Seven Indian shortlists at Digital Asia Festival Awards

Seven Indian entries have been shortlisted at the Digital Asia Festival. IBS has two, both coming for its work for Tata Docomo.

Interactive Avenues (for eBay), Starcom Mediavest (for Samsung), PHD (for Brooke Bond), Publicis (for Nestle) and MEC (for Colgate Palmolive) represent the Indian entrants in contention for metal.

In all, the awards received 506 entries, of which 80 made the shortlist. Japan leads the shortlist tally with 14 entries followed by Australia with 13, New Zealand with 10 and China with nine.

On the judging process so far and the quality of the work, jury member Meera Sharath Chandra, founder, CEO and CCO, Tigress Tigress, said, "I found this year's entries seamlessly integrating technology into the creative leap turning the communication into truly refreshing and engaging consumer experiences. Several of the shortlists had started with a fabulous consumer insight and market/media opportunity that had never been explored before. We saw a lot of first-of-its-kind innovations and we could see technology playing along beautifully with the big idea. That's a very encouraging sign."

Paul Gage, regional planning director, APAC, Iris Worldwide, said, "Judging the DAF awards this year demonstrates that the region is thinking big and acting big in digital. It's no longer just an add-on to a TV campaign, but brands and agencies are genuinely looking at how they can build participation throughout their initiatives. In a world where we often seem to be obsessed with daily posts on Facebook, it's brilliant to see how much scale and impact can be really achieved with digital innovation."

Ashok Lalla, global head, digital marketing, Infosys, another jury member, said, "The work that stood out for me was based on a single sharp insight and a strong idea – simply presented and well executed. Several entries made me go, ‘Aha, wish I had thought of it!’."

The winners of the 2013 awards will be announced online through www.digitalasiafestival.com on 18 November.