Saatchi & Saatchi swept the 14th Asian Advertising Awards in Hong
Kong last week, taking home a total of 27 awards, including the Best of
the Best.
The wins for the network came out of just two offices - Hong Kong and
Singapore - with the Lion City creative team appropriately taking the
lion's share of 23 Certificates of Excellence and Spikes.
Ogilvy & Mather came in second in total number of awards across its
network - 16, including three won by sister agency Results Advertising
Thailand.
No other agency came close to matching either Saatchis' or Ogilvy's
tally, but the packed audience of nearly 500 industry representatives
nonetheless afforded support for all the winners.
Riding the crest of success, and having mopped-up a record number of
accolades, Saatchis is revelling in not only winning the awards, but
picking them up for a cast of 10 clients.
Hailing Saatchi's across-the-board clients wipe-out for clients, which
included Procter & Gamble, Discovery Channel, Ikea and Borneo Motors,
Saatchis Asia CEO Patrick Pitcher, stated his pride in the fact that the
wins spanned "more than just one or two campaigns".
Amidst the winning frenzy, however, Mr Pitcher told MEDIA that he
believed some agencies had been "poorly represented" at the gala awards
night, and that industry insiders had lacked the enthusiasm warranted by
such an event.
"We have so few opportunities in our industry to show proudly what we
do-and the evening clearly lacked in the celebration and passion that
drives this industry," he said.
With Saatchi & Saatchi poised to "repeat the (winning) trend next year",
he noted that by shipping creative directors Craig Davis and Francis Wee
from Singapore to Hong Kong, backed by Edmund Choe's move from Saatchis'
Lion City shop to Malaysia, creative talent was being spread across
Asia.
"Although we're making an effort to strengthen our creatives across the
region, it's not as if we're weak," said Mr Pitcher.
"Singapore will continue to be strong and we continue to strengthen our
offices across Asia".
By country, Hong Kong won 25 awards, with Singapore stealing its thunder
mightily with 35 awards altogether.
Thailand took home 13 awards, while Japan won five and agencies
representing China, three.
Sponsors for the event included booming dotcom company CASH Online
(which generously sponsored the pre-awards cocktail and handed out
nearly HK$100,000 in lucky draw prizes), Spotcast, 24/7, CNN,
Time, Fortune, Asiaweek, Forbes and Star TV.
