Malaysia welcomes the Efiie Awards with the inaugural winners to be announced in October this year!
FOR the first time in Malaysia, the Effie Awards will be held this year to recognise the year’s most effective marketing communications campaigns. Call for entries to this inaugural competition is now open to all advertisers and all the various types of communication agencies.
The Awards is jointly supported and organised by the Malaysian Advertisers Association (MAA), Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia (4As) and Media Specialists Association (MSA).
Dr Sattar Khan is the Chief Judge of Malaysia Effie Awards 2008 and is one of Asia-Pacific’s top brand strategists. He has held several senior positions in multinational agencies, in strategic thinking and client management. Additionally, he has been the Chief Judge of the Singapore Effie Awards for the last two years and is the Chairman of the Effie Asia-Pacific Awards 2009.
The Effie Awards is the true benchmark to measure the effectiveness of marketing communication ideas through ROI. Since its launch 40 years ago, agencies and advertisers have recognised the Effie as the pre-eminent award in the communications industry.
The New York American Marketing Association started the Effie Awards in the US in 1968, and it has been franchised in Singapore, France and Germany.
“Winning an Effie award instantly lets people know that instead of merely claiming that your communication campaign has worked, you have proven that fact to knowledgeable external judges from the marketing community,” Dr Sattar said at a recent talk in KL titled How to Win Effie Awards.
“An Effie award makes you more desirable to your business prospects because it is a testimony to your talent for translating intangible ideas into tangible results. It is not possible to win an Effie if you do not have the results but even with superb results, it’s easy to lose if you have not presented your case clearly and compellingly,” he added.
The awards will be held on October 17 and the top three winners of the awards would be shortlisted for the Asia Pacific Effie Awards to be held next year.
Marketing also spoke to V Kanesan, who is the Organising Chairman of the Effies this year…
This is a first for Malaysia…
VK: Yes, Effie winners represent client and agency teams who tackled a marketplace challenge with a big idea and knew exactly how to communicate their message to their customer. Since 1968, winning an Effie has become a global symbol of achievement. Today, Effie celebrates effectiveness worldwide with the Global Effie, the Euro Effie and more than 30 national Effie programs.
How is the scoring done?
VK: The Effie competition is about effectiveness. How did the various marketing elements – strategy, creative, media, research – work together to achieve great results? Judges are asked to evaluate a campaign’s effectiveness using the following scoring system:
- 70% of an entrant’s campaign, equally weighted: Strategic Challenge, Idea and Bringing the Idea to Life.
- 30% of an entrant’s campaign score is based on Results.
The judges’ scores determine which campaigns are to be awarded a gold, silver or bronze Effie trophy. Each winning level Gold, Silver, Bronze has a minimum score required in order for a finalist to be eligible for an award. Effie Trophies are awarded in each category at the discretion of the judges. It is possible that a category may produce one, two, three or four winners of any level or perhaps no winners at all. There are 17 categories in total.
How does one make sure the entry is completed correctly?
VK: We recommend that you review the entry guidelines packet and the cases of past winners that are published online in the Winners Showcase. Go to www.malaysiaeffie.com for details.
Since this is Malaysia’s first year, tell us about last year’s Global Effie winner…
VK: Apple’s ‘Get a Mac?’ was named most successful marketing campaign last year. Created by Media Arts Lab/TBWA, it was awarded the Grand Effie at the 39th Annual Effie Awards gala. The Effie Awards honour the most significant achievements in the business of marketing communications: ideas that work. Results from the ‘Get a Mac?’ campaign included market share growth of 42%, record sales and cultural influence. To be eligible to enter the Global Effies, a campaign must have run in four or more countries worldwide and two or more regions of the world.
In what media must my campaign run to be eligible?
VK: The Effies recognise any and all forms of consumer engagement that contribute to a brand’s success. Any marketing medium is eligible for an Effie, as long as results are proven, including Print, TV, Radio, Outdoor, Internet, Guerrilla, Digital, Package Design, Events, Street Teams, PR, Paid or Unpaid Media.
When will the winner know the results?
VK: All entrants will be notified by late September 2008 if their campaign will receive an Effie Award. The trophies themselves – Gold, Silver, Bronze – will be awarded at the Malaysia Effie Awards Ceremony in October.
Winning an Effie is about meeting a challenge and succeeding. Campaigns must successfully combine all the disciplines that enter into a marketing program: planning, market research, media, creative and account management. They must demonstrate a partnership between agency and client in the creation, management and building of a brand.
ADOI PUBLISHER GIVES RM80,000 SPONSORSHIP FOR INAUGURAL MALAYSIAN EFFIE AWARDS!
Launches new title as Official Magazine for the Malaysian Effies…
Sledgehammer Communications, the publishers of Malaysia’s leading advertising and media magazine ADOI, have committed to support the first ever Malaysia Effies, globally known as the premier Marketing Effectiveness awards.
“We believe the Effies is the definitive award for marketing and communications excellence because it has a measurable value to it. And since this is a joint effort by all three major associations of our industry, we have decided to throw our full support behind this historic initiative,” said Harmandar Singh (also known as Ham), Regional CEO/Editor for ADOI magazine.
Organising Chairman of the Malaysian Effies Mr V Kanesan in a statement explained, “We are most heartened by this generous sponsorship. Ham has done much for our industry, and on behalf of the three associations, I’d like to thank him again for this latest commitment and we are honoured by his gesture.”
Ham added, “Our sponsorship will include advertising, promotional and publicity support, both offline and online; before, during and after the event. And we have launched a new magazine called Marketing, which is perfect for this occasion and will be the Official Magazine for the Malaysian Effies.”
“The time has come for accountable marketing effectiveness, and the Effies will deliver that benchmark in Malaysia soon!” V Kanesan, Organising Chairman, Malaysia Effie Awards 2008