BBDO the biggest winner at 2013 Appies

The network won four out of 10 gold awards, for campaigns including ‘Apology press conference grand prix’ for Snickers in Japan; ‘It’s more fun in The Philippines’ for Philippines Department of Tourism in The Philippines; ‘Flavors of life’ for Wrigley’s Extra in China; as well as ‘Moving Singtel image from being a traditional telco to an innovative multimedia company’ for SingTel in Singapore.

It also took home one silver award with ‘The truth lies behind’ for Shabondama Soap by I&S BBDO Japan.

Chief judge Rohit Jawa, who is also the senior VP, global marketing operations at Unilever Singapore, said the quality of this year's entries was much better than last year’s, showcasing the standard of work in Asia.

He noted that good work showed common threads, including consistency and integrity of the campaign across different platforms over a period of time; clarity in insights and strategy planning; compelling storytelling from real people; breaking the norm; as well as well execution and integration across digital platforms.

Held for the fourth year in Singapore by the Institute of Advertising Singapore (IAS), The Appies awarded the top 15 marketing campaigns in the region. This year’s edition saw a 20 per cent increase in entries.

BBH Asia Pacific, won two gold Appies for ‘Recommended by those who care about you’ for Parachute Advansed Ayurvedic Hair Oil in India and ‘From big ticket expenses to daily essential’ for NTUC Income in Singapore. The ‘National night’ campaign for Mentos in Singapore also got a silver award.

Ogilvy & Mather Bangkok, Host Sydney, Unilever Thailand and MEC Global Solutions Singapore were the others to take home one of the available gold Appies. Unilever Pakistan, Lowe & Partners Thailand and McCann Worldgroup India won the other three silver awards.

Gold Appies
1. ‘Apology press conference grand prix’ for Snickers by I&S BBDO Japan
2. ‘It’s more fun in The Philippines’ for Philippines Department of Tourism by BBDO Guerrero
3. ‘Flavors of life’ for Wrigley’s Extra in BBDO Guangzhou
4. ‘Moving Singtel image from being a traditional telco to an innovative multimedia company’ for SingTel by BBDO Proximity Singapore
5. ‘Recommended by those who care about you’ for Parachute Advansed Ayurvedic Hair Oil by BBH Asia Pacific India
6. ‘From big ticket expenses to daily essential’ for NTUC Income by BBH Asia Pacific Singapore
7. 'Kiwi Sceptics' for Air New Zealand by Host Sdyney
8. 'Magnum "Fin"nomenon' for Magnum by Unilever Thailand
9. 'Be positive' for Actions for AIDS, HEalth promotion Board by Iris Worldwide Singapore
10. 'Smoking kid' for Health Promotion Foundation by Ogilvy & Mather Advertising, Thailand

Silver Appies
1. ‘The truth lies behind’ for Shabondama Soap by I&S BBDO Japan
2. ‘National night’ for Mentos by BBH Asia Pacific Singapore
3. 'Knorr Noodle Gang's Advantures' for Knorr Noodles by Unilever Pakistan
4. 'Max savings' for Krungsri Bank by Krungsri Bank and Lowe and Partners Thailand
5. 'Adding romance to the game of the thrones' by Parachute Advansed Body Lotion by McCann Worldgroup India

Goh Shu Fen, chairperson of The Appies and principle of R3, agreed with Jawa that this year’s entries were significantly better than last year’s.

“We also have assessors from different countries across the region, and this helps in the judging because these people have good insights on the local markets,” she added.

The Appies 2013 helps provide platforms to deliver the 3Es, namely excellence, exchanging ideas and education, set forth by the IAS.

This year, The Appies handed out eight awards for best presenters, instead of the planned five. In addition, it also gave out a special Appies Hall of Fame award to Oliver Kittipong Veerataecha from Y&R Thailand for winning the best presenter award for the third year in a row.

Half of the best presenter awards went to marketers, including Mikki Ravelo, global brand manager at Unilever Singapore; Allen Eric, brand manager at Marico India; Kristine Go, senior global digital brand manager for Unilever, Lifebuoy; and Nicole Sparshott, category VP SEAA at Unilever.

Other best presenters include Yousuf Rangoonwala, strategic director at BBH Asia Pacific India; Dhiren Amin, group planning director at McCann Worldgroup India; Jason King, group planning director at BBDO China; and Jean Madrid, brand manager at Bridges PR, Masscom Lowe Madrid Philippines.