Trends from Malaysian best marketing campaigns show what marketers are focusing on

It was the biggest APPIES Malaysia Marketing Festival held so far. While the number of entries increased by 10%, the shortlist was smaller and the campaigns went through a rigorous judging process.
The final winners truly deserved their victories as these awards were clearly mentally and physically challenging. As is the practice every year, only 10 Gold, 6 Silver and 1 Best Presenter trophies were given out. With a stellar judging panel comprising of top marketers and inspiring speakers the two-day festival was truly focused on the campaigns and how they excelled.
All presenters followed an interactive ‘4-6-10’ format. This meant that each of the 44 marketing campaigns selected began with a 4-minute video summarising the campaign, followed by a live 6-minute exposition of the campaign’s key highlights by the brand’s marketers and campaign creators.
After this, came the 10-minute Q&A session where the presenters fielded questions about their campaigns from the judges and audience members. Audience members could be seen furiously scribbling onto their notepads and exchanging opinions with every campaign that was presented on stage. And true to the APPIES concept of “Sharing is Learning”, the audience shuttled between presentation halls following case study presentations that interested them the most.

Students from Saito, INTI and UPSI were invited to learn from the presentations too, as nowhere in Malaysia was there an opportunity to learn from the best local marketing case studies and have them presented and explained in person. This year’s Gold winners were Naga DDB Tribal for Wonda Coffee and KFC, MullenLowe for Domino’s; Dentsu LHS for Wonda Coffee Day; Astro for Nivea, Entropia for Nippon and Grab, M&C Saatchi for Malaysia Airlines, Astro for Nivea, and APD for Anchor Twist.
Astro’s Kazmal Kamal won Best Presenter for the way he articulated his case on “Turn Nivea into a K-drama star!”.

Professor Harmandar Singh, APPIES Malaysia President & Regional Publisher of MARKETING said, “A total of 10 Gold, 6 Silver and 1 Best Presenter trophies were awarded from the 44 shortlisted campaigns presented over two days.”
Chief Judge Adam Wee Abdullah, Group CMO of CIMB Banking Group reiterated, “Clarity in the Objective statement is fundamental. If this is not clear, the solutions will not be clear as well. It is also important to juxtapose the expected outcome against the Objective statement so you can gauge if the strategies are aligned. It’s a bit like looking through the scope of a sniper’s rifle.”
“APPIES Malaysia is a hotbed of local ideas and campaigns that try to bring their brands to another level, with clear challenges and objectives in mind, and clear outcomes. Not creatives for just creative sake only,” said Lim Imun, General Manager, Marketing of MunchWorld Marketing Sdn Bhd, one of the judges at APPIES Malaysia 2018.
“A good avenue for marketers and agency partners to present their work ‘in the flesh to like-minded professionals, to gain insights and viewpoints on their campaigns,” added Lim.
Here is the winners table by metal tally: