DUBAI: Campaigns from Coca-Cola, Byblos Bank and the Saudi Telecom Company are among the 20 papers shortlisted for the 2018 WARC Prize for MENA Strategy.

Now in its second year, the WARC Prize for MENA Strategy rewards the best strategic thinking from the region’s marketing industry, with a $10,000 prize fund to be distributed between the winners of the Grand Prix and three Special Awards –Research Excellence, Brand Rebel and Local Hero.

The United Arab Emirates is the leading contributor to the shortlist, with five entries, followed by Saudi Arabia and Egypt with four each. Lebanon supplied three campaigns and Tunisia one; there are also three multi-market campaigns among the total.

The full shortlist can be viewed on the Prize website, where WARC subscribers can read the papers in full.

Local brands dominate the shortlist, accounting for 70% of the total, with both the Saudi Telecom Company and Emirates NBD bank appearing twice.

And telecoms and banking are also the most represented categories, each with four campaigns, followed by food and automotive with three each, while the retail, health and tourism categories supply two each.

When Wasim Basir, Director, Integrated Marketing Communications at Coca-Cola MENA, took on the role of chair of the judging panel, he observed that “a great strategy is a cogent and smart distillation of the problem. Once the problem is identified as such, solutions flow.

“In MENA when there is so much pressure on business results it is the right strategy that will separate the winners from the also-rans,” he added.

Sourced from WARC