“We’re honoured that our first ever entry has been shortlisted for an APAC Effie,” says Connecting Plots co-founder and creative partner, Dave Jansen.

Within the 107 finalists for this year’s awards, 28 finalists were from Australia, including Ogilvy, The Monkeys, HERO Melbourne and Leo Burnett.

“This work for Fantastic Furniture is a demonstration of timeless creativity meeting modern connectivity. It proves when creative is rooted in a deeply felt and relatable human insight and the campaign is designed to get attention in every channel, it works. ‘When it feels like home, you feel like you’ proves that with everyday low-prices and on-style furniture, Fantastic enriches Aussie homes, allowing life’s precious moments to play out to the backdrop of our furniture.” 

The final round of judging was led by chairwoman, Nicole McMillan of Carlton & United Breweries and the eight Heads of Jury – Akira Mitsumasu of Japan Airlines, Dhiren Amin of NTUC Income, Fern Canning of Edelman, Jane Lin-Baden of Publicis Groupe, Karl Cluck of TikTok, May Ling Chan of KFC Malaysia, Siew Ting Foo of HP and Vishnu Mohan of Dept. 

“Across the board, we are seeing more diversity in terms of entries received – from non-traditional markets such as Indonesia and Vietnam, as well as submissions from independent agencies and clients, says McMillan. “I’m pleased that some of these entries have also made it to the finalist list, and I can’t wait to reveal the full results at the Awards Ceremony.” 

The full list of finalists can be found here, with the winners being recognised in an awards ceremony in September.