FOCUS: MEDIA.COM AWARDS - Underlying potential of A-P cyber advertising revealed

Although the region's Internet world is still in its infancy, the first MEDIA-organised Media.com Awards highlighted the fact that the quality of some of Asia's Websites and their accompanying advertising campaigns are of a high class. But while many were honoured for strong use of strategic and creative Web concepts, relevant content and appropriate use of technology together with incisive consumer insights, the top accolades were reserved for an exclusive few, as they should be. Unlike other MEDIA awards, the Media.com Awards sported two 'Best of the Best' prizes: Best Site and Best Interactive Campaign, which were won by Izzue.com and Thompson Connect respectively. The judges were full of praise for most of the work they saw, although they stressed that there was room for improvement. One even said the work was on a par with the West. (For a list of other award winners and a summary of the comments from some of the judges, please see the Media.comawards 2000 supplement accompanying this issue). Representing the cream of the Internet business and advertising circle in Asia-Pacific, nearly 400 people attended the awards presentation night at the JW Marriott in Hong Kong. Apart from the awards, there was a great deal of fun to be had - for one, there was the crowning of the cyber king and the cyber queen as determined by MEDIA, with the help of the audience. Many partygoers turned up in fancy and glitzy costumes, hoping to be the one to be crowned but as with the main event, there could only be two winners. (Please see Off the Vine). The revelry also extended to people dancing to the music of a live band following the presentation. Although the Media.com Awards was the first of its kind, it clearly sets the stage for better work to be achieved by dotcoms and interactive agencies over the years to win not only awards but to wage effective marketing and branding campaigns to stay alive in a virtual world which is fast becoming brutally competitive and complex. The awards will, therefore, be seen as a benchmark from which future campaigns will be measured. The Media.com Awards was sponsored by 24/7 Media, AdMomentum, AdSociety, CASH on-line, DoubleClick Asia, Engage Asia, iLux Asia Holdings, Real Media, Revolution and Yahoo! Media partners were Hong Kong iMail and Sing Tao Daily.

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