Mindshare Group Malaysia wins Agency of the Year at MSA Awards as RM 4.5 billion media industry embraces change

Mindshare Group Malaysia won the Agency of the Year at the MSA Awards 2023, while the Grand Prix went to Sunquick FoodPanda Mixologists: Peeling Abang Food Panda – The Social Influencers!

Nestle (Malaysia) Berhad won the Advertiser of the Year by a wide margin.

15 different agencies picked up finalists certificates and awards in a grand display of media innovation and strategic expertise. Universal McCann was the runner up agency, with Seed Integrated coming in a creditable third. Other winners included Carat, Dentsu X, Ampersand Advisory, Starcom and Initiative.

Over 128 finalists were vying for the trophies on offer that night. Despite the record number of entries, Gold were very hard to come by, with only 3 given out in the entire evening, showing the extremely stringent judging standards applied.

The illustrious list who attended the Gala Night also included President of the Malaysian Advertisers Association (MAA) Mr Navin Stanislaus, Acting President of 4As Malaysia, Mr Ryusuke Oda, President of Malaysian Digital Association (MDA) Ms Eileen Ooi, President of Commercial Radio Malaysia (CRM) Nazri Noran, and President of Outdoor Advertising Association Malaysia (OAAM) Maaresh Starling. Also present were agency CEOs, MDs and over 500 media personnel from the top media companies of the country.

In conjunction with the MSA Awards Gala Night 2023 at the One World Hotel on October 20th, the first-of-its-kind Festival of Media was also organised by the Media Specialists Association of Malaysia (MSA).

Over 33 speakers and panelists, ranging from organisations like Boston Consulting Group, Media Prima Omnia, Meta, UNICEF, Kloth, Publicis, Group M, Dentsu, Trapper Media Services, Ampersand Advisory, Naga DDB, Malaysia Advertisers Association, Free Malaysia Today and more brought the theme of “Reimagine Tomorrow” to life.

Sponsors include Innity, Media Prima Omnia, Big Tree, Laguna, Etika, Seni Jaya, Billups, SkyBlue, Redberry and Heineken. Marketing Magazine was the official Magazine partner.

The Festival of Media was a full day event, with over 650 people registered as attendees. The event was free of charge, as the MSA wants to expand the nation’s understanding of media and the changing landscape. The Festival was followed by the much awaited MSA Awards 2023 Gala Night.

The finalists had been selected from over 320 entries, as all the top media agencies and brands of Malaysia compete in the most prestigious media industry awards in Malaysia.

Representing a combined media buying clout of over RM 4.5 billion, the members of the Media Specialist Association were accompanied by the crème de la crème of the marketing and media industries, all camped at the One World Hotel for the whole day.

MSA Awards 2023 was expanded from last year, embracing technological change with new categories like Best use of AI, and the return of some categories like Best use of TV/Video, Best use of Radio/Audio, Best use of Print/OOH.

The President of Media Specialists Association, and CEO of Mediabrands Malaysia, Mr Bala Pomaleh said,

“In the ever-evolving world of media, we reimagine tomorrow by crafting today’s innovations into tomorrow’s classics. This awards season has shown us work that reflects new discoveries, courage, and a relentless pursuit for what’s next, reminding us that in this dynamic industry, the only constant is our ability to innovate, adapt, and inspire.”

The Organizing Chairman and Chief Judge of the MSA Awards 2023 and the Festival of Media, who is also the CEO and co-founder of Ampersand Advisory, Mr Sandeep Joseph, said, “The Festival of Media is a historic first, built around the theme of “Reimagine Tomorrow” and I’m delighted that we can make this dream a reality in such a short span of time.

The quality of the talks and panels was exceptional, with speakers from around the world and the best of Malaysia. The Media Specialists Association deliberately kept the Festival of Media free of charge, to spread awareness about the media industry.

Moreover, the Festival of Media and the Awards night are sustainable events, with carbon footprint being calculated and offset. We want to lead the change we want to see. I would also like to thank the Co-organizing Chairpersons Sheila Shanmugam, CEO Mindshare Group Malaysia and Wong PiYee, Head of Media of Publicis One, for all their hard work to make the day a spectacular success.”

Over 60 judges, 6 moderators, 130+ presenters and key sponsors were involved as the industry came together to decide the winners in 17 best use of media categories and 5 people and talent categories.

Judges included CMOs and senior marketers of leading telcos, MNCs and GLCs of Malaysia, including Maxis, CelcomDigi, U Mobile, MITI, Hong Leong Bank, Etika, Sime Darby Property, PETRONAS, Malaysia Airlines, Time, Telekom, Oppo, Paynet, Grab and more.