Nine-year winning streak
THE One Academy students won the Kancil Awards Student Category for nine consecutive years. The revamped competition may be more difficult and have a shorter deadline but these minor setbacks did not stop the students from clinching the Bronze and Merit Award. The One Academy is, in fact, the only college that has made it to the finals of the Kancil Awards this year.
For the Kancil Awards, all students were given a brief to come up with a concept to promote Asia through AirAsia in 24 days. Chiew Yen Ming (Lucas), Daniel Ng Tien Poh, Sheila Jessica, Wong Wuii Tsing and Wong Ze Bin responded to the challenge with a unique concept that was hard to look away from. With the challenging economic climate looming, Chiew and his teammates created a relevant advertising campaign that could be the heart’s cry of avid travellers – “Why Go Extreme to Save Money on Travel?”
Pushing the boundaries of the norm, the team challenged the notion derived from this question – how far would any of us go to save on our travelling expenditure? The idea mushroomed to a main concept – extremism, as demonstrated through various concept boards and a YouTube viral video of a man who packed his girlfriend in a compact suitcase and tried to smuggle her through the airport but finally got caught. The luggage was meticulously modified to allow viewers a glimpse of what is inside.
The uniqueness of the main storyline along with its other accompanying mini stories stole the hearts of the judges – AirAsia creative director Prem Kumar Vasudevan, BBDO Malaysia creative director Lee Tak Shune, Leo Burnett Malaysia creative group head Barry Victor, Grey Group Malaysia group head (Art) Heng Thang Wei and Forefront International SB senior creative director Jack Tan.
“We believe that to win, we must be daring and do things others don’t dare to do. While having ideas and concepts are fundamentals in producing an interesting campaign, if you don’t take that leap of faith, nothing will happen,” said Chiew, who, on behalf of his group members, thanked their dedicated lecturers Kins Lee and Henry Lee for their guidance.
Merit Award winner Lee Xin Yi and her teammates – Khor Eng Giap, Adrian Wei Kit, Tee Jin Ting and Loh Zi Jian – made up the other team which made The One Academy proud. With their campaign revolving around leaping bunnies, their concept is centralised on travel hopping around Asia.
“We are proud that despite all the challenges our students faced this year as the turf of the Kancil Awards has changed, making it more difficult for us to win and yet, our students still come up top this year. It is through the most trying times that our education methods prevail and we are proud to say that the results we’ve reaped so far has been consistent with our belief and our teaching system,” says The One Academy founder and principal Tatsun Hoi.
As one of the leading creative institutions in the country, The One Academy continues to nurture its students passionately through its “Masters Train Masters” coaching philosophy, which has been practised for the past 25 years by providing diploma and degree courses, namely Advertising and Graphic Design, Interior Architecture and Design, Digital Animation with Game Development, Multimedia Design with Digital Media and Interactive Design, Illustration, Movie and Game Art, Visual Effects in Film and Game, Fine Arts and ESMOD Fashion Design and Pattern Making.
■ For further queries, call The One Academy at 03-5637 5510, e-mail enquiry@toa.edu.my or log on to www.toa.edu.my.