YouTube Ad Awards Malaysia awards the most interesting digital-first creatives

YouTube Ad Awards was hosted last night where some of the best digital creatives competed to reign the best titles in 10 different categories. The awards ceremony, which is the second time hosted in Malaysia, honored brands and agencies, along with creators that requires efforts beyond just marketing, but rather producing content that is capable of capturing early attention and sustaining it throughout.

The brand that reigned supreme at the end of the night was Maxis, claiming the Ad of the Year award for its Buatan Malaysia entry which also won the award for Top Ad in the Tech & Telco category. The 2017 Merdeka Day (independence day) short film urged viewers to get to know Malaysia much like we like to know about foreign countries as holiday destination, and discover the wonders it has to offer. Close to 4 minutes, it charmed the judges with its heartwarming story and message and gained the spot it totally deserved.

Apart from that, seven other brands and agencies were honored:

• Visa’s Paywave Magic Beep – Top Ad in Finance
• Cathay Pacific’s The Sounds of Travelling Well – Top Ad in Travel
• Innisfree Malaysia’s #Multimasking Challenge – Best Bumper Ad
• 11street’s Shop the world at 11street music video – Best 5 seconds intro
• Nivea’s #YAKINBROMOMEN – Top Ad in Consumer Packaged Goods
• KFC Bucket Session – Best Long Form Ad
• McDonald’s My Spicy Love – Best Multi-video category & Top Ad in Retail & Restaurant

There was also an interesting stage performance by Nur Amira Syahira who is a 14 years old Malaysian percussionist.

Additionally, Joanna Soh was also honored with the YouTube Gold Play button in recognition of her subscriber base climbing past the 1 million mark this year. Three other YouTube creators who broke the 100K subscribers were also awarded the Silver YouTube Play button award; Aisha Liyana, THR Gegar, Danny_AhBoy.

Judges and Panels of the YouTube Awards were from independent party to keep things neutral:

• Ahmad Izham Omar, Chief Executive Officer of Primeworks Studio
• Arved Nikolaus Von Zur Muehlen, Chief Commercial Officer, Malaysia Airlines
• Eugene Chan, Director of Communications and Marketing Excellence for Nestle Malaysia
• Fred Chong, Chief Executive Officer, WebTVAsia
• Gigi Lee, Chief Creative Officer, TBWA Group Malaysia

This year, YouTube also celebrated new and rising stars that have the capabilities to make it to Tier-1 YouTubers in the future:

Pokdepinion: Did you know? Gangnam Style took 7 years to reach 3 billion visitors, Katy Perry took 5 years to reach the same number of viewers, Wiz Khalifa broke the record with 3 years, but Despacito made it within 11 months!