September 27, 2013 – For its simplicity and potential to evolve across social media and across time, BBDO Guerrero’s "It’s More Fun in the Philippines" campaign for the Department of Tourism has won the 2013 Warc Prize for Asian Strategy.
The competition seeks the best example of strategic thinking in Asian marketing.
"The winning campaign was not only an idea for its own category, but it spilled over into other parts of life. We felt that this was an enormously valuable idea that could be sustainable and grow over time," said Leanne Cutts, the 2013 Prize chair and president and managing director for Japan at Mondelez International.
The campaign, which took home the $5,000 Grand Prix, harnessed the power of social media to encourage Filipinos to come up with their memes about why it is, indeed, more fun in the Philippines.
"It helped drive visitors to the country to a record high, even though the Philippines’ marketing budget was far smaller than those of rival markets," read a press release from Warc, a global provider of ideas and evidence to marketing people.
Warc announced that Cristina Buenaventura’s paper on the campaign won the Warc Prize for Asian Strategy Grand Prix on September 26 in Singapore.
There were also five Special Award winners, including DDB DM9JaymeSyfu’s ‘Smart TXTBKS’ case study by Diday Alcudia and Asterio Gutierrez, which won the Market Pioneer award for the best paper targeting an underserved market segment. An education initiative for Smart Communications, the campaign transformed old SIM cards into school textbooks.
The other four Special Award winners were:
- The Chinese reworking of Nike’s ‘Greatness’ campaign, by Wieden & Kennedy, Mindshare, Razorfish and AKQA, won the Cultural Connection award. (Author: Rodion Yudasin)
- ‘The Tagging Drive’, a Facebook campaign by Ogilvy & Mather for Indian not-for-profit Once Again, won the Channel Insight award. (Authors: Manasi Trivedi, R S Siju and Venkataraghavan Srinivasan)
- ‘All Weather AC’, a campaign by Ogilvy and Mather to revive Indian air-conditioning brand Voltas, won the Local Hero award for Asian challenger brands. (Author: Neha Chopra)
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- ‘THPF Smoking Kid’, a digital anti-smoking campaign from Ogilvy & Mather in Thailand, won the Asia First award for insight or innovation that the rest of the world can learn from. (Authors: Sutatip Chadavadh and Kusuma Kusoltawee) 

“The winning campaigns stood out for the simplicity of their creative ideas, clearly articulated strategies and genuine Asian insights. The winners this year were a mix of leaders and challengers in their own industries, but stood out for demonstrating remarkable persistence in the face of all sorts of competition,” said Cutts. “Finally, the winning campaigns were determined to take a disproportionate share of culture and be around for years to come.”
A total of 18 papers were awarded Gold, Silver or Bronze. Among the winning entries, eight came from India, four from China, three from the Philippines, and one each from Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia.
Winning entries (Agency / Client / Campaign Market)
Gold
It’s More Fun In The Philippines
(BBDO Guerrero / The Philippines Department of Tourism / Regional)
Also winner of the Grand Prix
THPF Smoking Kid: A Personal Message to the Smokers
(Ogilvy & Mather Thailand / Thai Health Promotion Foundation / Thailand)
Also winner of the Asia First Special Award
Voltas All Weather AC – how a pure play Indian brand turned a giant killer
(Ogilvy & Mather / Tata / India)
Also winner of the Local Hero Special Award
Milo Cans: Twisted Football
(Ogilvy & Mather Kuala Lumpur / Nestlé / Malaysia)
Gillette: Shave Sexy
(BBDO China, @PR / Procter & Gamble / China)
Silver
Nike China: Greatness Campaign
(Wieden+Kennedy, Mindshare, AKQA, Razorfish / Nike / China)
Also winner of the Cultural Connection Special Award
Once Again: The Tagging Drive
(Ogilvy & Mather Bangalore / Once Again / India)
Also winner of the Channel Insight Special Award
SMART TXTBKS
(DDB DM9 JaymeSyfu / Smart Communications / Philippines)
Also winner of the Market Pioneer Special Award
Baileys: Cream With Spirit
(BBH Shanghai / Diageo / China)
Corona: Let the World Wait
(TBWA\ Singapore, Digital Arts Network (DAN), INTO-DIGITAL OY, Wicked Digital Media / Grupo Modelo / Regional)
Lifebuoy: Help A Child Reach 5
(Lowe Lintas & Partners, PHD / Unilever / India, Indonesia)
Realtime Olympics
(NIM Digital / McDonald’s / China)
Taking On A Religion Called Cricket
(JWT India / PepsiCo / India)
Women For Women
(McCann WorldGroup / Stayfree / India)
Bronze

Ariel Shirt Flag: How a detergent not only lifted stains, but the spirit of an entire nation
(Ace Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising / Procter & Gamble / Philippines)
Mediker Anti-Lice Treatment: The Journey from Lice Negative to Life Positive in Rural India
(BBH Communications India, Madison Media Group, Radiowani, Perfect Relations, School / Marico / India)
Mission Kerala: Times Of India’s Final Frontier
(JWT India / Bennett Coleman / India)
Vat Man
(BBH Communications India / Diageo / India)
