121 entries from 13 territories have moved into the finalist lists of the 2026 APAC Effie Awards, with winners announced at the awards gala in Singapore on September 25.

Leo has the most finalists for Agency Network. Leo Mumbia leads for Agency Office. McDonald’s leads for Brand and Marketer.

India is the leading country with 26 finalists, followed by Singapore with 22 and Australian with 18.

Leo leads in Australia with three finalists. Special Sydney, Droga5 ANZ, Bastion, BMF, T&P and TBWA\Melbourne have two each. Apparent / GTI, Dentsu Creative Sydney and Ogilvy Sydney have one each.

The finalists underwent two rounds of judging by an expert jury of over 200 senior advertising and marketing professionals across Asia Pacific, assessing 44 categories that include new additions, International Marketing and Brand Integration & Entertainment Partnerships.

The jury was led by Awards chairperson, Danielle Jin, of Visa APAC, with 8 Heads of Jury:

• Amrita Randhawa of Publicis Groupe Singapore & SEA
• Bernard Cheng of Netflix SEA
• Cheryl Goh of Grab, Dheeraj Sinha of McCann India
• Kenneth Lim of Singapore Tourism Board
• Natalie Lockwood of National Australia Bank
• Shaun Tay of THE SHOUT GROUP
• Tuomas Peltoniemi of Accenture Song
• Vishnu Mohan of DEPT.

Danielle Jin commented, “These 121 finalists have proven that they belong amongst the best in Asia Pacific. Our judges were looking at cases that push the bounds of effectiveness, creativity, strategy, and importantly generate remarkable results. The competition has always been keen, and this year is no exception. I’m grateful to all our judges for devoting their time and expertise in evaluating the cases, and our Heads of Jury who, with me, had the difficult but important task of making the final call in deciding who will stand on stage as Effie winners come September.”