Hindustan Unilever wins top Warc Asia Strategy prize

The 2014 Warc Prize for Asian Strategy was handed out at a ceremony last night at the TBWA office in Singapore. The Unilever campaign also won the $1,250 Asia First Special Award, for insight the rest of the world can learn from. 

“The Kan Khajura paper was a clear winner,” said Freddy Bharucha, chief marketing officer of Procter & Gamble Asia and Chairman of Judges for the 2014 prize. “It started with the consumer. How do you reach and engage a consumer who does not see most of the media that are out there? The results were very strong, but it all started with a rich media insight that led to the creation of a media platform.”

Hindustan Unilever set up a mobile platform based on missed calls; consumers phoned a number but hung up before incurring charges. They then received a callback and heard 15 minutes of entertainment content interspersed with ads for the company’s brands. The service garnered 24 million calls and 8 million unique users in six months.

Three other campaigns including Gilette’s ‘Scandal shave’, ‘Your thinking DNA’ from Netease and P&G’s ‘Pampers ZZZ: Giving Filipino moms the gift of sleep’ picked up Special Awards, each of which came with a cash prize of $1,250. Judges decided not to award the Special Award for Research Excellence, as no paper stood out in this area.

Bharucha felt the quality, idea and execution of this year’s campaigns was much better than last year. He noted that insights are a key starting point for a good campaign idea and urged brands to provide clear results.

A total of 19 papers, from a shortlist of 40, won gold, silver and bronze awards:

GOLD
Kan Khajura Tesan: Unilever's mobile media channel
(Lowe & Partners and PHD India / Hindustan Unilever Limited / India)
Also winner of the Grand Prix and the Asia First Special Award
Gillette: Scandal Shave
(BBDO / Procter & Gamble / China)
NetEase: Your thinking DNA
(BBDO & Proximity China / NetEase / China)
Also winner of the Market Pioneer Special Award
Pampers ZZZ: Giving Filipino moms and babies the gift of sleep
(Ace Saatchi & Saatchi / Procter & Gamble / Philippines)
Also winner of the Channel Strategy Special Award
The Akanksha Foundation: How a brand got celebrities to work for it for free
(Ogilvy & Mather Mumbai / The Akanksha Foundation / India)
Also winner of the Local Hero Special Award
(The Research Excellence Special Award was not awarded this year)

SILVER
A political tsunami in Cambodia: Using social media to mobilize the youth and change the political game
(Pro bono initiative / Cambodia Opposition Leader Sam Rainsy / Cambodia)
AIA: Real life never stops
(TBWA Hong Kong / AIA Group / Hong Kong)
Coca-Cola: Adding fizz to the Indian family meal time
(McCann Worldgroup / Coca-Cola / India)
Google: How Google Search brought hope to 1.4 billion people
(Ogilvy & Mather Mumbai / Google / India)
Old Spice Smell Mantastic: Local relevance on a limited budget
(Wieden + Kennedy / Procter & Gamble / India)
Pantene: Women Against Labels
(BBDO Guerrero / Procter & Gamble / Philippines)
Repositioning Mizone: How an idea sustained business and brand success
(Young & Rubicam China / Danone / China)
TrueMove H: Giving is the best communication
(Ogilvy & Mather Thailand / True Corporation / Thailand)
BRONZE
Ariel and Downy: Aid Couture, the preloved clothing sale
(Leo Burnett Manila / Procter & Gamble / Philippines)
Dyslexia Association of Malaysia: Dyslexia did not stop me
(Geometry Global and Grey Malaysia / Dyslexia Association of Malaysia / Malaysia)
Hewlett Packard: Ink Advantage – Help your child shine
(BBDO Singapore and PHD / Hewlett-Packard / India)
Lifebuoy Soap: Roti - The unlikely reminder
(Geometry Global / Hindustan Unilever Limited / India)
Nike: Hacking Jakarta for running
(BBH Asia Pacific / Nike / Indonesia)
Park Avenue Beer Shampoo: Stealing a lead from the giants in men's hair care
(Publicis / JK Helene Curtis / India)