Honoring marketing distinction in the post-Covid era

The recovery from the pandemic not only brings physical interactions back to marketing campaigns, but also witnesses breakthroughs related to the latest technological advance and topics of concern in the community. Distinguished examples, as well as the companies and individuals behind them, are recognized in the 2023 HKMA / ViuTV & Now TV Awards for Marketing Excellence, a coveted accolade that has been dubbed ‘the Oscars’ of the marketing profession.

The 2023 HKMA / ViuTV & Now TV Awards for Marketing Excellence, organized by The Hong Kong Management Association and sponsored by ViuTV and Now TV, marks its 38th edition this year with results often cited as the benchmark of the industry.

In reviewing this year’s entries, SK Cheong, Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Award, observes: “Apart from the growth of offline elements, many entries this year were launched out of public interest or concerns, and characterized by the application of cutting-edge technologies.”

Of the ten finalists, ”Yayoi Kusama: 1945 to Now” organized by M+, West Kowloon Cultural District stood out as one of the campaigns designed for non-profit purpose this year.

The winning of such non-business campaigns reflects the means incredible efforts behind to win over the public attention, highlights Cheong.

 “HSBC Mobile Banking presents: DuoVerse” was also an outstanding success. As a 158-year-old British bank, HSBC refreshed its brand image to Gen Z by using the metaverse -- to organize an unprecedented music show seamlessly blending the physical and virtual realms.

In another case,  AXA Hong Kong and Macau launched “Better protection, better healthcare”, a campaign applied artificial intelligence to create high relevancy with target segment, and lead them gradually down the purchasing funnel.

The theme of environmental, social and governance (ESG) featured in two of this year’s finalists, including  “McDonald’s x Baby Shark - Plastic Reduction Campaign” about reducing plastic consumption, and a large-scale crowd-donation platform “Share for Good” developed by New World Development to help people in need amidst difficult times during COVID-19 pandemic.

Besides, in order to stay aligned with the rapidly evolving business landscape, several special awards have been introduced this year, “Chow Tai Fook Excellence in Use of Data and Technology”, “Manulife Excellence in Influencer Marketing”, Excellence in Agility and Normalcy Resumption” and “Excellence in Segment Marketing”, to recognize well-performed projects in specific areas that that have gained significant attention from businesses.

The Award also sees a newly formed committee in Board of Examiners, the Chief Marketing Officer Committee, along with the Marketing Awards Organizing Committee and the Marketing Management Committee to diversify the judging perspectives.

Looking at the many creative breakthroughs, Cheong believes marketers cannot afford to overlook the benefits of applying advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data, which will help companies zero in on their target customers, though the technological development also leads to a more competitive market.

Therefore, it is of paramount importance for companies to build a brand, the unchanged core of business irrespective of changes in the market, Cheong emphasizes.

A tip Cheong offers to marketing professionals is to exploit data. For example, WeLend Limited, also one of the finalists, its campaign “When WeLend A.I. Technology and Humanity Meet for Empowering ‘Financial Sustainability’” optimized its lending solutions by analyzing the collected data and finding the correlation between default rate and the time to borrow.

For the past 38 years, the Award has been widely recognized among marketing professionals due to the rigorous and transparent judging. To maintain its supreme status in the industry, Cheong stresses that the Organizing Committee will further fine-tune the processes, including helping contestants to better express themselves in a fair and equitable manner.