This week saw the announcement of the awards shortlist for The Festival of Media Asia-Pacific Awards 2014, recognising work across 18 different categories.

The awards shortlist, made up of 118 entries from 12 countries, was judged by a 44 member strong panel of senior agency heads and global brand marketers. The shortlist will be judged in March by a final jury chaired by McDonald’s Corporation vice-president, media and digital, Andrew Knott.

Ad agencies certainly made their mark on this year’s shortlist, accounting for nearly 10% of the shortlisted entries. And of course, media heavyweights Mediacom, Mindshare, Starcom Mediavest Group, OMD and UM make numerous appearances on the shortlist.

Work from Australia, China, Hong Kong and India dominated this year’s shortlist, with the Phillippines and Pakistan featuring for the first time – now that’s what I call truly regional!

Check out the full list of shortlisted entries via The Festival of Media Asia-Pacific website.

We’re frantically working to get all the shortlisted entries up on Cream so keep an eye out on our latest case studies page to see them in all their glory - shortlisted entries will feature a 'FOMAs shortlisted' badege. We’ll even pick out some of our favs to share with you next week.

Winners will be announced at the Capella Singapore on the closing night of The Festival of Media Asia-Pacific 2014. For more info about The Festival of Media Asia-Pacific 2014, click here.

It was selected as the word of 2013 by Oxford Dictionaries and if you don’t know what it means then all I can say is… Where have you been hiding, like, the whole of last year? Snapchat, Vine, Instagram… All have been the driving forces behind the rise of the “selfie”, but while many hear the word and think of vanity, we’re loving what Dove has done in its latest short-film.

“I know you're trying to find out where I hang my cape. You won't.” Superman, Man of Steel

It used to be the buyer's journey resembled something like Dorothy's trip to Oz: Follow the yellow brick road. These days that trek (or path-to-purchase) looks more like something out of Joseph Campbell's hero’s journey, which powers the storylines of Star Wars, Superman andThe Matrix. It's incredibly fragmented, and buyers have superpowers like the Web and smartphones. There are challenges to overcome along the way like social commerce, mobile commerce and even ambient commerce. And it's almost impossible to know what each customer's quest will look like when we aren’t even sure how they’re going to buy from us.

Of course, retailers are diving headfirst into data each day to better understand how their customer shops now and how they might shop in the future. What are they looking at? Here are a few trends that will help define the customer journey in 2014.

Kevin Bacon, the award-winning actor and ‘king of connections’, will headline the Festival of Media Global 2014, taking place between the 6th and 8th of April in Rome at the Cavalieri Hotel.

This year’s Festival will focus on the technology, innovations, and strategies that make the media industry more connected than ever, as well as highlighting future forecasts and the power of disruption.

Providing their insight on these global challenges will be directors and executives of some of the world’s most powerful brands, including:

In 2013 programmatic buying gained considerable traction across the digital advertising ecosystem. Over the next 12 months we are likely to see this trend continuing as it gains an even greater foot hold, and brand advertisers turn to sophisticated programmatic buying platforms to help them plan, execute and optimise their video ad campaigns. On top of this, advanced measurement and reporting tools will be made available to help advertisers maximise the value of brands’ digital investments, and this will ultimately see the gap between the digital and TV worlds closing. With that in mind, here are my four predictions for 2014.

"Selfie" - Oxford Dictionary Word of the Year, 2013

It may not be earmarked in any record books, but 2013 was a monumental year for mobile devices. Total smartphone users in the U.S. exceeded 140 million and nearly half of all pageviews are from mobile devices, which, according to Morgan Stanley, is sure to tip in the favor of mobile in 2014. Our lives are becoming more and more interconnected with and dependent upon our mobile devices. It seems as if the shorter list would be what isn’t possible on mobile devices versus what is.

While the rise of mobile devices has been one of the most influential trends in marketing over the past five years, just as influential has been brand storytelling, namely through digital and social channels. Brands have increasingly abandoned traditional, interruptive means of promoting their product or service in favor of connecting with audiences through content and conversation.

Despite being one of the oldest and most traditional ad formats, out-of-home never fails to impress us over here at Cream Global. If there’s one medium that’s undergoing a bit of a revolution, it is indeed OOH. And this isn’t just because of the opportunities it to integrate digital content. Just look at what the University of Technology and Engineering (UETC) and BPN managed to do in Peru with Clear Channel – it's so innovative and technology had an important part to play but there’s nothing digital there.

Not one for shying away from being a little mischievous with its marketing messages, we’re happy to see that Paddy Power’s strategy for 2014 hasn’t changed. Its latest TV ad, created by Crispin Porter + Bogusky, takes a poke at lazy millionaire footballers – you know the type: the lazy, out of shape, and yet still very well paid footballer.

Well, the new ad shines the ‘Ball of Shame’ spotlight on the type of footballers regularly cursed in post-match debates across the country. Whether it’s the guy who can’t get in his kit or the one who spends more time sitting down than the Made in Chelsea cast, well as Paddy Power says: “they all deserve a new year’s kick up the behind’.