KUALA LUMPUR — Dato’ Johnny Mun, re-elected as President of the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents (4As) of Malaysia for the second two-year term, plans to introduce three pillars to reinvigorate the advertising industry.
The pillars were put together by Mun, Vice-President Irene Wong, and the 10-member 4As Council, comprising Andrew Lee (Havas Worldwide Kuala Lumpur), Zain Ayeob Amri (Bulb Communications), Karthi Palanisamy (Crush Communications), Jacey Lee (Ogilvy & Mather), Jasmin Omar Jayaseelan (Ellipsis), Daniel Chong (Intigus), T. Renganathan (FCB KL), Kee Keah Yu (Megan Nathanael), Dean Bramham (Publicis Communications), and Dato’ Tan Kin Lee (Sym World), to fulfil their objectives for the 2015-2017 term.
The three pillars are Certification, Advertising Board, and Created in Malaysia for the World.
“Our perspective is centred on enhancing the skill sets of our members across multiple disciplines as a means to inculcating good agency management,” says Mun. “In this regard, we’re confident these pillars will springboard the industry to the next level.”
Certification aims to equip agency staff with specific competencies to qualify them for promotion. The 4As is currently in preliminary discussions with the Institute of Practitioners of Advertising (IPA) UK to formalise a system to evaluate practitioners on their job proficiency and knowledge.
Advertising Board, a dialogue platform for agencies, vendors, and the media, is designed to encourage marketing professionals to compensate them fairly for their services. It is also a means to generating income and creating more jobs.
The Created in Malaysia for the World initiative aims to ensure that more commercials are produced in Malaysia. The 4As intends working jointly with the Malaysian Association of Advertising Filmmakers (PPFIM) in advancing this project with a view to building a stronger community of talented filmmakers.
“The new Council is a good balance of international and local agencies serving as caretakers of the industry members,” Mun notes. “We will continue actively organising our education and training programmes, as well as engaging with the relevant government agencies, media partners, marketers, and professional agencies to elevate and improve talent quality, and ethical and professional standards.”
Mun adds that the 4As’ primary mission is to insure that member agencies make contributions to clients through thought leadership and innovative campaigns.
“We need to be characterized as trusted advisers – and that can only be achieved by doing what’s right for the client and their business,” states Mun. “The creative drive to originate compelling ideas remains our key focus.”
