After winning APAC network of the year awards in all network categories but media last year, it appeared as if Ogilvy had nowhere to go but down. But as the metals were counted at Campaign's Agency of the Year awards gala in Singapore last year, the WPP agency proved its staying power.
In a Yogi Berra-esque case of deja vu all over again, Ogilvy pulled off its second consecutive triple-play, winning not only APAC creative network of the year (which it has won in every year but one since 2016) but also repeated as APAC digital network of the year and saw Ogilvy PR win as the region's PR network of the year.
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Network awards are the result of metals won in individual markets. In the creative category, Ogilvy cruised to victory with awards in 12 different markets with eight of them being Gold awards. In the digital category, Ogilvy took home fewer Gold (a total of three in China, Australia and Singapore) but picked up Silver and Bronze in eight other markets. Meanwhile Ogilvy PR bagged metals in eight different markets, including four Golds in Taiwan, Hong Kong, China and Vietnam.
In the media category, after a two-year run as APAC network of the year, UM was upended by Mindshare. UM had another strong showing with awards in six APAC markets, but Mindshare was able to win big in South Asia and Southeast Asia with six Golds in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia and 10 metals in total.
APAC awards
Publicis Groupe emerged as this year's leader in the APAC people categories. Publicis Groupe Southeast Asia won the regional Best Culture award, with communications firm Sling & Stone earning a commendation as well. As a further sign of Publicis' investment in people, the Groupe in China won Asia-Pacific Talent Development Program of the year, while Dentsu International in Thailand was also commended for their efforts.
Meanwhile, in a category that is often hotly contested and rare to repeat, Wavemaker regional CEO Gordon Domlija secured his second straight win as APAC Agency Head of the Year.
On the programmatic and perfomance side, the top APAC awards went to IPG Mediabrands agencies. Matterkind won programmatic agency of the year out of Singapore, with a commendation going to Publicis Media's Performics agency in Taiwan. Asia-Pacific performance agency of the year was awarded to Reprise Singapore, with a commendation for Malaysia-based independent ADA.
ADA also continued to own the APAC Tech Agency of the Year category, earning the sole commendation after winning the award for the past three years.
(This article first appeared on CampaignAsia.com)
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