CB Asia Creative Rankings 2014: Red Fuse named Hong Kong Creative Agency of the Year
Surprisingly only 5 ad agencies in Hong Kong picked up awards at the top international or regional shows in 2014.
This year the race for the No.1 ranking was between two, with Red Fuse Communications Hong Kong edging out Ogilvy & Mather Hong Kong to win Campaign Brief Asia’s Creative Agency of the Year award.
Red Fuse Communications is part of the Y&R Network and is the network’s Colgate-Palmolive arm globally.
Out of Hong Kong, Red Fuse is lead by ECD Tan Shen Guan (pictured) and all of their points come from the Colgate-Palmolive’s ‘Turning Packaging into Education’ campaign that ran in the Myanmar market.
Targeting primary school children with very little or zero access to traditional or digital media, the creative idea led to a set of classroom posters that explained the importance of good oral health and how to achieve it. With the Colgate distribution network growing into the deepest pockets of the country, it was decided to actually print the posters inside the large cardboard boxes housing the familiar red toothpaste cartons, knowing they would reach the rural areas that traditional media couldn’t. Local store owners took the posters to their children’s school. Interactivity was added by providing a toll-free phone number for teachers to call to be able to listen to recorded educational materials.
Red Fuse scored awards across the London International Awards, Cannes Lions, Spikes Asia, Clio, The Work and AdStars. Their biggest performance was at London Internationals and Cannes.
Ogilvy & Mather Hong Kong, lead by chief creative officer Reed Collins (pictured right), placed at #2 in the Creative Rankings in Hong Kong, just 60 points behind Red Fuse Communications.
Their 640 point total came from award wins at 7 of the shows we count, with their biggest contributions coming from great performances at Clio (240 points) and The Work (140 points). They also scored at Spikes, NY Festivals, LIA, Cannes and AdFest. Their wins were spread across campaigns for FaberCastell, Orbis, WWF, Lego and Rio Mints.
Leo Burnett Hong Kong comes in at #3 on the Hong Kong table with a total of 240 points.
The agency, lead by chief creative officer Connie Lo (pictured below right), scored at Spikes Asia, AdFest, Cannes, One Show and London International Awards. The best performing shows for the agency were One Show and London International Awards.
There were 2 other Hong Kong agencies to gain points in the Creative Rankings. These will be detailed in a complete PDF version of the Rankings which will be sent free to all readers that have REGISTERED.
Campaign Brief Asia will also be releasing the results of our overall Regional Agency of the Year; Regional Network of the Year; A Country Performance Ranking; plus highlighting the Top Creative Leaders in Asia; and the Top Creative Teams in Asia.
What sets the Campaign Brief Asia Creative Rankings apart from other rankings around the world is that it is calculated solely on creative performance at the major regional and international award shows over the 2014 calendar year. There is no submission or document received from agencies that is then judged. It is based only on the facts – ie. creative award wins.
Importantly, we attribute an adjusted points value to each Gold, Silver and Bronze award won by each agency at each award show or festival. You might think this happens with other rankings systems, however this is not always the case. In some rankings a Gold at Cannes scores the same as a gold at Spikes. Campaign Brief Asia weights award wins against the difficulty of winning and we will continue to review each award show each year.
As an example, awards at AdFest and Spikes Asia are valued at: Grand Prix 40pts; Gold 30pts; Silver 20pts; and Bronze 10pts.
The international shows count for more – for example, at the Cannes Lions, award wins are valued at: Grand Prix 70pts; Gold 60pts; Silver 40pts; and Bronze 20pts. D&AD is harder to succeed at so the points attributed are: Black Pencil 150pts; Yellow Pencil 100pts; Nomination 60pts; and In-Book 20pts.
Also an important point of difference is that we only count the categories at the various award shows that are judged by Creatives and Creative Directors. This means award wins in the Print & Film Craft; Media; Effectiveness; and Public Relations categories at award shows are not included. Also Healthcare only categories at Cannes and Spikes Asia are not included.
The regional shows that are included in the Creative Rankings are: AdFest, Spikes Asia; AdStars, AWARD Awards and Campaign Brief’s The Work.
The International shows included are: D&AD, Cannes Lions, One Show (Advertising), London International Awards, Clio and New York Festivals.
The Hong Kong Creative Rankings are sponsored by FIN Design + Effects.
For more information about the Creative Rankings read here.
Indonesian Creative Agency of the Year: JWT Jakarta.
Malaysian Creative Agency of the Year: TBWA Kuala Lumpur.
