FOCUS: AGENCY OF THE YEAR AWARDS 2000 - Saatchis finally beats out competition for top title - Agency of the Year 2000: The Winner

<p>After coming close for three years in a row, Saatchi & Saatchi has </p><p>finally been named Agency of the Year. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The agency beat out strong competition from Ogilvy & Mather, Leo </p><p>Burnett, Bates and BBDO through a combination of major account wins and </p><p>strong, accountable creative work across the region. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In addition, it has continued to consistently win 'Best of Show' at the </p><p>big award shows in Asia-Pacific, including MEDIA's annual Asian </p><p>Advertising Awards, even without its creative light David Droga, who </p><p>left last year for Saatchis London. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Some of the major accounts Saatchis picked up this year included </p><p>Hutchison-Priceline (regional), DBS Bank (regional), PLDT (the </p><p>Philippines) and NetEase (China). </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Some might argue that the agency's loss of the regional Visa account - </p><p>variously estimated at being worth between USdollars 20 million and </p><p>USdollars 50 million depending on whom you talk to - would have </p><p>disqualified it as a contender for the Agency of the Year crown. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, because of a dispute over whether Australia should be included </p><p>in the pitch (MEDIA, September 1) resulted in the agency virtually </p><p>resigning the account. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But that's not meant at taking anything away from BBDO, the eventual </p><p>winner of the Visa pitch. BBDO, which has been upping the regional </p><p>creative stakes out of the Philippines for much of the year, was still </p><p>the dark horse, although it looks poised to be accumulating the critical </p><p>mass of work needed to make people sit up and pay attention in 2001. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Accounts - big or small - aside, Saatchis was one of only a handful of </p><p>agencies which was able to not only say it was an ideas-driven agency, </p><p>but to actually show and demonstrate it in an accountable fashion. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Part of the success here has been in the overall leadership, but mainly </p><p>it has been because the leadership has succeeded in telling those below </p><p>them that what counts is great creative that works and which are seen to </p><p>work. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The following are some of Saatchis accounts and what its campaigns </p><p>delivered to the client, all backed by independent research: </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>- NetEase (China) - brand awareness tripled, registered users rose 57 </p><p>per cent, and it is now the top Internet portal in China, up from its </p><p>pre-campaign ranking of No.3; </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>- Vitasoy (Hong Kong) - top of mind awareness grew from 85 per cent to </p><p>90 per cent, while advertising awareness jumped from 19 per cent to 40 </p><p>per cent; </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>- DBS Bank (Singapore) - one year sales target achieved in only three </p><p>months; </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>- Far East Tone (Taiwan) - number of customers downloading service and </p><p>e-coupons soared by around 10 times to 56,000 and 35,000 a day </p><p>respectively; </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>- Head & Shoulders (Thailand) - sales of the shampoo are up by more than </p><p>50 per cent; </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>- Fosters (Vietnam) - top of mind awareness of the beer brand went from </p><p>zero to 38 per cent. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Finally, Saatchis is deemed to be the best among its peers. The agency </p><p>has done well at award shows around the region for many years, and 2000 </p><p>was no exception. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It won 'Best of the Best' at MEDIA's Asian Advertising Awards, the Hong </p><p>Kong 4As Kam Fan for the second year in a row and the Golden Gong in </p><p>Singapore for the third successive year. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In the Philippines, it won the 4As Agency of the Year title, which was </p><p>on top of its first place finish at the Creative Guild awards. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>All in all, a hard act to follow. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, it wasn't just one or two things which landed Saatchis the </p><p>prize of Asia-Pacific Agency of the Year. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It was all about making great, effective and unique advertising for </p><p>clients, being accountable, winning new accounts and maintaining </p><p>existing ones. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>WINNERS AT A GLANCE </p><p>AGENCY OF THE YEAR </p><p>Saatchi & Saatchi </p><p>MEDIA AGENCY OF THE YEAR </p><p>CIA Medianetwork </p><p>ADVERTISER OF THE YEAR </p><p>Bayer Philippines </p><p>BEST USE OF MEDIA </p><p>Optimum Media Direction for Sunday/Saltimbanco MTR Journey </p><p>MEDIA PERSON OF THE YEAR </p><p>Ms Sharon Soh, CIA Medianetwork Singapore </p><p>AGENCY PERSON OF THE YEAR </p><p>Joint winners: </p><p>Mr Jeffrey Yu, president Bates Asia and chairman HK4As </p><p>Mr Barry Owen, head of creative, Ogilvy & Mather Asia-Pacific </p><p>SUIT OF THE YEAR </p><p>Mr Jeff Ho, Leo Burnett </p><p>Hong Kong </p><p>ASIAN CREATIVE AD OF THE YEAR </p><p>The Sunday campaigns </p><p>Client: Sunday Telecommunications </p><p>Agency: BBDO Hong Kong </p><p>CHINA AD CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR </p><p>Unicef, Saatchi & Saatchi China </p><p>NEW LEAF AWARD </p><p>DDB Singapore </p><p>YOUTH MARKETING AWARD </p><p>Leo Burnett Singapore </p><p><BR><BR> </p>