Warc Prize for Asian Strategy

Analysis of entries

Background to the data

How the Prize was set up

Asia’s first competition to focus on brilliant strategic thinking within marketing.

US$5,000 cash prize awarded to the best case study. Judged by eight senior client-side marketers and six global strategy

experts.

Base for data analysis

There were 136 entries in total. Of these, 25 were shortlisted. Warc has collected data on all entries, including budget, sector, media

channels used and marketing objectives

Prize entries covered 13 different countries in Asia (this refers to the countries the marketing activity was conducted in rather than the countries in which it was developed). Shortlisted entries covered 12 different markets.

The Prize was dominated by single-market campaigns: Just seven out of 136 total entries were multiple-market Just two out of the 25 shortlisted entries were multiple-market

India is the lead country in both total entries and shortlist. More than half the shortlisted entries include India.

Markets such as Japan, Hong Kong and China ‘overperformed’, in that their share of entries in the shortlist was significantly higher than their share of total entries.

Geographic spread of entries

Geographic spread of entries (continued)

Top 10 markets (total entries)

No. of entries*

India 44

Malaysia 25

Singapore 14

Thailand 14

China 13

Taiwan 12

Indonesia 11

Philippines 10

Vietnam 10

Hong Kong 8

Top 10 markets (shortlist)

No. of entries*

India 13

China 4

Japan 4

Hong Kong 3

Indonesia 3

Malaysia 3

Vietnam 3

Taiwan 2

Philippines 1

Singapore 1

* Figures refer to the number of entries that included marketing activity in that territory

Geographic spread of entries (continued)

Prize entries covered 15 different client categories (a small number of entries were judged to cross two different categories). Shortlisted entries covered 12 different categories.

Telecoms, including mobile telephony, was the biggest category among all Prize entries. There were multiple entries on telecoms campaigns in India and Malaysia in particular, reflecting the high level of competition in those markets.

Within the telecoms entries, mobile phone providers accounted for more than half the entries (all of them from India or Malaysia), with mobile handset brands the second most common sub-category.

However, telecoms entries were less common in the shortlist. Campaigns for food companies, which perhaps have a longer heritage in marketing, were slightly more common.

Client sector breakdown

Client sector breakdown (continued)

International brands owned by non-Asian companies (e.g. Coca-Cola, McDonald’s) were common among Prize entries, and dominated the shortlist. However, single-market brands owned locally (e.g. Bajaj Auto, DiGi), were well represented in both stages.

Types of brand

Type of brand

While there were a lot of small-budget campaigns among total entries, mid-budget campaigns were more common in the shortlist. In particular, campaigns in the $3 million to $5 million range were three times more common in the shortlist than they were among total entries.

Breakdown by budget size

Budget (USD)

Warc tags case studies according to marketing objective. In the Prize, cases were assigned an average of two objectives each.

Building/defending a brand position was the most common objective in both the total pool of entries and the shortlist, followed in both cases by increasing sales/volume. Softer objectives such as increasing awareness and changing brand image appear in the top 5 for both groups.

Marketing objectives

Top 5 objectives (total entries) %

Build/defend brand position 56.6

Increase sales/volume 25.0

Change brand image 20.6

Increase awareness 19.1

Brand relaunch/reposition 14.0

Top 5 objectives (shortlist) %

Build/defend brand position 60.0

Increase sales/volume 20.0

Change brand image 16.0

Gain new customers 16.0

Increase awareness 16.0

On average, Prize entries used 7.6 media channels each. Shortlisted entries used an average of 8.9.

Unsurprisingly, television was the most popular medium among Prize entries, with 88 of the 136 entries using this media channel. TV also dominated the shortlist, with 23 of the 25 campaigns using it.

Social media was a common feature among entries – 79 entries used social sites, putting this channel second only to TV. Social media common in the shortlist too, appearing in 13 of the 25 shortlisted entries, though this was fewer than outdoor, newspapers and internet display.

Interestingly, TV and social media were used in combination in 33% of total papers, but in a much higher 52% of the shortlisted papers.

Newspapers featured heavily, but consumer magazines were used relatively rarely – more rarely than many online channels.

Media channels

Media channels (continued)

Top 10 channels (total entries) %

Television 64.7

Social media 58.1

Internet (microsites/widgets) 50.7

Newspapers 50.7

Outdoor 48.5

Events and experiential 45.6

Internet (display) 43.3

Word-of-mouth, viral 38.2

Public relations 37.5

Magazines (consumer) 32.4

Top 10 channels (shortlist) %

Television 92.0

Outdoor 68.0

Newspapers 64.0

Internet (display) 60.0

Point-of-purchase, in-store 52.0

Social media 52.0

Internet (microsites/widgets) 48.0

Word-of-mouth, viral 48.0

Events and experiential 44.0

Radio 44.0

The 10 finalists

As well as the winner (‘Crush Eco’ for Coca-Cola Japan’s I Lohas brand), there were nine highly commended entries.

Aside from I Lohas, the brands in the final round were Axe (Unilever), Gillette, Café Viet (Nestlé), Dove (Unilever), Citibank, Cadbury Dairy Milk, Stride (Cadbury/Kraft), Breakthrough Foundation and Anlene (Fonterra).

These 10 finalists came from across Asia – three from India, two from Japan, a multinational campaign, and one each from Indonesia, Vietnam, Hong Kong and China.

Eight of the 10 came from global advertisers headquartered in Europe or the US. FMCG and food and drink dominate the list.

The winning entry used 12 media channels, including both ‘owned media’ (packaging) and ‘earned media’ (word-of-mouth, social media).

Go to www.warc.com/asiaprize for more

Warc will publish further analysis of the Prize entries in the coming months. Check the dedicated website for details.

Warc subscribers can read all cases entered for the Prize via the same site.

Non-subscribers can visit www.warc.com/trial to sign up for a free trial.