MARKies awards 2021 Hong Kong winners unveiled

Over the past decade, media, technology and social trends may have shifted significantly. However, creativity and innovation, particularly in this unprecedented time, remain key elements to winning in the marketing and advertising industry. In this year’s MARKies Awards, we are back once again to celebrate the most innovative, creative and effective campaigns and initiatives.

Taking home the coveted overall Best of Show - Campaign, and Best of Show - Agency titles were TamJai Yunnan Mixian's TamJai Jeh Jeh, and Hardchi Creative respectively. 

Hardchi Creative co-created the campaign of TamJai Jeh Jeh with TamJai Yunnan Mixian. Both companies snatched a total of five gold awards, two silvers, and one bronze.

Aimed at reinforcing its identity as a Hong Kong brand and bringing itself closer to customers, TamJai Yunnan Mixian came up with four strategies to engage audiences: highlighting brand characteristics, incorporating localised elements, offering an innovative campaign and benefiting the society. At the same time, TamJai Yunnan Mixian also hoped to tell audiences that it was operating every district after August 2020, when the restaurant chain opened its first store at Tung Chung.

To build awareness, TaiJai Yunnan Mixian created a set of umbrellas, as umbrellas have the same pronunciation of Jeh Jeh in Cantonese, while Jeh Jeh means female waitresses – the most iconic element of the brand. Therefore, TaiJai Yunnan Mixian decided to launch a collection of umbrellas with 18 editions created by 18 illustrators, highlighting its footprint across Hong Kong’s every district.

Customers could redeem the umbrellas at designated outlets, while TamJai JehJeh also leveraged the illustrators’ platforms to convey the campaign message and drive engagement. Each of the umbrellas featured a district’s local elements with brand characteristics including TamJai Jeh Jeh and the ingredients of the products being showcased.

Apart from building brand awareness, TamJai Jeh Jeh also worked with Heep Hong Society with all proceeds from the campaign being donated to the charity without any cost reduction. This not only provided support to the children in need but also inspired children with special educational needs that they can be outstanding illustrators in the future. The campaign achieved great success. At some outlets, customers queued up outside and TaiJai Yunnan Mixian even claimed that some customers had requested the company to produce extra quantities of the souvenirs. It also reached more than 3.7 million audiences and amassed more than 100 articles from media outlets.

Congratulations to all of this year's winners. Please check the full list of winners here.