India leads WARC Prize for Asian Strategy 2020 with seven winning campaigns

International: WARC, the global authority on marketing effectiveness, today announced the winners of the 10th WARC Prize for Asian Strategy, a search for the best strategic ideas that have driven business results in Asia.

The jury, an eminent panel of 25 client- and agency-side experts, have selected a total of 18 awards: one Grand Prix, five Golds, six Silvers and six Bronzes. Additionally, five Special Awards honouring specific areas of excellence have been given.

India leads with seven winning campaigns, followed by China with four. Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Japan, Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam have each won one award. There is one pan-Asian winning campaign.

The Grand Prix has been awarded to Grey Bangladesh for Project AgroBanking, for which United Commercial Bank used video, on-ground activity and OOH to launch a platform that enabled farmers in Bangladesh to sell excess produce at a fair rate to retail chain Shwapno.

Over 33% of Bangladesh’s population are without a bank account and most of them are farmers living in rural locations. United Commercial Bank set up collection points where farmers could bring produce and have the equivalent value put directly into a UCB account. The scheme was publicised with poster and megaphone announcements and via social media. AgroBanking reached more than 100 locations and 122,000 new bank accounts were opened.

Commenting on the Grand Prix winner, which also picked up the Category Disrupter Award, jury chair Siew Ting Foo, Vice President & Global Head of Marketing Strategy & Planning, Print Category, HP, said: “B2B marketing is really tough. I like how this took an insight about the lives of farmers and created a differentiation of what the brand can stand for and what its products and solutions can provide. There’s longevity in this idea, plus it’s simple and well-executed.”

The winners of the WARC Prize for Asian Strategy 2020 are:

Grand Prix

• Project AgroBanking・UCash & Shwapno・United Commercial Bank Ltd. & Shwapno・Grey Bangladesh・Bangladesh + Category Disruptor Award

Gold

• Find Your Unbeaten Path・Lexus・Inchcape・TBWA\Hong Kong・Hong Kong + Customer Journey Award
• Out & Proud – India Comes Out of The Closet・Times of India・Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd.・FCB India・India
• Coke2Home・Coca-Cola・The Coca-Cola Company・McCann Worldgroup・India + Research Excellence Award
• Good Vibes・Samsung India・Cheil India・India + Early Adopter Award
• Only True Fans Get It・Singtel・BBH Asia Pacific・Singapore

Silver

• Personalised Social Impact Reports・Grab・In-house・Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines
• Fix it or forfeit it・Fevikwik・Pidilite・Ogilvy・India
• Overcoming India’s Toilet Divide・Harpic・Reckitt Benckiser・McCann Worldgroup India・India
• Tang Gets It Done・Tang・Mondelez Philippines, Inc.・Ogilvy Philippines, SOHO Square Philippines・Philippines
• Breakup Salon・Harpic・Pantene・Procter & Gamble・Grey Group Hong Kong・China
• Honor the Donor・Fortis Hospitals・Leo Burnett India・India

Bronze

• Next% – Speed is Your Currency・Nike・Mindshare China・China
• The Adventure With King Leo and Friends・P/S・Unilever・Mindshare Vietnam・Vietnam
• Just Don’t Quit・Nike・Mindshare China・China
• #WFH – (#WeddingsFromHome)・Shaadi.com・Leo Burnett・India / Global
• Meet Me Halfway・SK-II・Procter & Gamble・Forsman & Bodenfors Singapore・China + Long-term Strategy Award

More information on the winners of the WARC Prize for Asian Strategy 2020 is available here.

The Asian Strategy Report: Lessons from the 2020 WARC Prize for Asian Strategy will be released tomorrow, 22 October. A free-to-attend virtual event, Prized Insights: The power of strategic thinking in Asia, will take place on 5 November. Register here to join.