Warc’s prize for Asian Strategy returns for the fifth year with a US$10,000 prize fund

Warc has launched the 2015 Warc Prize for Asian Strategy, a cash prize for the smartest marketing strategy in the region. The Prize returns for its fifth year with a Prize fund of US$10,000.

The best overall paper will win the $5,000 Grand Prix. In addition, Warc will award five $1,000 Special Awards for excellence in specific areas.

Warc will award Gold, Silver and Bronze awards to the best examples of strategic thinking in marketing in four categories: 1. East Asia, 2. South Asia, 3. Southeast Asia and 4. Multi-Market (campaigns running in three or more markets).

The purpose of the Prize is to showcase great strategic thinking – the ability to turn insight into breakthrough marketing ideas.

Once again, the Prize is completely free to enter, and is open to brand owners and agencies in any discipline. Entrants must submit a case study detailing an example of strategic marketing thinking, and the impact of that strategy. Further details, including entry kit and entry form, can be found on the Prize website.

The Prize will be judged by a group of senior client-side marketers and agency-side strategy experts. The judging panel will be revealed in the coming weeks.

“Over the past five years, the Prize has become Asia’s leading platform for marketing strategists to showcase their work,” said David Tiltman, Warc’s Head of Content. “The winning campaigns really reflect the growing sophistication of strategic thought coming from all over the region.”

The five Special Awards, which reflect industry feedback on key strategic challenges in Asia, are:

. The Market Pioneer Award for the best example of a brand creating a category or targeting a new market – for example, lower-tier or low-income consumers, or an otherwise underserved market.

. The Research Excellence Award for the best use of research in the development of strategic ideas.

. The Channel Thinking Award for the best example of a brand achieving its objectives using an innovative channel strategy.

. The Local Hero Award for the best example of a challenger Asian brand using smart marketing strategy to take on bigger competitors.

. The Asia First Award for the best example of insight or innovation that the rest of the world can learn from.

The deadline for entries is 16 July 2015, and the winner will be announced in November. All cases that win an award will be showcased in the Asia Strategy Report, a study of smart strategic thinking in the region published after the competition has ended.

The 2014 Warc Prize for Asian Strategy Grand Prix was awarded to a ‘Kan Khajura Tesan’, a mobile phone service developed by from Lowe Lintas in Mumbai and PHD India. The campaign went on to be named the world’s best campaign in the annual Warc 100 rankings.