UM Malaysia celebrates big wins at MMA 2012

Contributing to its third consecutive Agency of the Year nod, UM Malaysia won five gold, five silver and three bronze (30 points).

“We are very excited to be awarded Agency of the Year for the third time in a row," said Prashant Kumar, president at IPG Mediabrands for World Markets Asia. "As industry leaders on innovation, we feel responsible for continuing to break new grounds and raise the game for our clients and for our talent.”

Mindshare Malaysia came second with two gold, five silver and three bronze (19 points); while Zenith Malaysia followed with three gold, two silver and two bronze (18 points).

Advertiser of the Year, meanwhile, went to Dutch Lady Milk Industries.

“Competition is certainly getting tougher as the bar is raised every year,” Ranganathan Somanathan, president of Media Specialists Association (MSA), said. “We are very proud to honour and recognise the excellent work and achievements within the media industry.”

Organised by MSA, the awards is now in its eighth year and recognises strategic brilliance, innovation and outstanding results of media campaigns within the industry in Malaysia.

With 342 entries across 14 categories, the entries were judged based on three criteria, namely solutions (insights/ideas), executions and results.

The jury panel was represented by a diverse group of 33 individuals, including the members of MSA and their clients, Malaysian Advertisers Association (MAA), Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia (4As), Malaysian Digital Association (MDA) and sponsors of the MMA 2012.

“We are also pleased to see that the response to the two new categories, social media and activation/events, that we have added to the awards this year was above average,” Andy Miller, organising chairman of MMA 2012, said.