Naga DDB wins Malaysia’s first Effie

Malaysia - Naga DDB Malaysia has clinched the country's first-ever Effie Award, taking out a bronze for its ‘Viva Loves You' campaign for car maker Perodua.

Ted Lim, Naga DDB's executive creative director, said after winning a D&AD Yellow Pencil in 2005, he was delighted to win the world's top advertising effectiveness award.

"This proves that creative and effective work are not mutually exclusive and that in the right hands, creative is effective," he said.

Sulasi Mahadi, Perodua's manager of A&P & marketing, said it was a great honour to receive Malaysia's very first EFFIE Award.

The broadcast, print, online, outdoor and direct marketing campaign helped Perodua to sell more 15,000 units of the Viva within the first three months of its launch, a figure that exceeded the combined sale of its three other competing models at the time.

This cemented Perodua's status as Malaysia's top car manufacturer, as the company achieved a top 10 ranking at the recently held Malaysia's Most Valuable Brands 2007 with a brand value of nearly RM2.5 billion.

This year's World EFFIE Festival marks the first time the event is held outside of New York since its inception in 1968.