A snapshot of overall Agency of the Year winner

LEO BURNETT   AOTY

Malaysia - This year marks the first time Arc Worldwide/Leo Burnett Malaysia has won the Overall Agency of the Year award.

Arc Worldwide/Leo Burnett Malaysia has been going from strength to strength.

The team harnessed those strengths and rode the digital wave, embracing the technology and progressive communication solutions that included digital advertising to grow with the agency's clients.

The agency was the first to move away from the traditional agency silos structure, starting with one P&L six years ago across the various divisions of PR, digital, events and promotions, retail and shopper marketing, relationship marketing and design.

Over the past five years, the agency has increased revenue and size. It recorded a net profit of more than 20% and a record high year-on-year growth despite stiff competition.

With an operating margin higher than the Arc Worldwide/Leo Burnett global average, the Malaysian office boasts the strongest annualised growth rates in 2011.

The agency subscribes to the humankind approach, a philosophy based on the Arc Worldwide/Leo Burnett values.

It continues to develop a deep understanding of people, culture, environment and a special ability to create stories to produce acts that inspire people to respond to and to change behaviour, not just perception.

"We are no longer solely an advertising agency but a creative engagement agency. We evolved beyond merely producing advertisements as we focus on creativity driving engagement, leading to behavioural change," says chief executive officer Tan Kien Eng.

With its 189-strong team, the agency maintained a high retention rate of senior staff at 95%.

The agency welcomed new additions to the team last year: executive creative director Eric Cruz, director of public relations Magdalene Lee and a social account manager and a community manager specialising in social media.

The team also welcomed its associate director of PR whose skills cover government and public affairs, issues and crisis management to broaden the agency's range of specialisation.

Among its notable campaigns the past year was the Dutch Lady Milk Elections to encourage more Malaysians to drink milk.

Arc Worldwide created an app for the official Dutch Lady Malaysia Facebook page which allows fans to vote for their favourite milk flavour.

The campaign ran from 6-28 May, 2011, and attracted an increase in Facebook "Likes" to 55,775 (64.04% increase from before start of the campaign).

Because of digital advertising growth that has outpaced traditional mediums, the agency excelled and achieved way above its projected revenue by more than 50% in 2011.

Arc Worldwide CRM also developed a call for entries to the BMW Golf Cup International 2011 by creating a simple invitation that mimicked a golf bag on the outer envelope.

The campaign generated an overwhelming response, with all 663 players' spots for the six legs filled within the first few weeks.

It was so well received BMW had to increase the number of players' spots to accommodate the additional respondents.

In public relations, Lee stresses the continuing efforts of the team in building relationships with clients, crafting appropriate social media messaging for their target audience.

"For our clients, there is a notable shift in the focus on our role as we have become advisers for their communications,"she said.

With this win, the agency will continue to anticipate change to meet future demands and evolve and adjust to any given environment.

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