87 finalists celebrated at the MSA Awards 2022

The Media Specialists Association announced 87 finalists for its 2022 awards, at the “Malaysia in Metaverse” themed Awards Gala night held on 26 August 2022 at the Sheraton PJ. In keeping up with the theme, the MSA awarded NFT trophies to the Agency of the Year,  Advertiser of the Year and Grand Prix winners. 

The 2022 MSA Awards recognizes and celebrates campaigns beyond media that has delivered tangible brand and business results for clients in the short and long term. The judging criteria  reflects the changing media landscape and an ever-evolving industry, and to focus on the most  important aspects of agency life –the body of work, the people and the industry’s impact on  culture.

During the Awards event, MARKETING Magazine sat down for an exclusive interview with Dheeraj Raina, Organising Chairman of the MSA Awards 2022, Wong Pi Yee, Treasurer of MSA and Nicole Tan, the Country Director of Meta (Malaysia).

On the current status of Malaysia in regards to embracing the Metaverse and Web 3.0, Dheeraj said, “We’re still at the early stages of what Web 3.0 will bring to Malaysia. Web 3.0 and the Metaverse is far beyond cryptocurrencies, NFTs and gaming. Malaysia is one of the most digitally penetrated markets, given that we are early adopters of new technologies, and we have already begun our journey in the Metaverse.”

“From a consumer readiness perspective, I think as a market it’s up to us to push the boundaries and start testing things now. It will definitely be a while before we can realise the true value of the Metaverse and Web 3.0, but starting the process now will enable us to innovate newer and simpler ways to make them more accessible, and the MSA Awards 2022 is the conversation starter,” added Dheeraj.

On Meta’s role in the development of the infrastructure for Metaverse in Malaysia, Nicole commented, “We first need to understand that this is not something that will happen immediately, it will take time to build and Meta will certainly work with many partners in the development.”

“The Metaverse is something that enhances the next level of user experience in the digital world, and at this stage one of our principles is to not surprise people, we want to ensure that there is a lot of conversation around this, with full transparency and collaboration,” Nicole continued.

Nicole concluded saying that, “Based on the data from out platforms and some of our research, Malaysia is definitely the leading market when it comes to digital platforms, which is why we have been focusing on digital penetration since 2021 and will be doing so throughout this year as well. Meta has been investing in developing the infrastructure, building the ecosystem for creators, development of skills and new tools, and will continue to do so in Malaysia.”

Pi Yee added, “There are brands in Malaysia who have already embarked on their journey to adopt some of the Metaverse technology, and a lot of our group agencies have also started training themselves with necessary skills to start developing faster. I believe we will definitely see some amazing new developments for Malaysia in the Metaverse soon.”

More than 40 distinguished judges – drawn from agencies, clients, industry bodies and sponsors  – judged this year’s entries across two rounds of judging with finalists invited to pitch their  campaigns live to a panel of judges.  

Commenting on this year’s awards, Dheeraj Raina, the Organising Chairman for the Malaysia MSA  Awards 2022 said, “Such a fitting finale to 250 days of hard work and passion by the MSA, the  gala night saw 87 finalists competing for the podium. It was a night truly to remember with Mindshare Group getting mentioned 22 times across all participating categories, winning both the coveted Agency of the Year and Grand Prix awards”. 

The Grand Prix was awarded for “Sabella from Heart Strings to Purse Strings” which was executed  for Sabella. 

Advertiser of the Year, Unilever, also recorded wins for their campaigns with Mindshare Group such as “Magnum Malaysia X Money Heist: Mission Unlocked” and Wall’s “Bersama Grab Rider”, just to name a few.