SINGAPORE: Warc has unveiled the shortlist for the 2012 Warc Prize for Asian Strategy, a cash prize for the most insightful marketing strategy in the region.

A total of 32 submissions featured on the shortlist for the Prize - they are listed in full here. The case study regarded as presenting the best overall strategy will receive $5,000, and $2,000 will also be awarded to the entry that most impressively used a small budget.

The shortlist included cases from big-name multinational companies and agencies, as well as campaigns by Asian brands such as Meters/Bonwe (China), Hero MotoCorp (India) and Smartfren Telecom (Indonesia).

Two of Coca-Cola's marketing programmes (both by McCann WorldGroup) came in among the final 32. The first was an effort encouraging consumers in the Philippines to drink Coke with a meal at home, while the second sought to engage teenagers in Hong Kong.

Also on the list is Ogilvy & Mather Mumbai's case study of Cadbury's seven-year initiative to change perceptions about its Dairy Milk chocolate in India.

"The number and overall quality of the entries have both been very high," said Charles Wigley, Chairman of BBH Asia Pacific and the 2012 Prize Chairman.

"At BBH we talk of 'ZAG thinking' when we see something that breaks with convention in a brilliant way. There was enough of that in the entries this year to feel that the industry is very much coming of age from a strategic perspective in Asia."

Further campaigns making it through to the next round of judging included those from Lynx, Unilever's deodorant range, in China, as well as Heineken, the beer, in Thailand, and Nescafé Dolce Gusto, Nestlé's high-end coffee pods, in Singapore.

Warc subscribers can view these papers and the other shortlisted entries in full at www.warc.com/asiaprize.

India yielded the most such cases with nine, followed by Singapore with seven and China with six.

Entrants were also asked to specify the media channels used in their campaigns. On average, the shortlisted brands deployed nine channels each, higher than the norm of 7.5 across all submissions.

The judging panel, made up of senior client-side marketers and agency-side strategy experts, is currently deciding which papers will be awarded Highly Commended status and which will take home the cash prizes. The results will be announced at a closed-door event in Singapore on the evening of 20th September.

"My congratulations to all those shortlisted - and, indeed, to many of those who didn't quite make that list, but still had very good cases," added Wigley.

Additional details on the Prize, including the full judging panel, can be found here. For prize-related queries, please email warcprizeasia@warc.com.

Data sourced from Warc