ROARING like never before, Malaysia charged ahead to leave the rest of Asia dazed in its wake with a fierce haul of 5 Gold 3 Silver and 3 Bronze Cannes Lions this year. For the first time in 53 years, Malaysia beat powerhouse nations like Japan, Thailand, China, Singapore and India to lead the field as the No. 1 Creative Nation across Asia! Our stars - Tan Kien Eng, Edmund Choe, Edwin Leong, Adrian Miller, Ted Lim, Huang Ean Hwa, Lee Szu-Hung, Steve Hough and their eager cohorts from award-wining agencies ARC Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi, JWT, Lowe & Partners, McCann-Erickson and Naga DDB.
NOTABLE WINS BY AGENCY
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JWT Interface
Bates Lowe & Partners
Arc Worldwide Naga DDB
BBDO Saatchi & Saatchi
TBWA Draft FCB
McCann Erickson M&C Saatchi
Growing Centre of Creative Excellence
Much can also be said about Malaysia’s world-class production values for TVCs. In fact, a few years ago, Malaysia won Best for Production Design at AdFest for Passion Pictures work on Malaysia Airlines. We have in our stable production shops like Passion, Pegasus, Carrot, PRS, Barney, Chilli Pepper, Filmpoint, Planet, Regional Films, Applebox, Axis, Black & White Films, A Plus and a host of new comers who are just raring to go. Jobs come from various markets: China, Philippines, India, the Middle East and even Korea (as in the case of A Plus). We also play a hub role for regional and international productions, most recently being the support for a worldwide shoot for global brands VISA and Shell.
One Malaysian spot, Toyota VIOS shot by Passion also made it as the first Malaysian TVC to win a Cannes Lion last year!
Malaysia’s Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC), a take on Silicon Valley, encourages free flow of ideas and convergence of technologies in the content age. Tax-free incentives, special-status permits for foreign talent and a government-supported industry initiative have all come forward to push Malaysia onto the world stage of creativity.
“Malaysian post production facilities are capable of producing work of international standards and have clientele from around the globe,” says Geoff Millichamp, President of POSTAM (Post-Production Association of Malaysia) who is very upbeat about the post-pro scene in Malaysia.
On the post production side the active players are Mfx, VHQ, APV, Twisted, Mirage, BaseCamp, and Liquid.
Geoff, who also runs post-house Mfx says, “In the last 12 months, more efforts by the government have been evident to promote content – specifically animation, games and long form content.”
The founder of Mfx, Moon Chan, adds with pride, “Mfx is the only Design, Animation & Effects House from Malaysia to be listed in Asia Image’s ‘Leading Asian Post facilities 2006’. This is the second consecutive year Mfx made the list. It’s with good reason it’s listed, as Mfx continues to win awards from all over the world.”
One of Mfx’s projects, Comfort Fabric Conditioner - "Cloth Speak" for Ogilvy & Mather, Mumbai is a finalist in the London International Awards for Computer Animation category. It’s the only entry from an Asian country to make the list and uses the latest in Syflex software to create realistic cloth simulations. The “actors” themselves are pieces of clothing, each with their own characteristics based on famous Bollywood characters. Produced over a number of months, this fully 3D film has had widespread acclaim and success in India.
Mfx’s WWF - Save the Tiger, another project commissioned by Ogilvy One Worldwide, Mumbai was the also screened at the 2006 Hiroshima Animation Festival in July. It was the only television commercial chosen from a truly international field of animation films, recognized for its creativity and animation skills.
Even universities and colleges specialising in marketing communications and its inherent technologies have helped springboard this creative thrust. IAA-backed schools like Institute of Advertising Communication Training (co-owned and run by the 4As and 2As), The One Academy, Limkokwing University (which now has a campus in London!), a Parsons Design institute and more, have delivered students capable of winning international advertising competitions for renowned brands over the years. Real work for eal clients. In fact, a Malaysian Student also got invited to D&AD in London this year to receive his accolade!
Advertisers in Malaysia has long known everything was available at their doorstep – from world-class creativity, cutting-edge strategies to best practice production values. Client like DHL, UPS, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble have developed, created and shot their work here in Malaysia. Unilever, for example, produce much of their ice-cream work out of Malaysia. What springs to mind immediately is Wall’s Selection TVC campaign titled "Macarena" and "Moo Everywhere" for Moo Sandwich, done by McCann Erickson Malaysia.
SOME HIGHLIGHTS:
McCann Erickson won every single major international award - Clio, Cannes, D&AD, London International Awards, One Show, Australasian Writers and Art Directors Association, AdFest, Asian Advertising Awards and Young Guns - as well as being rated in the Gunn Report’s top 20 for the most creative advertisement.
Y&R won London International Advertising Awards (nine awards), Cannes Lions (four awards), D&AD Global Awards (two awards), One Show (one award), Asian Advertising Awards (three awards), and Asia Pacific Advertising Awards (five awards). This year, Y&R Malaysia performed better than other regional offices, emerging as the best Y&R agency in Asia. The Malaysian agency also ranked just behind Y&R Chicago in terms of international awards, outdistancing Y&R offices in Milan, Mumbai, Frankfurt, Buenos Aires, and Beijing.
Lowe & Partners’ international award-winning print ad for the Land Rover Owners Club, called “Directions”, has been named the fourth most awarded print ad in the world for 2006, according to the recently released Gunn Report on global creative standards. It is the first time a Malaysian print ad has appeared in the modern Creative Top Ten worldwide rankings and follows unprecedented exposure for Lowe Malaysia, with “Directions” being awarded a Gold Lion at the Cannes International Advertising Festival, Silver at the Clio, Gold and Silver at the Asian Advertising Awards and two Silvers at Malaysia’s own Kancil Awards.
