Record number of entries for 2012 EFFIE Awards

The 2012 EFFIE Awards have set a new record high with 78 entries this year, beating all previous records of the EFFIE history in the Hong Kong chapter of the International EFFIE Awards, originating from New York. The 28 medals selected will be awarded on 31 May, 2012.

The EFFIE Awards are a celebration of creative and effective advertising that reinforces teamwork between agency, client and researchers. According to Iris Lo, Chairlady of the 2012 EFFIE Committee, “EFFIE Awards is a great opportunity to equip yourself for embracing the new technologies in to a relentless changing advertising world. Also, the essentials in effectiveness campaign are not only in the creativity, they also need to balance in usages of new technology and creativity without losing human touch. We are proud of the result this year and it’s a most important recognition for our effort to create a most significant marketing effectiveness award in town.”

The high quality works has proven to be a challenging task for the jury members. The judging panel included Wander Meijer, Global Head International Research of TNS, who was also entrusted as the Jury Chairman. The Judging panel also included Mark Liversidge, Chief Marketing Officer of CSL, Diane Chiu, Vice President  & Chief Marketing Officer of McDonald’s Restaurants (HK), Melanie Lee, Assistant Professor of HKU Space, Cynthia Lau, Founder of Viewfinder Marketing, Susan Stevenson, Chief Executive Officer of Cigna Worldwide Life Insurance & Eric Jumbert, Advertising & Media Director of Colgate Palmolive.

As one of the Judges, Mark Liversidge commented that he was “impressed by the standard of this year’s entries which had an emphasis on effectiveness. More and more entries showcased achievements that delivered business goals based on hard targets, rather than just simply on the imaginative creative”. Diane Chiu also added that “There is a profound shift from ‘digital marketing’ to ‘marketing in a digital world’. This transformation has fostered better integration of creative, media and PR ideas from the entries I have seen this year. As a marketer, it’s no better time to be riding the crest of the technological wave along with our consumers, embedding creativity and technology into our customer engagement plans.”