Tomorrow, the world

"You only have to look at the work that's being awarded by the juries at Cannes to see the development of creativity in the region. From Japan to Korea to Thailand and beyond, these countries are starting to win more and more Lions, and I'm sure we will see others - Vietnam, China, Indonesia - follow suit." So says Philip Thomas, CEO of the prestigious Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. Last year's Lions saw awards for entries from Brazil, Thailand, and Singapore, among others. Twenty-six Asian countries won Lions in 2002. In 2007, that number had risen to 87. London and New York may not be quaking in their boots yet, but in parallel with booming regional economies, the quality of creative work from outside of more familiar ad territories has become the creative story of the decade.

Agencies have rapidly developed a supporting culture of regional awards, such as the Effies for Asia, and also moved quickly into areas like consumer insight. While some of the names are familiar - JWT, McCann Erickson, Saatchi & Saatchi - the similarities are superficial. Regional offices are run differently, managed differently, and can have a very remote connection to home. Often they're buy outs rather than imports - a local agency partners with a multinational, but aside from the name change the culture remains relatively unaltered, and talent is recruited locally.

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The Creative Bloq team is made up of a group of design fans, and has changed and evolved since Creative Bloq began back in 2012. The current website team consists of eight full-time members of staff: Editor Georgia Coggan, Deputy Editor Rosie Hilder, Ecommerce Editor Beren Neale, Senior News Editor Daniel Piper, Editor, Digital Art and 3D Ian Dean, Tech Reviews Editor Erlingur Einarsson and Ecommerce Writer Beth Nicholls and Staff Writer Natalie Fear, as well as a roster of freelancers from around the world. The 3D World and ImagineFX magazine teams also pitch in, ensuring that content from 3D World and ImagineFX is represented on Creative Bloq.