The first three shortlists are out. For the Direct Lions, Asian agencies have a total of 19 out of 180 finalists: India leads the way with seven, China four, Japan three, Hong Kong and Singapore have two each and Malaysia has one (BBDO Malaysia’s Anti-Drink Driving Campaign).
Hakuhodo Tokyo has all three of Japan’s shortlists (for work for Shiseido and NTT), and McCann Erickson in both Singapore and Hong Kong (two shortlists each). Also on the Direct shortlist are Best Job in the World and The Great Shlep.
Asia did a bit better in the Promo Lions, with 28 out of 143 shortlisted. Dentsu Tokyo leads, with six out of Japan’s 13 shortlists. Hakuhodo Tokyo and Beacon Communications (Richard Irvine’s new office) received two each.
Next up is China with seven, led by JWT China’s four entries, three of which were for the killer Nokia viral ‘Bruce Lee – Game of Death’. India has three on the Promo shortlist, Singapore two; Thailand, Taiwan and Korea have one each.
In the brand-new PR Lions, Asia managed 4 finalists, all from Japan. The category was dominated by Australia, with Best Job in the World and Earth Hour ‘Switch.’
At present Japan leads the count in Asian finalists, with 20; India is second at 10.
