John Merrifield - the creative director behind one of the most awarded campaigns of 2004 - has rocketed TBWA to the number one position in Media's creative rankings.
On the back of Merrifield's 'Vertical Football' stunt for sports brand Adidas and under his mentorship, the agency's Japan-based art directors - Clementine Tourres and Hirofumi Nakajima - tied for the first spot in the ranking of Asia's Young Creatives.
The agency, voted Media's Agency of the Year 2004, beat its closest rival - BBDO - by nearly 880 points, with six TBWA creatives mainly from Japan and Singapore (highly awarded for the 'As real as it gets' campaign for Sphere) making it into the top 10.
Merrifield, who was also named Media's Creative of the Year 2004, said: "It's easy to get to the top, but the difficulty is in staying there."
This year's creative ranking, which seeks to identify Asia's up-and-coming creative talent, underlines the imperative role of regional and local creative directors in nurturing fresh talent and consequently advancing the level of creativity in Asia.
Rob Sherlock, ECD at FCB, notes: "I think the agencies that are winning - or will win - are those that encourage entrepreneurial thinking and reward it. People make the difference, but only if they're empowered and encouraged to go beyond mediocrity."
Third-ranked Ogilvy & Mather, under the leadership of Tham Khai Meng and the agency's team of ECDs, including Singapore-based Sonal Dabral, saw Craig Smith jump from 10th place in last year's ranking to eighth spot in 2004, recognition that has taken him on to the role of CD at Wieden & Kennedy Portland.
Francis Wee and Suthisak Sucharittanonta of BBDO, meanwhile, led the agency to second place in the ranking, with just over 2,800 points. It was former Colenso BBDO Auckland creative director Toby Talbot who pulled in more than 500 points for the network with work for Environment Waikato, which won Cannes gold, D&AD silver nomination, One Show gold, Clio silver and other regional accolades.
J. Walter Thompson performed exceptionally well in Malaysia, while Euro RSCG Flagship's highly-awarded Soken DVD campaign firmly placed the agency as the fifth most creative in Media's rankings.
2004 is perhaps best described as the year when Asia amply demonstrated its creative prowess, bringing home metal from all international shows, from Cannes to D&AD.
According to Merrifield, 2004's award wins were particularly important because not only did they ensure the world took notice of the region's creative output, but they were also the first haul of accolades that Asia brought home without a whiff of scam.
"It seems to be the first year that work coming out of Asia didn't have agencies creating a great ad and then saying, 'let's find a client that we have done this for'. The work was legitimate and for the most part truly reflective of Asia growing up," he said. "Scams are particularly prevalent in Asia. (In the past) it was sometimes about (creating) career enhancers than industry enhancers. This gave (Asia) a bad name. Clients thought that all we cared about was awards and not actually the brands.
From 'Vertical Football' to 'Worms' and Soken DVD, it goes to prove that work can be both creatively interesting, lauded, appreciated and impactful to the bottom line."
Graham Kelly, ECD at Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore, noted: "Years ago, (wins) were confined to a few like Ogilvy, Saatchis, BBH and Burnett. That's no longer the case."
CREATIVE LEADERS AT ASIA'S TOP FIVE AGENCIES
NETWORK Total Regional ECD ECD by Market
score
TBWA 3,697 John Merrifield Japan - John Merrifield
Shanghai - Eddie Wong
BBDO 2,819 David Guerrero Philippines - David
(Head of Creative Guerrero
Council) (chairman/CCO)
Merlee Jayme (ECD)
Singapore - Francis Wee
Thailand - Suthisak
Sucharittanonta
(chief creative officer)
Aussanee Augsornnugal
(ECD)
Nikrom Kulkosa (ECD)
Ogilvy & 2,449 Tham Khai Meng Hong Kong - Spencer Wong
Mather (co-chairman, AP/ Malaysia - Dani Comar
executive regional Singapore - Sonal Dabral
creative director) Thailand - Korn
Tepintarapiraksa
J. Walter 2,017 Edwin Leong (deputy Malaysia - Edwin Leong
Thompson chairman/ECD)
Norman Tan (ECD Singapore - Norman Tan
SEA)
Annie Wong (executive Hong Kong - Annie Wong
creative director)
Lo Sheung Yan Shanghai - Lo Sheung Yan
(NEA ECD)
Euro RSCG 1,470 No regional ECD Thailand - Chukiat
Jaroensuk
Source: Various agencies.
ASIA'S TOP YOUNG CREATIVES TOP 10
Name Agency Market
1 Clementine Tourres TBWA Japan
1 Hirofumi Nakajima TBWA Japan
3 Toby Talbot Formerly at Colenso
BBDO New Zealand
Currently at Saatchi
& Saatchi New Zealand
4 Marcus Rebeschini TBWA Singapore
4 Robert Kleman TBWA Singapore
6 John Sheterline TBWA Singapore
7 Mark Bamfield TBWA Singapore
8 Craig Smith Formerly at O&M Singapore
Currently at Wieden &
Kennedy USA
9 Passapol Limpisirisan Euro RSCG Flagship Thailand
9 Wiboon Leepakpreeda Euro RSCG Flagship Thailand
Source: Media
* See methodology.
METHODOLOGY
Media's second creative ranking assessed the performance of more than 800 creatives working in the Asia-Pacific region.
The creatives were assessed on their performance in a total of 17 selected international, regional and national award shows in 2004.
The award shows included were: Cannes 2004, Clio 2004, D&AD 2004, One Show 2004, Media's 2004 Advertising Awards (Spikes), AdFest 2004, Australia's AWARD 2004, the Hong Kong 4As 2004 Creative Awards, the Singapore 4As Creative Circle Awards, the China Advertising Association 2004 Awards, the Tokyo ADC 2004, New Zealand's 2004 Axis Awards, India's 2004 Abby Awards, Malaysia's Kancil Awards, the 2004 Adman Awards in Thailand and the Philippine Ad Congress.
Accolades used as a measure in the ranking were best of show or grand prix, gold, silver and bronze. Finalists, merits and other commendations, which are no small achievements, were also included in the ranking for the first time. Points were allocated on the type of award given - golds scored higher than silvers and bronzes. A weighting system was also used depending on the show in which the prize was awarded - international shows had the highest weighting, followed by regional shows and finally national awards.
This system was aimed at preventing creatives appearing at the top of the ranking based on the results of only one national competition. In order to secure the highest slots in the ranking, therefore, creatives had to have clinched prizes at all three show levels or had done especially well either on the international or on the regional stage at events such as Media's Advertising Awards (Spikes).
As the rankings aim to recognise Asia's up-and-coming creative stars, senior industry creatives, including regional executive creative directors and ECDs, were featured in the agency table and not in the main rankings league, highlighting their overall contribution to the network and mentoring role to creative teams. The ranking was compiled with the help of leading regional creatives.
