The journey to fame is never easy. And when it comes to The APPIES Marketing Campaigns Awards the road to fame is lined with experiences never seen in any awards show.

It is not just about entering your submission and be done with it. APPIES is like an exam of sorts. That’s why each winner is truly deserving, because they have gone through robust preparation, displayed professional presentation techniques and stimulated an enriching discourse among judges and audience.

At APPIES, you are summoned to state your case on stage and argue it to convince the judges in person.

And the dynamic variety of judging talent makes it even more challenging. It is a test of marketing acumen and perseverance.

For the delegates, the experience is like no other. Each case study is unique and every presentation a precious dive into marketing insights.

It is all about the real world of marketing as it is: latest work, latest results, delivered in byte-sized Ted-Talk style presentations.

And delegates get to ask questions!

APPIES Asia-Pacific winners

This is the first time APPIES APAC is hosted and run in Malaysia. And we offered a bountiful eligibility period of two years for submissions (2020-2022) since this was a comeback year for APPIES APAC.

With 61 submissions, from 7 countries across the region (including Malaysia), it is the ultimate competition to reward brave marketing campaigns and the people behind them.

Our judges were stellar and they spent one whole Saturday, July 16, to seek out excellence.

All sessions were conducted virtually, and 500 viewers tuned in to watch the same unique APPIES format of Live presentations.

Entries came in from Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore…

Our high-powered judges were outstanding…

Santharuban T. Sundaram – CEO, Etika Holdings and also Malaysia CMO of the Year.

Dhiren Amin – Chief Marketing Officer, NTUC Income, Singapore. And Head of Jury APAC Effie Awards 2022.

Akira Mitsumasu – VP Global Marketing Japan Airlines, Japan. And Head of Jury APAC Effie Awards 2022.

Stephen Molloy – Senior Product Designer ASX, Australia and best selling author of Appvertising – How Apps are Changing the World.

Pan Huiyan – Regional Marketing Lead, Shopee.

Saurabh Singhal – Group Head of Marketing, Corporate, SME and Transaction banking, DBS Singapore.

Tommy Del Mar – Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Asahi Beverages Philippines (ABP).

Shiyan Jayaweera – AVP & Head of Marketing, National Development Bank PLC, Sri Lanka.

Eugene Lee – Regional CMO (Asia) McDonald’s and also Malaysia CMO of the Year.

Countdown to Awards Night

On August 12, the APPIES Malaysia & Asia-Pacific Awards Night will be held at the Eastin Hotel. All winners will discover what they won then.

There are 9 Gold, 7 Silver, 9 Bronze and 7 Merit winners for Malaysia.

For APAC, we have 11 Gold, 4 Silver and 9 Bronze.

We will also unveil the Special Category winners in both competitions (no submissions required):

–    Best Presenters of the Year (under 30, and 30+)

–    Ad Agency of the Year

–    Media Agency of the Year

–    Marketer of the Year

A special thanks goes out to the APPIES Dream Team and the Head of Jury & Advisor Adam Wee Abdullah, Chief Marketing Officer of Manulife Insurance Berhad. And to our partners, media friends and all the judges for Malaysia and APAC. Also our special invited stage speakers, all of whom have been accoladed as Malaysia CMO of the Year over the years, our very own league of champions: Santharuban T. Sundaram, Datuk Lai Shu Wei, Sutapa Bhattacharya and Melati Abdul Hai.

Finally, all this would have not been possible without the support of APPIES Principal, the Association of Advertising & Marketing Singapore, and its President Ms Goh Shu Fen, Co-Founder & Principal – R3 Worldwide, and the ever amazing May Loong.

This was first published in MARKETING WEEKENDER Issue 337