Yahoo announces winners of Asia Big Idea Chair Awards 2021

This post was done in collaboration with Yahoo Hong Kong.

AXA General Insurance Hong Kong won big at the Yahoo Asia Big Idea Chair Awards 2021, talking home a total of four awards in the event. I.T Group's online shop ITeSHOP and American Express also achieved success with immersive AR and media commerce campaigns.

Yahoo announced the results of the “Yahoo Asia Big Idea Chair Awards 2021" on 23 March. It said amidst another year of commotion, the awards celebrated creativity in the digital media and advertising industry as the world struggled to stay one step ahead of unprecedented consumption behaviours brought by pandemic-induced lockdowns and social distancing measures. In its 13th edition, the Yahoo Asia BIC Awards 2021 shone a spotlight on marketers and advertisers whose resilience and tenacity continued to inspire audiences and fellow industry leaders.

AXA General Insurance Hong Kong was the big winner at the event. Aside from being the winner of the Hong Kong Big Idea Chair Champion Outstanding Award, the company’s “Thought Leadership Content Series” campaign took home three other awards, including "Outstanding for Best Partnership Strategy", "Best Branded Content Campaign" and the "Merit Award for Best Video Strategy".

"Insurers have to be even more creative and customer-centric during the new normal of the pandemic. We continue to partner with our customers during difficult times. Therefore, we created a timely and relevant information platform hosting our thought leadership series. To address concerns from consumers amid COVID-19, we launched 'Ask Dr Chiu' in 2020, featuring our chief medical officer through various Yahoo’s platforms consisting of short videos, articles and live TV programmes about health topics," said Andrea Wong, chief marketing and customer officer of AXA Hong Kong and Macau.

She added, "In 2021, we extended this thought leadership series to go beyond health into wealth management and lifestyle topics by launching 'Finance Wiz @Daniel' and 'Smart Living @Kenneth'. This series offers our customers a comprehensive suite of information from our in-house experts. We are very pleased that the content is well-received and more importantly, customers found them useful and engaging."

A Merit Winner of the Hong Kong Big Idea Chair Champion Awards was ITeSHOP, whose “SS21 GIGON Campaign” also took home Merit awards for Best Integrated Solution, Best Use of Emerging Format in Hong Kong and Asia plus an Outstanding Award for Best Media Commerce Campaign.

"We want to capture hungry shoppers as the market recovered and reopened in the second half of 2021. Aside from a captivating DOOH campaign across bus shelters, we also produced real-time dynamic product ads that were personalised based on gender and the interest of the target audience during the week-long campaign. The results were remarkable: the ads attracted more than 15 million eyeballs during the campaign period," said Lance Tsang, associate eCommerce director of ITeSHOP.

Another notable winner was American Express, whose “#NeverStopExploring” campaign won a Merit award for the Hong Kong Big Idea Chair Champion, in addition to another Merit Award for Best Innovative Experience and an Outstanding Award for Best Branded Content Campaign. Its “American Express Explorer Credit Card” campaign grabbed a Merit award for Best Acquisition Campaign.

“'#NeverStopExploring' is a phenomenal content marketing campaign that brings the spirit of "never stop exploring" by working with singers such as Alfred Hui, Jace Chan and AGA. Exclusive interviews and AR activations show how they illustrate their wanderlust, the ways in which they interpret adventure and how they discover the lesser-known hidden gems in the city," a spokesperson of American Express said.

"Each experience and their articles are complemented with a link for applying for a credit card, serving as the ultimate calls-to-action. The campaign enjoyed impressive engagement and card volume growth," the spokesperson added.

The Asia Big Idea Chair Awards was launched in Hong Kong in 2009, celebrating all remarkable advertising campaigns and ideas on Yahoo in Asia throughout the past year. The judging panel consisted of 22 executive members from trade associations such as IAB Hong Kong, HK4As, The Hong Kong Advertisers Association, Hong Kong Association of Interactive Marketing, HKMA Digital Marketing Community, as well as renowned industry practitioners from Taiwan and Singapore.

“In the past years, we’ve seen drastic changes in media consumption and purchase habits due to global lockdowns and social distancing measures. Among the submission we’ve received, there is a notable trend of adopting ad tech in campaigns, making the ad experiences more fun and engaging," said Matthew Chan, head of sales, Yahoo Hong Kong and China.

"We continue to provide reliable premium news, finance and sports content, offering the stacks of tech to advertisers, such as programmatic ad platforms, native ad, search marketing, immersive experience and specialised content, to enhance campaign reach and advertising returns.”

For the full winner list, please click here.