FOCUS - CANNE: Asia has done itself proud but it still has a way to go

<p>Just like last year, the 'Best of the Best' at MEDIA failed to make </p><p>even the shortlist at Cannes. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>And perhaps the only thing that stopped the Adfest winner suffering the </p><p>same fate was the presence of the same man at the head of both </p><p>juries. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>That man was of course Marcello Serpa, whose agency, Almap/BBDO, took </p><p>the Agency of the Year prize too. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Not that there was anything dodgy about that. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>As in the past two years, the agency of the year prize seems to have </p><p>been won almost entirely at the anonymously-voted shortlist stage. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>What's clear is that you don't just need great work to win at this </p><p>festival, you need lots of it. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Almap's Agency of the Year total, for instance, included no less than 39 </p><p>points from the press and poster shortlist. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>For Asia, total entries in the press and poster category did go up from </p><p>755 last year to 1,077, and the number of awards went up too: from six </p><p>to 11. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Importantly, Dentsu Japan and Results Thailand both took home gold for </p><p>Japan Lighting Design and Tabasco respectively. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Other Asian winners were O&M Hong Kong for The Economist (silver), O&M </p><p>Singapore for Junior Scrabble, Grey Malaysia for Post-its, Saatchis </p><p>Singapore for Borneo Motors and Burnett Singapore for Discovery Channel </p><p>(all bronze). </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, compare the whole of Asia to Brazil. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>You'll see the Brazilians entered more (1,108) and won a lot more </p><p>(58). </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Coming a distant second and third in press and poster were the United </p><p>States and the United Kingdom, although the UK did have the satisfaction </p><p>of winning the Grand Prix for Stella Artois. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In television, Asia doubled its previous tally to win six Lions, </p><p>including an audacious couple of spots for Scrabble: 'Syphilis' and </p><p>'Sodomized', which brought gold and glory back to O&M Singapore. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Other Lion winners were: Burnett Thailand for McDonald's, O&M Mumbai for </p><p>Fevicol Glue, Saatchis Singapore for Sony Wega and the aforementioned </p><p>Wowwow TV by Dentsu. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>At the shortlist stage, Asia more than doubled its presence in film and </p><p>jumped from 45 to 70 in press and poster, with Singapore accounting for </p><p>fully half of that total. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>So, we did well. But we have a really long way to go. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>