A total of 21 agencies, 36 clients and 44 campaigns have made it through to the 81 finalist spots in the Australasian Promotional Marketing Association’s Star Awards.

The agencies that secured the most nominations were Leo Burnett Melbourne with 13, Momentum Worldwide with 10 and Apollonation with nine.

The awards celebrate the finest promotional and experiential marketing work from Australia and New Zealand, and attracted submissions from a number of first time entrants last month, with four agencies making it through to finals: April5, Bashful, Edelman and OMD.

Finalists were assessed on strategic relevance, originality, creative execution and effectiveness by a panel of 37 judges, across 17 categories.

The full list of New Zealand and Australian finalists includes:

Reflecting on the calibre of entries, APMA Chair David Lo said: “It’s fantastic to see some of our new entrants progressing straight through to the finals. There is a lot of diversity in terms of discipline in the finalists list this year, bringing fresh thinking and new approaches to experiential marketing solutions – it should make an inspiring showcase.”

Member agencies of The Communications Council were able to nominate Account Service or Creative staff for the Young Achiever of the Year title. Finalists for the title include:

The bronze, silver and gold Star Award winners will be announced at the annual APMA Star Awards presentation on Thursday 7^th August at the Shangri-La Ballroom, Sydney.

For more information and to book tickets, visit the APMA website.