MPRN’S WON THREE SCA AWARDS AN IMPETUS FOR MORE GLOBAL RECOGNITION

Since winning various coveted recognition at the Summit Creative Awards 2015 (SCA), the team at Media Prima Radio Networks (MPRN) is now more determined than ever to win more acknowledgement especially at the global level.

MPRN which oversees three radio stations – Fly Fm, Hot Fm and one FM – received the Gold and Silver awards for Public Service Radio category in Domestic Violence – Pizza Delivery and Second Chance entries respectively. It was also accorded the Bronze award for Radio Campaign category in Break The Silence entry at the SCA held in Portland Oregon, USA.

“We were informed of our win via email. It happened on 3 June and coincidently we were having a townhall meeting. The meeting turned into a celebration! It was such an honour to the team because this is an international recognition of our creativity. It was judged among thousands of entries from all over the world!” said Fly Fm copywriter Wan Hafiz Wan Ahmad, 29. He worked on the Break The Silence Radio Campaign that was inspired by domestic violence issues.

Colleague Jackson Tan, 27, a copywriter for one FM whose Domestic Violence – Pizza Delivery entry bagged the Gold award cheekily said: “We are good lah….what can we say? I am just delirious that an international organisation recognised our efforts. Ours were not hard sell Public Service Announcements (PSAs) but rather something that captures the attention and gets the imagination going. That was our aim. That said, I cannot claim credit alone.”

The Domestic Violence – Pizza Delivery entry tells of a woman’s plight to get help for her situation. In the PSA, she had called an emergency help unit but pretended to make a pizza delivery order instead. One would hear the telephone conversation between both the emergency respondent and the woman. “A lot of people said the PSA was very disturbing. For us that is good because then we know people remember it and they talk about it,” said Tan.

However, the anti-violence against women topic was not adopted by another one FM copywriter Phang How Siong, or better known as Vie, who chose to go for a different topic. His work, Second Chance, was inspired by the passing of his dear friend. It tells of how we should be more appreciative of our life and the people that surround us. “Life is fragile. We have no clue what the future has in store for us, so one should live in the present because we won’t get any second chances to relive the moment”, said Vie, 24, the youngest of the copywriters.

MPRN General Manager of Sales and Marketing Ms Elaine Lee said the winnings at SCA is a clear indication of the company’s strengths and uniqueness to capture listeners’ attention. “We played not just with scripted words but also audio elements to catch our listeners’ attention. This is important because with radio, you only have audio effects to make a lasting impression.”

For Break The Silence, another entry that revolved around the issue of domestic violence, the submission required a series of PSAs. MPRN won third among thousands of entries.

How the team works

Whether its Fly Fm, Hot Fm or one FM, the 160-member team at MPRN work together on every given project be it for a client, for a PSA or to promote MPRN’s own products.

“Once briefed, the copywriters come together first and deliberate on a topic or issue after hours of research. Then we all come up with our own storylines. Each station’s audience is different so although we may have the same idea, the execution and treatment have to be different to suit and engage our own listeners,” disclosed Hafiz. There is only a 6-member crew of copywriters to serve all three stations.

Another brainstorming session is then held where the storylines are tested with one another before a script is produced. After that comes the sound engineers’ input to add the desired effects. A few more layers of work and the final product is then aired.

“Although we work with lots of team members on a project, it is usually the copywriters who sees the work through to the end. That’s why every win means so much more to us writers,” disclosed Vie.

“It is great to win the SCA award. Now we need to not just maintain the standards of our products but also do better and better. Every advertisement we do now will be aimed as an award-winning work. That’s a promise,” said Tan.

The Summit Creative Awards is a recognition given to creative firms, an international advertising competition that offers participants a unique opportunity to showcase their talents alongside similarly positioned agencies, and to have their work judged by experts in the advertising field. Companies and individuals from more than 50 countries and across five continents have participated in this prestigious 22-year competition – the first and best of its kind.

“We recognise that the healthy competition and the success of the Awards are sustained by the enthusiastic participation and commitment to the Awards by the community media across South East Asia. In return, we remain committed to providing the resources and the platform for these important Awards,” said Mr Seelan Paul, Chief Executive Officer of MPRN.

He also congratulated all winners and finalists and expressed gratitude to all MPRN’s team members as well as media organisations that support these awards by entering for the various categories.

In March last year MPRN bagged the Silver award for Public Service Radio Category for its “Anti Smoking” advertisement in the same SCA competition.

In Sept 2014 also, MPRN chalked another milestone after winning the Leader Award at the Emerging Media Awards (EMA) for Cool FM, under the Guerrilla Marketing Category.