Higher bar for Kancil Awards
Event will extend creative work to other professions who work closely with agencies
MALAYSIA’S oldest and leading creative awards – The Kancil Awards – is raising the creativity bar to a higher level. It is extending creative work not only to the usual traditional creative agencies but to other professions who work closely with agencies in harnessing creativity.
This move will also help to reduce scam ads or “made-forawards” sort of work which in the past has made its way into the award show.
With this year’s Kancil Awards theme, “Celebrating Humanity in Creativity, Technology, and Culture,” it rightly shows the importance of the need for a fusion of different backgrounds and humanity in raising the creativity level of the ad industry.
Kancil creative council chairman Alvin Teoh says humanity should be at the core of the creative industry.
Furthermore, he says the advertising industry is changing and evolving fast and there is a need to collaborate with other creative disciplines to push the industry to a higher level.
“Irrespective of one’s background, humanity should be at the core of all we do as a creative industry.
“Whether a documentary maker, journalist, a tech person or a content creator, an ad-man or artist, an influencer, a preserver of culture or a strategist, anyone who understands the beauty of the human experience will create the sort of work that lasts.
“Beyond the latest trends and techniques, we’re celebrating the type of work that compels one to think, to feel and to act,” he tells StarBizWeek.
Towards this end, a two-day creative festival (July 26 and 27) will be held in Ruang KL in Jalan Hang Kasturi. The awards show is organised by the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents of Malaysia (4As).
Teoh adds that it is the only festival that brings people from different backgrounds and professions and place them in one place to discover their commonality, in the area of creativity and in the name of humanity.
From this festival, he adds that the public at large, in addition to marketers and ad industry folks, will get a glimpse into the seldom tapped areas of humanity in the hopes that they will discover new opportunities and ideas for brands that they are tasked to build.
To boost and enhance creativity, the festival will hold a series of talks, forums and mini workshops to explore how people from different backgrounds in their own unique field of creativity go about telling stories, writing music, building robots, making ads, creating art, producing content, expressing poetry, rebuilding a country and find a common ground in shared humanity.
Creative council deputy chairman Iska Kashim views the festival as not only celebrating past and current ad creative works but future works as well. “There is no limit to the creative work as the festival paves way for the future,’’ he says.
Commenting on the level of creativity in the country, Teoh notes that there is still room for improvement.
“Creativity should be inclusive. It needs collaboration with all the parties and relevant partners involved in the creative space and speaks the same lingo.
“It is not only limited to ad agencies and their clients. Everyone who have their hands in the creative ‘pie’ should work together to enhance creativity,” he explains.
However, he points out that there are still pockets of excellence in creative work as there are agencies which have done remarkably good creative ad works and campaigns.
Teoh says five new categories will be introduced at this year’s Kancil Awards, which will be held at the iconic Chin Woo Stadium. They are the Culture Kancils, Innovation Kancils, Effectiveness Kancils, Kancil for Good and Production House of The Year.
Iska notes that there is 100% increase in the number of entries for the Kancil Awards this year compared with last year and creative work also extends to non-4As members.
To date, there are about 1,000 entries.