MDA D-Awards 2018 Dazzles With Bright Talents In The Digital Ad Industry

March 28th 2018, Kuala Lumpur – Jason Koh Kiang Hee, Head of Sales represented Forest Interactive as one of the judges of the Malaysian Digital Association (MDA) d-Awards held at Ruyi & Lyn in Bangsar Shopping Center. The event is organised by MDA to celebrate and appreciate the best innovative works in designing and execution of digital marketing campaigns – and the talents behind these successes. Serm Teck Choon, President of MDA opened the ceremony by thanking all the sponsors such as Google, Heineken and Media Prima Digital who made the event a success.  Mr. Choon was later followed with a remark from Google Malaysia’s Nick Drew.  The hall was filled with laughter, cheers and wonderful canapés that brought Malaysian cuisine in fancy trays.



For the first time, Forest Interactive participated in MDA d-Awards to take part of the role of jury.  Jason shares that one of Forest Interactive’s products includes programmatic advertising product called Globe Digital Ads (GDA) which handles performance marketing for clients from various industries such FMCG, F&B and even start-ups. After almost a year contributing to the digital advertising industry, it is the time to share to the practitioners and industry enthusiasts by helping recognize the best among the best.

Jason was not the only one judge, there were few other experts, such as How Lih Ren from DiGi, Jenny Chin from uMobile, and Jon – Paul Best from Nielsen Audience Measurement and representatives from Google among others. The MDA d-Awards is open to clients, digital creative agencies, media agencies, technology companies, publishers and media owners based in Malaysia. The night started with a series of interesting videos that showcased the true talent of Malaysian ad agencies.

Mr. Koh Kiang Hee shares that “the judging criteria is quite competitive with 20% strategy, 25% creative and innovation, 25% execution, and 30% results. Personally I took a part on effectiveness, creativity, as well as which campaign is competitive to. At the end of the day, performance marketing would explain everything. We have to able to show it to the clients how it solves. Otherwise I would say, it’s pour money down the drain. ”

There are 30 winners from 13 categories. Digital Impact of The Year was awarded to Universal McCann, while Grand Prix winner was bagged by Hyperlab.  For 2018, the MDA d-Awards gave an extra recognition for The Young Digital Person of the Year. Melissa Woo Mei Foong won this prestigious award as a person under the age of 30 who demonstrates exceptional measurable results in digital advertising she shares that one could “just try everything, there is no harm. You will not fail if you missed something along the way,” says Melissa.



Both Jason and Melissa found that the digital advertising industry is a promising way to move forward the several industries. “Programmatic advertising, as what GDA doing, is something new in Malaysia. As I can see it is moving forward, and soon we will get there,” says Jason. Given today’s age of technology, traditional media should move to digital media to get the right platform.

Answering the needs of digital market, Forest Interactive will keep pushing for innovation and improvement to help brands to boost the full potential of digital marketing campaigns. The world is the market—a vast place of potential audience.  It is the time to maximise the brand impact and maximize conversions in the digital ecosystem.

About MDA d-Awards 

The d Awards is organized by the Malaysian Digital Association to recognize and appreciate the talents and brands that embrace the use of digital technologies.  MDA is looking for innovation in designing and execution of marketing digital campaigns that leads to a difference in the way the consumers perceive and consume brands.  Participation is open to all digital natives from clients, agencies and producers. Any entity based in Malaysia with valid digital work that aligns with the entry categories is encouraged to participate. To learn more, visit malaysiandigitalassociation.org.my/mda-d-awards/

About Malaysian Digital Association (MDA)

The Malaysian Digital Association was established in 2009 as a society registered under the laws in Malaysia. Primarily the focus is on growing the digital advertising pie and delivering a single standard currency of measurement of Malaysian internet traffic. MDA plays a role in unifying all sectors involved in the various aspects of digital media and advertising as a profession and as a business and thereby represent and secure the long term interest of the digital publishing and advertising industry in Malaysia. Read More