Universal McCann Malaysia scores Gold & Silver at the 2023 Festival of Media APAC

Universal McCann, the media agency under the IPG Mediabrands network, has taken home a coveted Gold and Silver Award at the Festival of Media Asia Pacific (FOMA) Awards 2023.

The agency took home a Gold for ‘Best Use of Social Media’ with foodpanda Malaysia for the campaign ‘Pau-Pau takes emojis to the next level with Malaysia’s first ever Twitter emoji triggers’, and a Silver for ‘Best Partnership’ with KFC for the campaign ‘KFC strikes a nostalgic chord with Burger P. Ramlee’. These were the only wins by a Malaysian agency at this APAC-wide competition.

Audrey Chong, Chief Executive Officer of Universal McCann, said: “We are thrilled, especially as we have been competing amongst the best of the best campaigns in Asia Pacific and are the only agency in Malaysia to have clinched metals. A win like this speaks volumes to the work that has been put in by the agency and client teams alike, and I would like to thank our clients for placing their trust in us, and our team for all their hard work and dedication. Only through trust and collaboration can we keep delivering upon innovative work that will keep pushing the needle of excellence and effectiveness.”

Bernard Chong, Director of Marketing at foodpanda Malaysia, said: “We at foodpanda Malaysia are delighted to have worked together with the team in coming up with a smart, innovative and culturally resonant campaign to boost brand love and connect with our audience amidst stiff competition. The humanisation of interactions and emotions evoked by Pau-Pau was incredible, and we are pleased this message of joy and creativity shone through with the FOMA judges too.”

Chan May Ling, Chief Marketing Officer at KFC, said: “This partnership between the client, agency and media owner is so essential in driving work that goes beyond the conventional, and our delivery on yet another award-winning piece of work for KFC proves this very essence of collaboration. Our ambition is to continue creating more great work together!”

The Festival of Media Awards’ programmes have been celebrating media and marketing excellence for more than 17 years. By amplifying and identifying key insights and benchmarks, they are one of the most lauded awards portfolios on the planet for the media sector. The Festival of Media APAC Awards rewards excellence across the media and marketing sector throughout APAC and is now in its 14th year.

For more information about the Festival of Media, click here. Check out the full list of winners here.