The Cannes Lions are looming and, as Colenso BBDO's managing director Nick Garrett said in a recent interview about the refreshed Axis Awards, "something has a better chance at the end of a 12 month cycle if it’s had exposure and has started to do well at international awards". So can we predict how the Kiwi agencies might do at the world's most prestigious industry awards? Here's a league table from the Axis Awards based on the same points system used by Cannes (and CAANZ), with one point for a finalist, three points for bronze, five points for silver, seven points for gold and ten points for grand prix. 
No huge surprises, with Colenso BBDO/Proximity on top by a big margin, followed by DraftFCB, Clemenger BBDO and DDB.
No points are awarded for grand axis (Driving Dogs), client of the year (DB Breweries) or emerging talent (Colenso BBDO's Ben Polkinghorne and Anna Stickley).
Speaking of Axis, this year's winners received a weighty new totem of creativity, with Blake Enting and Cassidy van Dyk of Saatchi Design Worldwide collaborating with sculptor Terry Stringer to create the artwork/candleholder.
Saatchi & Saatchi's Antonio Navas says the new bronze trophy represents the crucible of the mind, each one, cast in a foundry, is actually full of wax, symbolising the fluidity and the heat required to feed creativity. It’s also probably the world’s first practical trophy, as you can put it on display, or have a candlelit dinner with the loved ones you may have neglected in the long hours earning it."
