Judges speak as Awards night nears

AOTY   BABA'S   PFIZER MALAYSIA

Malaysia - As we draw closer to Advertising + Marketing's Agency of the Year 2012, anticipation and expectations run high as this year's all client-marketer jury awaits the final submissions of all entrants.

This year Agency of the Year boasts an esteemed panel of client-marketers from food and beverage to telecommunications, automotive, banking and FMCG.

Judges include Raymond Tan, BMW Malaysia's head of marketing, Sulin Lau, head of marketing services at DiGi, Chan Sheow Vern, communications channel manager at Unilever Malaysia, Soo Woon Yee, marketing director at Johnson & Johnson Malaysia and Khairul Syahar, advertising and promotions head at Malaysia Airlines.

Noor Yong Azwar Kamarudin, director of public affairs of Pfizer Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei and an Agency of the Year judge told A+M, said she was confident of more fresh, young and appealing ad  campaigns.

"I'm also looking forward to seeing smaller, more independent agencies shine this year," she said.

"The economy has grown in strength and this is evident in the number of creative advertising campaigns we've been seeing, especially since the second half of last year.

"Additionally, we've seen a number of agencies expand, especially in digital, so I hope to see more submissions this year."

Baba Products' head of advertising and promotions Claudian Navin Stanislaus (pictured), who will be judging the MARKies, echoes the same sentiment.

"I'm looking at campaigns that are actually effective, rather than shock and awe. Something that has a practical approach and has some result," Stanislaus said.

"I've seen a lot of interesting things happen last year and this year.  So, I'm very excited to be a part of the AOTY 2012," he added.

The submission deadline for both the Agency of the Year and the MARKies has been extended to this Friday, 20 April. For more details on the Agency of the Year Awards, visit the official site.

________________________________________________________________________________________

Follow us @Marketingeds on Twitter for breaking stories throughout the day.

Have something to say? Comment on our Facebook page or contact the writer at editor@marketing-interactive.com.