MANILA, PHILIPPINES — The 15th edition of the Malaysian Effie Awards saw Fishermen Integrated named “Agency of the Year,” while Grab was named “Brand of the Year” for the third consecutive year.
Showcasing campaigns that met and exceeded marketing objectives with a focus on effectiveness, the theme for this year’s Effie Awards was “To the Uncharted,” with three Gold, 11 Silver, and 12 Bronze awarded from a shortlist of 43 campaigns.
Fishermen Integrated was declared “Agency of the Year” with four Silver and one Bronze award for the campaigns “Gaviscon: Winning Untapped Segments who are Unaware about Heartburn” for Reckitt Benckiser, “Time Kabel Besar Gives Malaysians’ Internet A Well-Deserved Promotion,” and “Attack On A Titan: Using Data To Hijack Goliath’s 2Gbps Launch,” both for Time dotcom, and “The Huatever Saga” for Grab.
Grab was named “Brand of the Year” for the third consecutive year with one Gold, two Silver, and one Bronze award for the campaigns “#SisBoleh,” “Going from Mengapa to Mantap Bersama Grab,” and “The Huatever Saga.”
Gold awards were also presented to BPN and Mojo Films for the U Mobile campaign “From Unlimited to Unbeatable,” and to IDOTYOU, Pishang Creative, and Yes Studios for McDonald’s campaign “McDonald’s Social-Led Recruitment Campaign; This Time It’s Personnel.”
First launched in 1968 in New York, the Effie Awards are recognized internationally by agencies and advertisers as the communications industry’s pre-eminent award for marketing effectiveness.
“This year’s entries clearly demonstrated the brand or business challenges, with good ability to translate and leverage insights into a clear strategy, demonstrated by the execution of highly creative ideas with clear measurements of success. This was seen in most cases making it a more competitive year,” said Effies 2023 Chief Judge Datuk Lai Shu Wei, Chief Marketing and Sales Officer at Sime Darby Property Berhad.
“The brands and businesses were leading and driving the categories and campaign execution was more aggressive. It was also very interesting to see sustainability as a consideration in some of the campaigns and I look forward to the upcoming submissions in the years to come,” added Datuk Lai.
“The Effie Awards help to raise the bar for marketing creativity and effectiveness. Especially during the “To The Uncharted” period, when everyone marches ahead into the unknown despite the new challenges,” said Monster Interactive Regional Managing Director L V Chong.
“The Awards are also a platform for Malaysian marketers to showcase their work on a global stage if it is the best of the best entry, and they help to attract and retain top talent in the marketing industry in Malaysia,” L V added.
“The Effies are the most prestigious awards for marketing effectiveness, and the 4As having a 50-year history of supporting Malaysia’s marketing industry is trusted by Effie Worldwide to manage the award in Malaysia. It is heartening to see that despite the challenges of the last few years, this award continues to attract many outstanding entries that have been shortlisted and awarded,” said Effies 2023 Organizing and Managing Director of Hakuhodo Malaysia Ryusuke Oda.
L V and Ryusuke are the Malaysia Effie Awards 2023 Organising Co-chairpersons.
The Effie Awards Malaysia are organized by the 4As and supported by the Malaysian Advertisers Association (MAA) and Media Specialists Association (MSA), in association with the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE).
