SMG wins gold at WAN-IFRA Awards

(From left) Wang, Lai and Wee with the WAN-IFRA Asian Digital Media gold award for Best Native Advertising/Sponsored Content Campaign.

PETALING JAYA: Recognised for its excellent delivery of engaging content across multiple platforms for its partners, Star Media Group (SMG) walked away with the Gold Award under the Best Native Advertising/Sponsored Content Campaign for the Sime Darby Property – Elmina Rainforest Knowledge Centre (ERKC) Sustainability Campaign at the WAN-IFRA Asian Digital Media Awards (ADMA) 2023.

Organised by the World Association of News Publisher (WAN-IFRA), the esteemed awards event was held yesterday during the two-day Digital Media Asia 2023 conference in Singapore to recognise publishers who have delivered unique and original digital media projects. ADMA is one of the region’s most prestigious awards ceremony for digital news platforms in the region.

Mediacorp Pte Ltd, Brand Studio of Singapore was the runner-up in the same category.

“We are indeed honoured to receive recognition by WAN-IFRA as its shines a light on the strong journalistic capabilities and innovative spirit of our team at SMG,” said SMG chief business officer Lydia Wang.

“The team’s dedication in producing high-quality journalism through its impactful narratives that truly resonate with our readers further reinforces our focus on telling accurate, unbiased stories.

“We are truly proud of this achievement and we would like to thank our partner Sime Darby Property as well as our readers for their continuous support,” she said.

SMG’s partnership with Sime Darby Property Berhad on the ERKC campaign was centred on educating the masses on the importance of biodiversity conservation via a collection of specially-curated branded content across SMG’s diverse range of media platforms.

The content hub featured compelling narratives, videos, visual stories and immersive activities anchored on rewilding urban spaces to ensure ecological balance, efforts on mitigating climate change and conserving nature that deepen readers’ understanding on these issues. This in turn encouraged readers to be more emotionally and intellectually invested in the campaign.

The concerted efforts by the partners led to positive results as the engagement levels of the content hub exceeded the KPIs set, where content page hub pageviews exceeded the KPI by 191.26%, social media amplification engagement stood at 11.06%, while sign-up and on-ground activation exceeded the targets set by 142.6%.

“Receiving recognition at the WAN-IFRA Asian Digital Media Awards 2023 is yet another example of our keen awareness of industry trends and commitment to marketing excellence, effective communication and inspiring change,” said Sime Darby Property chief marketing and sales officer Datuk Lai Shu Wei.

“We are pleased with our partnership with Star Media Group as it has enabled us to raise awareness and inspire action towards biodiversity conservation among a wider audience. Together, we are committed to making more positive impacts on the environment and contributing to a sustainable future for all,” he said.

Situated in Sime Darby Property’s City of Elmina township in Shah Alam, the 0.44-hectare (1.09-acre) ERKC aims to be a one-stop-centre for forestry research, conservation, environmental education, recreation, eco-tourism and other green initiatives.

Since its opening in October 2020, it has managed to nurture a total of 126 plant species, including 51,468 seeds sowed and 14,476 tree saplings stored in its holding area.

“The ERKC campaign is an excellent example of two strong brands working together to heighten awareness on nature conservation, leveraging on multiple digital platforms,” said SMG senior general manager Elicia Wee.

“We did this through our SMG Brand Studio, which offers effective, end-to-end 360° marketing solutions ranging from high-impact multimedia content to turnkey marketing services backed by data insights and powerful media platforms.

“Introduced in 2021, it complements the various digital platforms currently under SMG. Backed by our experience in working with a wide range of brands from various industries, we are in a strong position to deliver results-driven campaigns and initiatives,” she said.