An interview with The Star (Billings) published/posted on 8 April 2017.
Written by Daljit Dhesi/Photo Credit to The Star
WITH the Kancil Awards being a barometer of the country’s creative industry, plans are being initiated to allow the awards to be included in some of the international creative advertising ranking systems.
This will propel the local creative awards to gain recognition in the global arena and to further raise the bar in the creative industry.
For a start, Kancil Awards 2017 creative council chairman Tan Kien Eng tells StarBizWeek that the council is thinking of reaching out to Campaign Brief Asia and may also consider approaching the Gunn Report rankings for the local creative awards to be included in these global rankings. “It’s a matter of time before we see Kancil Awards being included in one of the global ranking systems which will propel the local creative industry to greater heights,” Tan says in an interview.
Malaysian creative work has been gaining recognition among its foreign peers as can be seen with foreign jury members commenting on the high standard of creative and craft among Malaysian agencies. The inclusion of top foreign-based juries in the judging of the Kancil awards is another form of raising the standard and knowledge transfer amongst local and foreign juries.
For this year, three foreign juries are involved in the judging process, he says, noting that there are 564 entries for the annual awards.
The overall views of the foreign juries on the Kancil Awards are encouraging but the only weakness is that the awards is not included in the international ranking system, he says, noting that efforts are being made to resolve this issue.
There are plans to allow the awards to be included in some of the international creative advertising ranking systems.
On another issue, Tan says more local creative agencies should participate in the awards as this will boost the creative industry moving forward.
“Many of them are reluctant to participate and instead are more interested in international awards like Cannes Lion. It’s a sad state of affair as they should support the local creative industry as the Kancil Awards create a platform for friendly competition amongst agencies to elevate the creative standard.
“Through the judging process, the Kancil Forum and Kancil Awards night, it is a great way for local creative agencies to recognise and inspire their internal talents. It is also a great way for local talents to network with creative people from other agencies as well as the foreign juries. In essence the awards act as a fuel to enhance the growth of local talent.
“Furthermore, it is cheaper to participate in the Kancil Awards than Cannes. For instance, a single entry in Cannes can buy 12 entries in the Kancil Awards. Creative directors of agencies should therefore participate in the local award to ensure it is well-received on the home front as this will serve as a platform for it push creativity to the next level,” Tan explains.
As for entry of scam awards, he says a thorough process has been put in place by the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia (4As) to minimise the menace, noting that experienced juries on board and the publishing of all the entries accessible to the general public on www.kancilawards.com could further filter and weed out these non-authentic or made for awards entries. This is not only a first for Kancil Awards but the world, he explains.
The theme for this year’s Kancil Awards – “Evolve Or Die” – celebrates creativity that enhances the relationship between people and brands. The thrust of the theme, is to encourage creative agencies to progress aggressively to remain relevant and also future-facing.
The new and redesigned 2017 Kancil Awards reflect current pressure confronting the creative communications industry, he says, adding that apart from celebrating creativity, they also include the entire creative process and eco-system – from business, data/insights, to creativity, crafting and channels as a means to being inclusive to all parties from clients to strategists, media, and creative.
For the first time in 20 years, Tan says two new categories – business and specialisation will be included to the current craft and channel categories. Besides two new categories, social media-based entries also made its way to the Kancil Awards.
The awards, which was traditionally held in the last quarter of the year, will from this year be a permanent fixture in the early second quarter to enable all works from the previous year to compete.