie Awards is the industry’s gold standard for assessing marketing effectiveness for the region. Through spotlighting and recognising ideas that work and contribute to a brand’s success, the Awards continues to inspire and champion excellence in marketing communications.
The full list of finalists may be accessed here. The Awards Gala, originally scheduled to take place in May 2020, will now be replaced by a virtual Awards Ceremony in September 2020. More details will be shared in due course and the latest updates on the competition can be accessed via the Awards website, as well as LinkedIn and Facebook.
