SINGAPORE: Top Advertising and Marketing Gurus converge at the inaugural World Effie Festival 2008 to be held tomorrow at Suntec International Convention & Exhibition Centre, Singapore....

Presented by The Effie Organisation and the Institute of Advertising Singapore (IAS) and supported by DesignSingapore and the Singapore Tourism Board, the two-day event brings together over 60 top advertising and marketing leaders who will share and inspire the very best in creative and effective communication.

The Festival will have several ‘first ever’ highlights, beginning with the prestigious Global Effie Awards – the first time the event is held outside New York, where the Effie Organisation was founded in 1968. The region’s first Asia Pacific Effie Awards will also be presented, celebrating the most effective campaigns developed by regional advertising and marketing agencies.

“The overall theme of the World Effie Festival is ‘ideas with consequences’ – ideas which have built brands and transformed businesses. We want this festival to educate, inspire and provoke the delegates”, commented Stephen Mangham, chairman of the World Effie Festival Supervisory Board and Group Chairman of Ogilvy & Mather Singapore.

An estimated 2,000 professionals from the world’s top advertising and marketing industries are expected to attend the Festival which will become an annual calendar event.

The unrivalled speaker line-up include Singapore’s Minister Mentor, Lee Kuan Yew, who will address the creation of ‘Brand Singapore’ in a special dialogue with Jean-Marie Dru, President & CEO of TBWA. Other speakers include:

• Lord Sebastian Coe, Chairman of the 2010 London Olympics Committee
• Shelly Lazarus, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide
• Simon Clift, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Unilever
• Jorge Consuegra, Vice President, Marketing, International Yahoo! Inc.
• Lawrence Flanagan, Chief Marketing Officer, MasterCard Worldwide
• David Droga, Founder, Creative Chairman, DROGA5
• Sir John Hegarty, Chairman and Worldwide Creative Director, BBH

The World Effie Festival will have a series of Premier Master Classes in which top leaders in their fields will share their experiences of developing and executing successful campaigns. The event will also showcase the world’s most effective marketing campaigns, with case study presentations from 25 winners of Gold Effie Awards from around the globe in a moderated question and answer session to discuss the strategy behind their successful campaigns. Visit www.worldeffiefestival.com for more details about the event, speakers or programme.

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About the Effie Awards
The Effie Awards honour the most significant achievement in the business of marketing communications: ideas that work. Known by advertisers and agencies globally as the preeminent award in the industry, the Effies recognize any and all forms of consumer engagement that contribute to a brand’s success. Since 1968, winning an Effie has become a global symbol of achievement. Today, Effie celebrates effectiveness worldwide with the Global Effie, the EURO Effie, the Asia Pacific Effie and more than 35 national Effie programs. For more details, visit www.effie.org.