It certainly hasn’t been an easy year to evaluate agency performance. For many of the region’s networks, the recession has meant an overdue reappraisal of models and management,not to mention a search for new revenue streams. Standout work has been in less evidence - which, rather than simplifying the process,made the job of deciding this year’s Agency of the Year winners more complex.
But while scouring through the submissions and supporting documents,it was good to see the industry show its mettle — proving that while 2009 might have bruised us, it also forced us to set our goals higher, and to work harder and smarter for better results.
The winning submissions provided plenty of evidence of record new business wins, breakthrough campaigns, a deepening of expertise and, importantly, hard numbers that gave the entries credibility on a number of key performance measures.
And it was a mountain of entries — 144 in total — and support documents for the 10-person jury to plough through, which they did with immense patience and dedication.
The judging panel — made up of seven regional marketers and three senior members of Media’s editorial team — scored each entry remotely before meeting in Singapore to discuss the final shortlist for each category and select the winners via secret ballot. The jury was tough in its rulings, awarding praise and recognition only to the most deserving candidates.We thank the jury for their invaluable time in selecting the winners. It would be hard to overstate the hours of work and consideration that they dedicated to anointing our industry’s best for this competition,which has, over the years,come to represent an invaluable stamp of excellence.
The upside of wading through the documents, apart from finding some very worthy winners of course, was discovering a very encouraging fact: ours is a resilient industry. This quality is all too often overlooked. And it was particularly true in a year which many of us would be happy to see the back of.
Finally, thank you to PricewaterhouseCoopers for ensuring the judging process was conducted with integrity and impartiality.
To the winners, congratulations for performing at the top of your game.
Atifa Silk is Agency of the Year jury chairman and editor in chief of Media
