JCDecaux Transport and MTR win big at Spark Awards Hong Kong 2024

JCDecaux Transport and MTR Corporation’s Queens' Chill Rewards have won big at the 11th edition of MARKETING-INTERACTIVE's Spark Awards Hong Kong 2024 and were crowned Media of the Year and Media Campaign of the Year respectively. 

Designed to recognise and honour outstanding creativity, innovation, and storytelling, the awards brought together media professionals at Hotel ICON on 17 October to present their finest work, accomplishments, and innovations to the broader industry. All entries were carefully evaluated by an independent panel of industry leaders and senior marketers.

See the full list of winners here.

See the full jury here.

Standing out from the crowd and impressing the jury with innovative solutions and team results, was JCDecaux Transport which took home 13 trophies in total, including five golds, five silvers, and three bronzes with a number of thought-provoking campaigns, including the “MTR advertising – HKTVmall Mom-certified” for HKTVmall; the “MTR advertising - HSBC Wealth Decode” for HSBC; the “MTR advertising - foodpanda meets millions of tastes in one app – Quick Commerce Campaign” for foodpanda; the “MTR advertising – VITA Lemon Tea Campaign” for VITA; the “MTR advertising - Double Ducks” for AllRightsReserved; and the “MTR advertising - Be a Game Changer and “Carry” Yourself” for Hang Seng Bank. 

The “MTR advertising – HKTVmall Mom-certified” campaign created for HKTVmall impressed the judges the most among the campaigns JCDecaux Transport had created. Running from 9 November 2023 to 8 December 2023, the campaign aimed to promote the newly launched "Wet Market Express" delivery service and position HKTVmall as the everyday shopping destination for Hong Kong residents.

The campaign targeted the general public, as HKTVmall's data showed that its most loyal customers are housewives aged 30 to over 55, who enjoyed browsing and shopping on the go, especially using eCommerce platforms while on public transport such as the MTR.

To effectively reach the target audience, MTR advertising was utilised to promote the delivery service, dominating 56 MTR stations with more than 3,120 advertising lightboxes and 23 wrapped trains.

To challenge the industry conventions, HKTVmall turned their most loyal consumers, different moms from various backgrounds, occupations to become its brands’ ambassadors. Over 80 creatives were launched across the MTR networks, covering 56 stations and 124 platforms. These ads featured mums’ endorsements and their past orders in HKTV mall, making the ads very convincing and compelling.

In addition to launching MTR lightbox advertisements, a series of social media campaigns were also rolled out, aiming to fill every corner of Hong Kong with "Mom-certified!" endorsements.

Meanwhile, MTR Corporation’s Queens' Chill Rewards won the Overall Media Campaign of the Year, taking home five golds, three silvers, and six bronzes. 

Running from 18 April to 12 May this year, the campaign was done in collaboration with media agencies JCDecaux Transport, Bravo Media, and Asiaray Media Group. 

Targeting Hong Kong citizens, the campaign aimed to develop a Mother's Day initiative that would generate significant consumer interest among the general public, capturing this important shopping season and ensuring substantial advertising investments in MTR ads.

Firstly, a collaboration across six platforms was established involving MTR Advertising, Asiaray, Bravo Media, and JCDecaux Transport to integrate advertising products throughout the entire MTR network. This partnership, along with OpenRice and TLive, aimed to achieve comprehensive omnichannel integration.

As part of the campaign, citizens could book their preferred stations and time slots online. The "magic mirror," an AI-enabled camera, captureed their faces and, through a specially trained neural network and advanced algorithms, generated a unique portrait of each user as a queen in real time. Users could scan a QR code to download their portrait afterwards.

Moreover, selective "Queen" portraits were showcased through MTR Digitalisation, covering more than 80% of stations. This recognition aims to honour and celebrate mothers while also extending the campaign's reach and generating increased interest among the audience.

Participants were also encouraged to share their "Queen" photos on social media along with heartfelt messages for their mothers, offering them a chance to win various prizes. This social media activation aimed to enhance the campaign's reach, engagement, and buzz.

This year, the competition was incredibly tight with over 170 entries across 31 categories and a total of 99 trophies awarded to the leading brands and agencies across the regions at the ceremony.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE would like to thank all our 18 esteemed panel of judges for their time in judging the entries. Congratulations to all our winners for an excellent night! See you again next year!

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