HTC named digital brand of the year at Pixel's Digital Advertising Awards

Two of HTC's campaigns were also recognised that night. The brand's work with creative agency Kimlo Workshop and media agency Solo Digit promoting the HTC Desire HD phone won the title of Best Display Advertising. The 'HTC brought to you by HTC Sense' campaign by Kimlo Workshop and media agency Maxus also took home the title of Best Integrated campaign.

The awards were organised by advertising network Pixel Media with the support of HK2A (Hong Kong Advertisers Association). They recognise the best campaigns that ran on Pixel Media websites or the Adsfactor Network between July 2010 and July 2011.

"There is a need to push digital advertising to greater prominence and we hope these awards, which recognise the hard work and creativity that goes into these campaigns, will help to do so," Pixel Media CEO Kevin Huang told Campaign on the awards night. 

Huang added that he hopes to make the awards an annual event on Hong Kong's calendar.

Digital advertising is a strong priority for HTC, said country manager Terry Chung. "Every year the percentage of our budget invested in digital advertising grows. This year it's almost equal to the amount we spend on traditional advertising," said Chung. "This year, the amount spent on digital for us is almost double that of last year."

While the mobile phone manufacturer has a following among working smartphone users, it is striving to relate with the younger generation. "Digital advertising resonates with the youth and has really supported sales which have enjoyed a triple-digit growth over the past year," said Chung.

Other campaigns awarded that night were:
Best Standard Creative: Adidas Running Climacool (Agency - Carat Media)
Best Rich Media Creative: Unileer Rexona Police (Agencies - Razorfish, Phd)
Best Campaign Website: HKTB HK Summer Spectacular (Agency - Agenda)
Best Mobile Solution: HSBC Credit Card Leisure Guide Sponsorship (Agency - Mindshare HK)
Best Ad Network Campaign: IBM Storwize v7000 (Agency - neo@Ogilvy)
Best Creative Use of Media: Nokia Apps Competition (Agency - Carat Media)

The awards also recognised 'digital rising stars' in an effort to promote talent in the industry, said Huang. The winners of the award this year were Scott Chan and Queenie Chung of GroupM, and Stella Lei of Starcom HK.

Eligible entries were judged on creativity and innovation, execution and results by a panel of 12 judges including Raymond Ho, chairman of HK2A, and agency leaders from Carat Media, GroupM, OMD, Ogilvy, Agenda, Maxus, Starcom, neo@Ogilvy, ZenithOptimedia and Universal McCann.