Marcom Industry honours local frontline heroes and raises funds for Covid-19 cause

Ten leading associations and entities of the Marcom industry will launch ‘Celebrating Heroes Campaign’; an awareness campaign for local heroes who stepped up to serve on the frontline during the Covid-19 outbreak. The campaign is aimed at honouring and appreciating our front-liners such as healthcare workers, the armed forces, police, drivers, delivery personnel, essential service personnel, and more who have made tremendous sacrifices during this on-going period.

Leading Marcom Associations and entities including Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia (4As), Malaysian Advertisers Association (MAA), Media Specialists Association (MSA), Outdoor Advertising Association of Malaysia (OAAM), Malaysian Digital Association (MDA), Communications and Multimedia Content Forum of Malaysia (CMCF), International Advertising Association (IAA) Malaysia, Institute of Public Relations Malaysia (IPRM), MARKETING Magazine and Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) together with adtech provider Moving Walls / Location Media Xchange (LMX) Malaysia, unites to recognize and honour the frontline heroes.

To kick start this project, members of OAAM will contribute advertising slots worth more than MYR 500,000 at no cost. The media sponsors who have pledged their airtime include Laguna, PowerScreen, Prisma Outdoor, Setia Media Sdn Bhd, Sky Blue Media, Spectrum Outdoor. Foreseeing if the campaign responses at full capacity, the association’s members will consider a second release of advertising slots.

All proceeds from the funds raised through advertising revenue in the Digital Out-Of-Home (DOOH) campaign, will be directed to MERCY Malaysia and IMARET, the nominated NGOs involved in combating Covid-19. The Heroes Board of Governors (HBOG) set up for this Campaign will monitor full transparency and accountability of all funds raised.

The HBOG elected Prof John D Chacko, Adjunct Professor FKPM, UiTM & President of IAA Malaysia as Chairman; Mohamed Kadri Mohamed Taib, President of MAA as Treasurer; and Omar Shaari, CEO of LMX Malaysia as Secretary.

“Our frontline heroes have gone beyond their call of duty, to the extent of putting their lives in danger. When we finally step out again, we should continue to celebrate our frontline heroes and not forget their sacrifices” said John Chacko.

Henry Low, President OAAM commented “Once the MCO is lifted and we hit the roads again, the first advertising medium we will encounter is Out-of-Home (OOH). Through this medium, we will be able to communicate our appreciation to these heroes and showcase their perseverance at work with messages and photographs that are relevant in localities they are serving.”

“While conceiving this campaign, we decided to channel 100% of the proceeds for this good cause. To make it possible, we needed airtime, brand sponsors as well as the support of all Marcom industry leaders. We are pleased to acknowledge the overwhelming support from the industry stakeholders. The Board of Governors are now rallying as many advertisers as possible to participate by taking up the advertising space and celebrating our real heroes.” said Omar Shaari, CEO of LMX Malaysia, a subsidiary of Moving Walls Group.