It is the clients’ turn in the hot seat to unveil the biggest secrets to successful marketing.
Kuala Lumpur, 12 June 2015 – The Malaysian Advertiser Association (MAA) launched the 2015 EFFIE Marketing Effectiveness Awards call-for-entries with a special CoCreate event “Secrets & Lies of Effectiveness”. 79 leading marketers and industry leaders relished the chance for a “no holds barred” interrogation of reigning EFFIE Malaysia champions while the interviewees were strapped to a real lie detector.
Held at Google Malaysia HQ, the audience got to interview the 3 brands and 1 agency which had won the most number of EFFIES from 2008-2014. Fielding tough questions about their tools, partners, and marketing secrets were Chan May Ling, DiGi Head of Marketing Services; Khoo Kar Khoon, Nestle Communications Director; Wong Siah Ping, Vice-President Astro; and Piwo Chia, Ogilvy & Mather Head of Planning while Sulin Lau, Maxis Head of Marketing Services returned as CoCreate host and emcee.
In addition to the interrogations, the audience mostly comprising large advertisers and marketers were also jointly briefed by Lau and Chan on the new changes MAA would be including in 2015 EFFIE Awards. These are:-
- Digitization of entries and Online Judging: going paperless will not only reduce waste, MAA believes it will improve the diversity and overall quality of judging.
- New ‘Brand of the Year’ Award: recognizing the advertiser or brand with the most number of EFFIE points won across multiple campaign submissions in 2015.
- Malaysia’s Inclusion in global EFFIES Index: points earned by winning at Malaysia EFFIE Awards to be counted and reflected in EFFIEs global effectiveness league tables.
- Introduction of E-Commerce category: recognizing the immense growth of the digital retailers in Malaysia in recent years, and the innovative marketing methods they deploy.
“There are many advertising awards but most are awarded to and judged by agencies. The EFFIEs are different in that it is judged largely by senior marketing clients based on criteria that we consider important: actionable insight, innovation, cross channel integration and most importantly, actual business impact,” said Sulin Lau during the briefing to fellow marketers.
Entries for EFFIE Marketing Effectiveness Awards Malaysia 2015 open officially on 1 July 2015 for campaigns which were executed and run in Malaysia between June 1, 2014 and May 30, 2015.
ABOUT EFFIE MALAYSIA & WORLDWIDE
Since the introduction of the most prestigious award in 2008, Malaysia Effie Awards has been a much-anticipated award of the year. The Malaysian Advertisers Association (MAA), Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia (4As) and Malaysia Media Specialists Association (MSA) jointly organize the Award, in association with the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE).
While the Malaysia Effie Awards is relatively new, Effie was first introduced in the world in 1968 and has since become recognized by advertisers and agencies as the pre-eminent award in the communications industry. It is, in fact, the most coveted award in forty (40) nations in five (5) continents. No other marketing communications award is so widely recognized in so many countries.
The critical success factor of Effie is attributed to its strong honor of campaigns that meet and exceed the prescribed marketing communication objectives and focuses on campaigns that really worked in the marketplace.
Campaigns must successfully combine all the disciplines that enter into a marketing program: planning, market research, media, creative and account management. They must demonstrate a partnership between agency and client in the creation, management and building of a brand.
The award is open to all forms of consumer engagement – whether mainstream or alternative; digital or print; design or advertising; paid or unpaid. Any form of marketing communication can and should enter.
