PHILIPPINES, AUGUST 19, 2011 – Great happy faces swarmed Rockwell Theater 3 as The Boomerang Awards 2011 revealed this year’s top performers in digital media marketing. Made possible by the Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines (IMMAP), the brief awards show produced no more than a handful of winners – with the noticeable absence of gold.
This year’s competition has opened new subcategories to acknowledge the various types of marketing work executed through web and mobile devices. Over 60 entries were received in various categories, but only ten entrants managed to get their hands on the prize.
BBDO Guerrero/Proximity’ s “Kanta Calls” for Bayan Telecomms won this year’s only Silver (Interactive Tools, Games, and Community Application). The agency also sealed its lead with three bronzes: one for “Akin ang Pinas” for PepsiCo (Viral Marketing) and two more for “Changing World” for FedEx ( Interactive Tools, Games, and Community Application and Interactive Campaign)
Coming in second was OgilvyOne who dominated the Website & Microsites Cyber Boomerang. It’s “Sweet Escape” for Wholesome Food Inc (KFC), and “Train to Win” for Nike Philippines both bagged bronzes. It adds another bronze to its haul for “Basta Pinas, Biyahe Tayo! A Bonamine Travel Advocacy Campaign” for Johnson & Johnson in the advocacy category.
Other bronze winners were Media Contact Philippines for Unilever’s “Vaseline Roadtrip of a Lifetime” (Interactive) and Tribal DDB Philippines for L’Oreal’s “Be Gerald’s Girl” (Integrated).
“Metro Manila Traffic Navigator” was also awarded the Innovative Boomerang from DentsuIndio. A pioneering project of TV5 for the Metro Manila Development Authority, the application lets users keep track of what’s happening on the road via mobile screens. Originally awarded to Havoc Digital, the Boomerang was eventually given to TV 5 and MMDA after the digital agency withdrew from the competition.
The lack of gold and minimal number of winners left many disappointed, leading some to question the industry’s overall quality of work in this field. Fortunately, the IMMAP Summit certainly lived up to expectations in terms of attendance. IMMAP President Hans Roxas Chua cited a number of achievements for the organization. These include record numbers of speakers, as well as attendees.
The 2011 Boomerang competition was opened for all works that have been launched for the first time between July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011. All submitted entries were examined and rated by various top marketing experts including Google Philippines’ Aileen Apollo, Dentsu Asia’s Angeli Beltran, Blue Bottle’s Mio Chongson, IMMAP President Hans Roxas Chua, Manny del Rosario of Rocket Science, PMA President Von Hizon De Torres, PANA President John Rojo, Dentsu America’s Yasuharu Sasaki, MSAP President Meckoy Quiogue and IMMAP speakers Johan Vakidis of AKQA Shanghai, Tonypet Sarmiento of Creative-at-Large, and Gregory Birge of F5 Digital.
With reports from Camille Tambong
