ASIA-PACIFIC – SINGAPORE, NOVEMBER 2011: The Festival of Media Asia, the acclaimed first festival of media creativity and innovation, recently announced the winners of the annual awards. Held at a gala event at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Singapore, the awards were given across three top categories and 12 open categories. The Festival of Media Asia Awards drew an overwhelming response: 410 entries from 16 countries, which were cut down to a shortlist of 81 from which the winners of the open categories were selected.
The top awards at the event went to Ikon Communications, UM and Coca-Cola for Agency of the Year, Network of the Year, and Advertiser of the Year, respectively.
The rigorous selection process was completed under the guidance of Rahul Welde, Chairman of the Jury, The Festival of Media Asia 2011 and Vice President – Media (Asia, Africa, Middle East, Turkey & Russia), Unilever.
“There were a number of outstanding cases which just stood out as sure wins, and there were some close calls in a number of categories which stimulated very engaging discussions," said Welde. "The jury was unanimous that the submissions for the inaugural Festival of Media Asia Awards were excellent. It’s great to see this calibre of creativity, execution and effectiveness in our region, and kudos to the brands and agencies who are have turned out some splendid work – quite a few risking and trying something new.”
Welde continues, “It was particularly heartening that the campaigns were very sophisticated, but still managed to get the basics right. The stand-out aspect was that these came from a broad cross-section of advertisers, agencies and channels. The jury faced a difficult selection process, having to pick out the very best from a field of outstanding submissions.”
The lone judge from the Philippines, MEC Managing Director Malu Vasallo, noted, "In the Communications Strategy category, there were a lot of very impressive creative work by competing networks from our counterparts in Asia. It was disappointing, however, that there was no entry from the Philippines, especially since I know that our country’s best can very much match up to the standards of regional creative competitions such as FOMA."
The two finalists from the Philippines were both from the Havas Media group for Unilever brands in the Best Use of Digital Landscape category: Media Contacts Philippines’ “Closeup White Now” and MPG’s “Vaseline Healthy White Triple Lightening”.
2011 Festival of Media Asia Awards Winners
Best Communications Strategy – Break up for National Australian Bank/ ZenithOptimedia /Australia
Best Contribution to a Campaign by a Media Owner – 11 Degrees New Media Film Project for Chevrolet Cruz / Youku.com / China
Best Entertainment Platform – Coke Studio for Coca-Cola / Lodestar UM / India
Best In-Store Activation – Burst of Freshness for Comfort / Mindshare Vietnam / Vietnam
Best Targeted Campaign – Whiskas Pledge for Whiskas / Starcom Melbourne / Australia
Best Use of Content – Johnnie Walker Yulu for Johnnie Walker Black Label / BBH Asia Pacific / Singapore
Best Use of Digital Landscape – Property Guide iPhone Application for The Commonwealth Bank of Australia / Ikon Communications / Australia
Best Use of Emerging Technology – Property Guide iPhone Application for The Commonwealth Bank of Australia / Ikon Communications / Australia
Creative Use of Media – Interactive TV for Coca-Cola / UM / Hong Kong
The Effectiveness Award – Australia Kinect for Xbox Kinect / UM / Australia
The Public Service Award – Harnessing People Power to Let People Know That Speed Kills for The Transport Accident Commission / Naked Communications / Australia
