Celebrating Heroes Campaign raises RM 105,000 for MERCY Malaysia and IMARET

Mercy Malaysia and IMARET receive donations for their COVID-19 work. [From Left to Right] Board Secretary, Omar Shaari, CEO LMX Malaysia,  Dr Ahmad Yusuf Bin Yahaya,  IMARET Representative, Board Chairman, Professor John D Chacko, Adjunct Professor UiTM FKPM, President – IAA, Srikanth Ramachandran, Group CEO of Moving Walls, Raymond Siva, Chief Marketing Officer – MDEC, Associate Professor Dr Shalimar Abdullah, Vice President III, MERCY Malaysia.

A cheque handover ceremony was held earlier this week, officially ending the Celebrating Heroes Campaign which was launched in dedication to COVID-19 frontliners by raising funds for the pandemic-related causes. The handover ceremony took place at the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) office in Bangsar South. 

A total of RM 105,000 was raised through the campaign and the donations were presented in equal amounts to two NGOs involved in COVID-19 relief work; MERCY Malaysia and Islamic Medical Association of Malaysia also known as IMARET (IMAM Response & Relief Team).

Throughout the campaign period, a series of appreciation messages to frontliners was projected on several digital screens across Malaysia and the creatives were developed by 4As Malaysia / HAVAS Immerse. Advertising space (digital screen airtime) for the appreciation messages was contributed by some members of Outdoor Advertising Association of Malaysia (OAAM) and the screen owners who were part of the contribution pledged RM 1 million worth of airtime. 

The campaign was organised by Celebrating Heroes Board of Governors and the chairman of the board, Professor John D Chacko emphasised that frontliners across all essential services made tremendous sacrifices to keep people in Malaysia safe by staying out in the line of duty. He added that although the current government issued RMCO allows for people to go out again, the frontliners and their contributions should not be forgotten.

“To honor and celebrate their (frontliners) sacrifices, we created the Celebrating Heroes Campaign,” Professor John said. “We want to personally thank all the brand advertisers, media owners, the Board of Governors and their teams from the marketing communications industry who came together and contributed to the cause because without them, this campaign could not have been successful.” 

Brands that supported the campaign through advertising sponsorship include Eureka Snack, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), RHB Bank, Prudential, Foodpanda, Darlie, Kayu Nasi Kandar,  Coca-Cola, Kellogg’s, Microsoft, Goodday, Camel Power, Dove, Lifebuoy, Westports, U Mobile, Nippon Paint and Prego.

The media owners who pledged advertising spaces include Laguna, PowerScreen, Prisma Outdoor, Setia Media, Sky Blue Media, Spectrum Outdoor and Warisan Ads. 

According to Omar Shaari who is the secretary of Heroes Board of Governors and the CEO of LMX, a Moving Walls Subsidiary; the secretariat had a few goals when launching the campaign: to get OOAM and its members to contribute their screen time; to bring the entire marcom industry to join forces for a good cause and to bring in as many advertisers as they could to contribute towards the fundraising exercise

“It was both exciting and challenging from start to finish, but it was well worth it finally as We succeeded on both fronts,” Omar said before thanking everyone for their contributions.

Celebrating Heroes Board of Governors is comprised of individuals representing various associations and companies of the marketing communications industry. The board includes:
▪ Board Chairman, Professor John D Chacko, Adjunct Professor UiTM FKPM, President – International Advertising Association
▪Board Treasurer, Mohamed Kadri Mohamed Taib, President – Malaysian Advertisers Association
▪ Board Secretary, Omar Shaari, CEO – LMX Malaysia
▪ Datuk Ahmad Izham Omar, Chairman – Communications & Multimedia Content Forum of Malaysia
▪ Andrew Lee, President – Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia
▪ Professor Harmandar Singh, Regional CEO – Sledgehammer Communications
▪ Henry Low, President – Outdoor Advertising Association of Malaysia
▪ Dato’ Seri Haji Ibrahim Abdul Rahman, President- Institute of Public Relations Malaysia
▪ K Mohan, Director – Moving Walls Group
▪ Professor Dr Kiranjit Kaur, Institute of Public Relations Malaysia
▪ Ng Li Lian, International Advertising Association Malaysia
▪ Yap Chee Weng, President-Malaysian Media Specialists Association
▪ Nick Drew, Vice President – Malaysian Digital Association
▪ Raymond Siva, Chief Marketing Officer – Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation