MARKETING’s 20 hottest articles of 2018

Check out our most popular marketing, advertising, digital and media-related news from last year. Thanks for the memories!

1.First Southeast Asian MotoGP Rider Hafizh Syahrin appoints Dentsu Sports Asia as Commercial Partner (November 1)
Dentsu Sports Asia announced its official appointment as the exclusive commercial partner for Hafizh Syahrin, Malaysia’s top motorcycle racer. He is the first Southeast Asian rider to compete in the Motorcycle Grand Prix (MotoGP), the premier motorcycle world championship.

2. WeChat Pay is finally in Malaysia (June 6)
The e-wallet that changed the payment ecosystem in China was ready for its official Malaysian launch.

3. Malaysian CMO Awards winners announced! (November 5)
The winners were announced after an intense judging session at the Sime Darby Convention Centre (SDCC). These marketing leaders were then honoured in a November 16 awards ceremony officiated by Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo.

4. The big move for all WPP companies in Malaysia (July 25)
WPP announced that Young & Rubicam Malaysia had moved offices. They are now located at the WPP campus (Tower H), Empire City, 8 Jalan PJU 8/1, Damansara Perdana, Petaling Jaya

5. Double taxation uproar will decimate marketing communications industry (October 17)
Industry representatives had a second meeting with the Royal Malaysian Customs to seek clarity on the implementation of the Sales and Services Tax (SST).

6. Do we need a Minister of Tourism? (June 1)
Professor Harmandar Singh expressed his views on the loss of Malaysia’s finest creative professionals… and politics.

7. Malaysia Retail Industry Report (June 28)
An insightful study of the nation’s retail industry growth rate.

8. Ogilvy fires CCO Tham Khai Meng after misconduct investigation (July 12)
Tham’s dismissal from the Ogilvy Group became a hot topic.

9. Malaysia Retail Industry Report (October 4)
Members of Malaysia Retailers Association (MRA) were interviewed on their retail sales performances for the second quarter as well as the rest of 2018.

10. New Group CEO to drive innovation and strategy (December 14)
Shopper360 Limited and its subsidiaries appointed Matthew Ho as Group CEO. Ho brings considerable experience in business development and marketing, most recently as client partner of Facebook (Malaysia) where he managed the local and regional businesses.

11. Malaysia’s first ever influencer festival on 22 September! (September 4)
Excitement filled the air as we prepared to welcome the who’s who in the Social Influencer, Blogger, YouTuber, Instagram sphere for the IN Festival: Influencers 2018.

12. How serious is Malaysia’s brain drain? (February 2)
Edward Ong spills the names of sixty Malaysian creatives who have left the country in the “gone but not forgotten” section.

13. Innity launches Malaysia’s first ever new premium self-serve advertising marketplace platform (February 23)
Malaysia Premium Publishers Marketplace (MPPM) partnered with Innity to offer Malaysia its first Publisher-led programmatic advertising marketplace platform.

14. Finally, clarity on double-taxation issues for industry (December 4)
The Malaysian marketing communications industry breathed a huge sigh of relief as the Ministry of Finance (MOF) clarified there will be no double taxation on SST.

15. Everyone’s favourite Hari Raya 2018 ads! (June 8)
We celebrate the festive season with touching commercials that carry important messages of love, gratitude, kindness, respect and understanding.

16. Mad Labs denies wrongdoing in Maggi QR code fiasco (December 5)
The Mad Labs managing director provides us with his side of the story regarding the Maggi QR code incident.

17. UNRESERVED relaunches as a premium regional media platform (April 4)
UNRESERVED relaunched in style with an exclusive party at the St Regis Kuala Lumpur amidst an eclectic mix of corporate movers and shakers, business influencers, celebrities, clients. Renowned British actor, producer, musician and DJ Idris Elba also made an appearance!

18. Nestlé stands its ground: 6% sugar content in Milo (February 7)
Milo’s manufacturer said the popular chocolate malt drink did not have excessive amounts of sugar after a video on Milo’s high sugar content went viral.

19. Yee Hui Tsin to replace Aaron as Managing Director TBWA\Malaysia (May 22)
The story of two marketing communications industry stalwarts at one of Malaysia’s leading creative agencies.

20. MCMC shuts down madlabs.com.my after Nestle Malaysia complains (December 14)
It all started with a certain QR code printed on Maggi Hot Cup labels, which apparently did not lead users to Maggi’s official website. The code was created by a company called Mad Labs. The story heated up amidst a claim that Nestle had allegedly stated that they “accidentally printed the Mad Labs QR code on 170,000 tonnes of packages across 38 of their Maggi products.”