KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA — The lines between the traditional, material world and the uncharted territories of cyberspace are being blurred, changing the way we interact, work, play and live. The metaverse (a portmanteau of the prefix “meta”, meaning “beyond”; and the suffix “verse”, short for “universe”) offers a world of exciting and endless possibilities: opening new doorways to innovation, creativity and change. In turn, this change must also be reflected in the way media is used to connect with the consumer and as one of the world’s most digitally penetrated countries, Malaysia stands at the vanguard of a paradigm shift in marketing communication.
The decentralization of information brought about by Web 3.0 is changing the face of the internet: making it more user-centric, customisable and personalised. Consumers, therefore, are savvier, more informed and more demanding than ever—requiring the marketing industry to be nimbler, more innovative and hyper-focussed in order to remain relevant. This year, the MSA Awards will be looking into the future of Web 3.0 and the possibilities it unlocks for marketers, while celebrating the work of the past year.
MSA Awards Chairperson, Dheeraj Raina said, “For the last 18 years, the MSA Awards have been the gold standard for showcasing media effectiveness, elevating the role of media in communications with a refreshed perspective. This year’s theme will be instrumental in setting up the Malaysian marketing industry for success in Web 3.0”.
For 2022, the MSA Awards has undergone a restructuring of its judging criteria in order to reflect the changing media landscape and an ever-evolving industry, and to focus on the most important aspects of agency life –the body of work, the people and the industry’s impact on culture. This year the MSA Awards will expand the celebration of agencies’ work beyond media by the introduction of platforms such as Esports and Martech into the award categories, thus allowing for a truer, more robust representation of the role of a media agency.
Dheeraj added, “The renaming and addition of new categories are designed to recognise an agency’s ability to evolve, expand and invigorate excellence within the industry; and to reward the agency’s creativity and brilliance in connecting consumers and brands across various tools and touchpoints in devising successful campaigns for clients”.
The “People & Community” shines a spotlight on the human talent behind the work, the most important asset for any agency. In this category, the award for “Agency & Culture” has been renamed “Culture, Positive Change + DEI” in order to represent diversity and inclusivity; while an entirely new award for “Specialist of the Year” has been added to make the people awards more inclusive of the broad spectrum of skills and capabilities that go beyond media planning and buying.
“The 2022 MSA Awards welcomes participation from everyone, including non-members. Participants can also look forward to a brand-new submission website, recently launched on the 31st of March through a virtual announcement”, added Wong Pi Yee, Deputy Chairperson of the MSA.
Entrants for awards in the “Best Use Of” category will be judged on Insight & Strategy and Execution & Effectiveness; while those in the “People & Community” category will also include Context, Strategy & Execution, Leadership Skills, Contributions and Results as part of its judging criteria. Each award category will have its own formulated percentages of these criteria to enable judging to be concise and fairly arbitrated in determining the winner.
Submission for the 2022 MSA Awards opens on the April 21, 2022 and closes at 12.00pm on May 12, 2022 and are to be made online. The selection process will begin with an initial round of e-voting in which only the highest six entries per award category will qualify for the final round. A panel of judges will then evaluate and score each shortlisted finalist’s entry individually across categories. All finalists will be notified on June 22 and will be required to submit additional materials by 12.00pm on July 21. The judging process culminates in a grand awards gala on August 26, at which all winners will be announced.
For more information, please visit the MSA Awards 2022 website at https://msa2022.mymsa.org
