Few win at HK4As' first media show

<P>HONG KONG: No best of best and only two golds were handed out in the Hong Kong 4As' inaugural awards saluting excellence in media, reflecting the city's largely conventional approach to how media can be used, according to the award judges. </P> <P><BR>"They (media campaigns) were still well thought-out strategies with good execution, but there were not many extraordinary ideas," said Carat Hong Kong MD Stewart Li, a member of the judging panel. Media use remained largely conventional, with few examples of different channels working well together, he added.</P> <P><BR>There were exceptions, in particular the two golds, Li said. ZenithOptimedia's 'Complete whitening' work for Olay, which took gold in the outdoor category, demonstrated a "truly creative" use of media to showcase the product benefits. ZenithOptimedia set up greenhouses at bus stops and in the city's subway rail system to illustrate Olay's protective properties. </P> <P><BR>OMD's university promotion work for eBay, which took gold in smartest media use in a budget campaign, worked across a range of unconventional touchpoints, such as distributing information about eBay on sandpaper rolled up and tied with ribbon to mimic certificates. In Cantonese, the word for certificate is similar to the word for sandpaper.</P> <P><BR>A further four silvers, eight bronzes and 20 merits were awarded for campaigns. The 4As also recognised talent, with silvers going to Caroline Chan from OMD as best media planner and to Commercial Broadcasting's Anna Chu and Hong Kong Cable Enterprises' Timothy Yuen as best media sales persons.</P>