KUALA LUMPUR – November 11, 2013 – In line with this year’s theme, ‘Win More Than Metal,’ creative advertising agency TBWA Kuala Lumpur scored 155 points to lead as Agency of the Year with six Silver, 14 Bronze, and 25 Merit awards. The agency did not win any Gold awards, the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia (4As) said in a press release.
TBWA earned the highest accumulated points across various media platforms to win the advertising industry’s highest honor. BBDO was awarded the Golden Kancil award for campaign for KFC titled ‘Phone Stack’.
“Winning an award is an outstanding tribute for creative excellence,” said David Mitchell, Organizing Chairman of the Kancil Awards 2013. “This year, however, we encouraged agencies to focus on creative brilliance rather than submit multiple entries – and I think we got the message across. There were more entries with participation from more agencies. The work submitted this year displayed a disciplined creativity.”
In other key categories, DiGi Telecommunications was awarded Advertiser of the Year, retired Chairman of Lowe Malaysia Khairudin Rahim and Star Publications Acting CEO and Executive Director Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai honoured with the Chairman’s Award, and the BBDO team comprising Wan Yin Sian, James Voon, and Ferhan Faidzen awarded the Young Creative award.
“In this hardboiled industry, it is sometimes easy to forget the essence of this business – exciting ads,” observed Mitchell. “In today’s highly competitive environment, smart clients seek out creative agencies that can create campaigns that result in enduring impressions.”
The depth of entries for this year’s entries also saw mid-range advertising agencies like Mega Advertising, Star Reacher, Rapp, and People ‘n Rich ranked among the top 10 agencies based on accumulated points.
“The increase in the number of entries this year is testament to the fact that creativity is thriving in Malaysia,” noted Sa’ad Hussein, Head of the 4As Creative Council. “The judging was robust with a greater representation of international judges. It resulted in a lesser number of Golds being awarded. Overall, it is a fair assessment of the quality of work in Malaysia.”
4As President Dato Johnny Mun noted that winning an award is a good barometer for measuring the quality of work for a campaign. “But we must also measure the business results. We must not divert the attention from servicing the client and building strong and sustainable brands.”
The Kancil Awards, organized by the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents of Malaysia (4As), covers outstanding creative work in film, radio, print, cyber, outdoor, craft, design, direct, and mobile categories.
In photo: TBWA Kuala Lumpur’s Aaron Cowie and Sa’ad Hussein (second and third from left respectively) and the team striking a victorious pose for winning AGENCY OF THE YEAR at the Kancil Awards 2013.
