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Toronto CRE8FEST shows HK creativity (with photo)
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     Toronto's CRE8FEST today (June 5, Toronto time) provided a glimpse of Hong Kong's creativity to Canadian marketing and creative professionals by presenting a showreel of award-winning advertising campaigns from Hong Kong at the Signy and Cleophée Eaton Theatre of the Royal Ontario Museum.

     The annual event, hosted by the Chinese Canadian Advertising Marketing and Media Association (CCAMMA), was attended by over 300 people. In addition to showing clips from the Kam Fan Awards organised by the Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies of Hong Kong, the CRE8FEST also screened excerpts from the ROI Festival China and AdFest. These three are the most recognised advertising award shows in Asia.

     "CRE8FEST offers a unique opportunity for agencies and marketers to be inspired by creative trends beyond the Canadian frontier," said the President of CCAMMA, Ms Loretta Lam.  She added that Hong Kong had been known for decades as one of the world's most creative cities for innovative and memorable advertising campaigns, and many international brands' campaigns created in Hong Kong were used around the world.

     Speaking at the CREA8FEST opening, the Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in Toronto, Miss Gloria Lo, said that Hong Kong is a free and open society with an unfettered flow of information and ideas. "As the place where East meets West, Hong Kong is a great place for creativity and talent," she said. "To promote our creative industries, we have a dedicated agency, Create Hong Kong, to provide one-stop service for grooming talents, nurturing start-ups in the field and supporting relevant trade fairs.

     "This year is designated as Hong Kong Design Year under the slogan 'A City Driven by Design'. A series of workshops, exhibitions, competitions and forums have been lined up to enhance the promotion of our creative industries. The event today is part of our promotion program in Toronto for the Hong Kong Design Year," Miss Lo said.

     The strategies of the integrated and interactive multi-platform campaigns behind the making and success of such brand names as Coca-Cola, McDonald's, KFC and Yakult were discussed. Among them, Coca-Cola claimed its recent "Chok! Chok! Chok!" multi-media campaign was the best, yielding the most results in its 35 years of history in Hong Kong.  

     In addition, it was noted that the current Mothers Against Drunk Driving TV commercial was created in Hong Kong and is running on Canadian television; also, that the McDonald's Fillet-O-Fish Aquarium TV commercial created in Hong Kong left a lasting impression and strong brand identity among its audiences around the world.

     "Hong Kong is the marketing services capital of Asia, with a strong presence of top-notch multinational agencies and marketing expertise," Miss Lo said. "We also benefit through the thriving consumer market of the Mainland, which is right on Hong Kong's doorstep.

     "With the continuous opening up of the Mainland market, the promotion of internal consumption in the Mainland, and our easier access to the advertising sector under the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, we see even more new opportunities for marketing-related services," she added.

Ends/Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Issued at HKT 11:38

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