ANALYSIS: Tigers in search of Lions - Asia-Pacific agencies are keeping fingers crossed ahead of the Cannes Ad Festival this month, in the hope that they'll be able to bring home more of the coveted

There was a general feeling of excitement at this year's Best of the Best Awards in Hong Kong, as Ogilvy Mumbai's anti-smoking ad 'The Journey' made everyone sit up and take notice of the potential of India's creative scene. There were a lot of good ideas on display that night, prompting one industry journalist to call the work on show "explosive, exciting, fresh and a match for the best creative work anywhere in the world". Next week, at the 48th Cannes International Advertising Festival, we will find out if the work can live up to the words. While Asia-Pacific agencies can impress us at home, do they have what it takes to bring home some of the 2001 Lions? Last year, the region's agencies won 17 Lions, including two gold ones, which were scooped by Results (an Ogilvy & Mather subsidiary) for a Tobasco sauce ad in Thailand and O&M Singapore for its Scrabble TVCs. To get an idea of the odds for agencies here winning it big this year, media spoke with a few of the jurists who will be representing the region at the festival next week. One thing is clear: if Asia's creative work is to stand out in the world arena, it won't do so with multi-million dollar special effects or international stars. As every creative director in the region knows all too well, agencies here are nearly always forced to compete for significantly smaller budgets than their counterparts in America and Europe. "One concern I have is that advertising tends to reflect the level of energy created by a country's or a region's economic power," observes Jun Fujishima, creative director at Dentsu Tokyo (Media Lions Jury). But a poor budget is a poor excuse for failing to take home awards, as he is quick to point out. "The answer to the budget problem is simply great creative ideas." "A bold idea," says Joji Kashu, vice-president and senior creative director McCann-Erickson Japan (Press & Poster Jury), "reaches beyond budgets and borders." Lots of money will never be a substitute for a good creative team, agrees Christopher Jones, creative director - Interactive at Sydney's Euro RSCG Interaction (Cyber Lion Jury). "Good creative directors should be able to shine even with limited dollars to play with." David Guerrero, the head of Manila's BBDO/Guerrero Ortega and a Cannes regular for the last five years, believes that low budgets may actually be an advantage when it comes to developing good creative, as it forces agencies to "make more use of our everyday surroundings and locations which can look fresh and interesting when seen from outside our region". This approach of looking closer to home for inspiration is one that Bhanu Inkawat, chairman and ECD of Leo Burnett Bangkok (Film Jury), believes creates the best campaigns. "The Japanese really started us thinking with their ads that had a strong Japanese flavour. They made agencies in other Asian countries think, 'Can we do something like this?' Not to copy the Japanese ideas, but to look closely at our own culture for inspiration and ways to connect with our own audience." So what will these jurists be looking for? Bhanu, who also sat on a jury at the last Clio festival, says that despite all the theories and books, judging a good ad comes down to a gut feeling. "It's a process you're doing Monday through Friday at work, but when you're at an awards show, there are so many great ideas that it's difficult. When you sit through six or seven thousand commercials, you look for something that really speaks to your soul." Chris Jones describes a similar approach. "I like ads that make an emotional connection with the viewer. You watch the ad and say 'I know that feeling'. The art direction can be very simple. It's the humanity, the slice of real life aspect, which appeals to me. I love lush productions. But does the execution have a heart and soul?" So where will those soul-striking ideas come from? The jurists can't agree. Most picked Thailand, Singapore and Japan as the Asian favourites, with China and India close behind. Joji Kashu has a hunch that Korea will show off some good stuff this year. "Korean agencies have been noticeable lately. The Korean economy is doing well, and we've seen some strong work in the entertainment area - movies, music, plays, things that are a bit more lively. I'd expect that to have an effect on the ad industry." But Chris Jones is more prosaic when he sums up his expectations: "I haven't seen any brilliant work in Asia in the past year." Yet most of the jurists agree that Asia-Pacific agencies will draw some serious attention. And even if that doesn't happen, all is not lost. The important thing, Fujishima says, is to have a good time. "I've attended AdFest and the Clio Awards, but this is the first time for me to sit on a jury at an international competition. I'm looking forward to meeting judges from other countries, and hopefully enchanting them with Asia." "Even if you don't win, you can still admire and learn from some great work," Guerrero says. "Of course, it hurts if you don't at least get some work on the shortlist. But then again, you're in the south of France in the middle of June, so there's a limit to how bad things can be."

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