KitKat Japan wins top prize at AME awards

<P>ASIA-PACIFIC Nestlé Confect-ionery Japan's KitKat brand has scooped the Platinum award at Media's Asian Marketing Effectiveness (AME) awards for the second year running.</P> <P><br><br><BR>KitKat's 'Breaking all records' campaign also scooped two golds in the Best Idea and Most Effective Use of Branded Content categories. Developed by JWT Japan, the campaign involved the creation of a record label called Breaktown, which released original music tied to the theme of 'break', with three singles becoming top-sellers. Only five gold medals were handed out from 18 categories, along with eight silver, 17 bronze and 13 commendations. </P> <P><br><br>Other gold winners included Coruba Rum's 'Get sponsored by Coruba' in the Best Integrated Marketing category - it also picked up two silvers. Hotai Motors Lexus work 'Relentless pursuit to perfection' also scored gold in the Best Long-term Marketing/Branding Campaign, while Motorola China  won the Most Effective Use of Interactive Marketing -New Media category.</P> <P><br><br><BR>Judges said the general quality of work was impressive, but entries struggled because of a lack of metrics, and insufficient creative focus.</P> <P><br><br><BR> "We saw some interesting work, but most did not have enough information to evaluate effectiveness," said judge Eunice Wong, marketing director, Jardine Restaurant Group. "We (see) creative work and effective work separately, but the most ideal creative solutions should also be effective." </P> <P><BR> </P>