Nazeer Suliman, MD of Universal McCann, is the only South African to be included in the 21 Agency Innovator finalists for 2008, an annual feature run by the UK-based Internationalist magazine. Winners will be announced during the last quarter of 2008.

Nazeer Suliman, MD of Universal McCann, the only South African to be included in the 21 Internationalist Agency Innovator finalists for 2008

Internationalist writes, "This third annual summer feature devoted to international agency innovators underscores how innovative thinking is not limited by geography, age, company size or ones position in a company. These 21 individuals have been selected from over 100 entries through industry nominations."

"I am absolutely thrilled to be nominated for the Internationalist Agency Innovator 2008," says Suliman. "No matter the outcome, I'm pleased to be considered and thank my staff and peers for their continued support."

On the subject of innovation, he says, "There is a context to innovation. Often, people in our industry interpret innovation as a new menu item when in fact it could have always been there - but placed differently and re-framed, could be interpreted in a new way. I believe that innovation is about seeing the same old world with fresh eyes or from a different vantage point."

Finalists include:

Givi Topchishvili: Global Advertising Strategies, New York

Philip Brett: TBWA\Tequila, Singapore

Christian Kugel: Denuo (a Publicis Groupe Company)

'Crystal' Wang Jingjing: G2 Star Echo Group, Beijing

Shadi Bteddini: BE International, Dubai & New York

Shubha George: Mediaedge:cia, Mumbai

Becky Walden: Starcom Worldwide

Patricia Gogliara: McCann Erickson, Brasil

Charlotte Freemantle: Universal McCann, London

Ian Bell: Mediacom, London

Dan Benedict: Mediaedge:cia, London

Laura Milstead: JustMedia, London

Alistair Henderson: OMD, Australia

Mark Stewart: OMD, New York

Martin Sundberg: Medicom, Sweden

Rob Hilton: The Promotions Factory, Melbourne

Felix Wong: The Marketing Arm, Beijing

Hani Mahdi: Mindshare Worldwide, London

Christina Dagnello: Mediaedge:cia, New York, and

Will Swayne: Carat, Hong Kong.

For more information, go to www.internationalistmagazine.com.