Agency of the Year Awards judging now complete

“Overall, the calibre of entries was high, but there were real standouts," said jury member Denise Goodwin, national marketing manager for Volkswagen New Zealand. "These standouts had clearly defined their purpose, played to their strengths and put an emphasis on knowing and delighting their clients and caring for their staff."

Goodwin also lauded the entrants for a strong theme of innovation, "not just for innovation's sake", but based on a true desire to challenge the norm.

"I am really impressed by the entries, including those from the smaller agencies," said Joanna Ong-Ash, head of marketing and communications for AIA Singapore. "The quality of work and strategic thought-leadership displayed made my scoring efforts extremely difficult."

Ong-Ash said she was particularly impressed by the entries from Vietnam, given the market challenges for the creative industry there. "It is indeed inspiring to read their respective approaches to tackling these challenges, while managing the clients' briefs in a manner that brings the best value to these clients," she said.

Alastair McCausland, senior brand manager for Carlton Draught at Carlton & United Breweries, said he enjoyed the "thoroughly enlightening" process and the "diverse range of innovative and impactful work". He added that he was impressed by "the way that agencies are reorganising themselves to be reactive to current client needs and challenging themselves to think about and create campaigns that don't necessarily fit the mould, but deliver against the brief". 

Danny Phillips, brand director for Lion New Zealand described the entries as "some great agencies doing some great work in challenging marketplaces and keeping pace or bettering with great change". He praised the ways that agencies are "dealing with changing consumer demands for how they consume media" and adjusting to "increasing consumer interest in what is 'under the bonnet'—a desire for authenticity and deeds" instead of hype.

“Despite a tough year, many agencies have re-invigorated themselves and their business model to deliver some incredibly strong results," said Jenni Dill, marketing director of PepsiCo Australia and New Zealand. "There are a few very interesting specialist agencies bringing some new capabilities to the scene that are the ones to watch.”

Participating agencies submitted 372 entries to the Agency of the Year Awards, an 11 per cent increase over the previous year. The awards for Australia/New Zealand, Japan/Korea, Southeast Asia and South Asia will be presented in Singapore on 10 December at the St. Regis Singapore. The Greater China awards ceremony takes place 13 December at the Hyatt Bund in Shanghai.

The Network of the Year winners will be recognised at a separate event in 2013. Eligibility for the Network of the Year Awards will be based on performance in the regional awards.

Here is the complete list of judges in each award region:

Australia/New Zealand

• Caroline Dempsey, director of product marketing, Visa Australia
• Jenni Dill, marketing director, PepsiCo Australia & New Zealand
• Alastair McCausland, senior brand manager, Carlton Draught, Carlton & United Breweries
• Danny Phillips, brand director, Lion New Zealand
• David Waugh, general manager, marketing, Parmalat Australia Pty Ltd
• Denise Goodwin, national marketing manager, Volkswagen New Zealand
• Nicole Parker, marketing and communications manager, Nespresso Australia and Oceania, Nestle Nespresso SA

Greater China

• Brendan Inns, vice-president, brand communications, Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts
• Teong Seng Lim, head of country, internet marketing, Philips China
• Oliver Wolter, senior manager, digital marketing and brand marketing, Volkswagen China
• Christine Xu, marketing director, McDonald's China

Japan/Korea

• Damien Cummings, regional marketing director, digital & social media, Samsung Asia
• Hisao Victor Misawa, head of brand development, hair care, North East Asia, Unilever Japan Service 
• Yannis Rodocanachi, consumer product division general manager, L’Oreal Korea
• Simon Sproule, corporate vice-president for global marketing communications, Nissan Motor 
• Makoto Kimura, senior director, store media asset management, marketing, Seiyu 

Southeast Asia

• Dona S. Arcilla, vice-president & group head, marketing communications group, Philippine Savings Bank
• Jerry Blanton, global marketing director: APAC & EMEA, Citibank
• Dare Koslow, regional brand and partner manager, Vodafone Global Enterprise (Hong Kong) 
• Christina Lim, director, brand & marketing, NTUC Fairprice Co-operative 
• Joanna Ong-Ash, head, marketing & communications, CMO Office, AIA Singapore
• Edwin Teoh, assistant director, Canon Singapore
• Cheryl Wang, director, brand development, consumer marketing, Singapore Telecommunications    

South Asia

• Vinay Bhatia, customer care associate & senior vice-president marketing & loyalty, Shopper’s Stop
• Lloyd Mathias, director, Green Bean Ventures
• Mrinmoy Mukherjee, director, marketing & business Development, Raymond
• Ramesh Natarajan, vice-president & area head, Rest of South Asia, DHL
• Sanjay Tripathy, executive vice-president, head of marketing, products and direct channels, HDFC Life
• Manish Vyas, VP marketing, VIP Industries

Each jury also included a senior member of the Campaign Asia-Pacific editorial staff.