Organised by the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Singapore (4As), the Singapore Media Awards (SMA) returns for its 7th year with Ms Leela Nair, Managing Director of MindShare Singapore at the helm, and a Be Hated campaign by J. Walter Thompson (JWT).

From today, 4As will be accepting advertising campaign entries for up to 21 awards including single media and specialist campaign categories, Special Achievement Awards (SAA), and the prestigious Media Agency of the Year, and Grand Prix for the overall best media campaign. Closing dates are 27th June for SAA nominations and 4th July 2011 for single media and specialist categories.

Judged by industry veterans from both the agency and client’s end, the winners will be revealed at the Awards Gala Night on the 2nd of September 2011. Main sponsors and supporters include ACP Magazines, AdLib, Alice, CNN, Dow Jones, JWT, MakeStudios, Mediacorp, Moove Media, Starhub, Singapore Press Holdings, and The Edge.

In-line with SMA’s tongue-in-cheek campaigns in the past, JWT has conceptualised a controversial “Be Hated” campaign, which will unfold from now to September.

First launched in 2005 and the first of its kind locally, the SMA honours the achievements made by media professionals and puts emphasis on the crucial function the media plays in contributing to the success of advertising campaigns. Till today, the award continues to be coveted within the media industry, both as a symbol of excellence and a benchmark of distinction, with more than 400 guests from advertising and media agencies together with client marketers and media owners attending the annual gala event.

“The use of media is a very critical and strategic element of any advertising campaign. Formulating the best media strategy involves an amalgam of understanding the business objectives, campaign concept, target market, and all mediums available, while managing media budgets – often tight ones. SMA recognises this and rewards both teams and individuals who have demonstrated excellence in developing and delivering highly effective and innovative thinking towards successful media campaigns,” Said President for 4As, Ted Choo.

“SMA celebrates outstanding work, great thinking and the skillful blend of art and science to create powerful and accountable media solutions for our clients. These awards are critical for our industry as they provide a platform to formally recognise the great talent in Singapore. I am confident that this year we will see a calibre of work that further raises the bar and showcases the brilliance of our people,” Commented Leela Nair.

Back for its 10th year with a fighting theme, the Crowbar Festival 2011 organised by the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Singapore (4As) will take place from 1st to 5th August 2011.  The festival will consist of the Crowbar Awards, the 48-Hour Challenge, a Crowbar Seminar, and cumulating in the Crowbar Awards Show Night.

To kickoff the official start with the call for award entries, a full length shelf of fighting fish in glass jars was installed in select locations such as creative education institutions, graduation shows and design bookstores in April. Arts and design students are urged to initiate the ‘fight’ by pulling out the Crowbar entry card strategically positioned between the jars.

This year’s Crowbar Awards will be co-chaired by Pann Lim and Jonathan Yuen from Kinetic Singapore. Heads of jury will include Thomas Yang from DDB Singapore, Larry Peh from &Larry, Ivanho Harlim, and Royston Tan. Entries close on 18 May 2011 for film, and 20 May 2011 for the remaining disciplines.

Main supporters for the festival include Alice, Colourscan, DesignSingapore, Kinetic Singapore, MakeStudios, Nanyang Polyechnic, Ngee-Ann Adelaide Education Centre, RJ Papers, Singapore Press Holdings, and Tan Chin Tuan Foundation.

Since its inception in 2001, the Crowbar Awards has been a tradition for local arts and design students hoping to make a mark and establish a path into the much exclusive design community. Each year, advertising, design, interactive, photography, and film students compete to submit their best works to be critiqued by much respected gurus in their field, knowing that the rewards are beyond the cash prize and the full-size crowbar hardware.

 In recent years, the awards have attracted entries beyond borders. In 2010, the awards attracted 1,000 entries from 39 schools across the globe, spanning countries including New Zealand, Shanghai and Germany.

“The fighting theme is very appropriate for Crowbar. The Show is now internationally recognised and one of the very few shows in the world catering to young talents still in school. Thus, these talents are fighting to be recognised and acknowledged as the best in their field. It’s also a platform to showcase their abilities and skills to potential employers.” Said Theodore Choo, President for 4As.

“Each year, there are only a handful of good job openings in this highly competitive advertising and design industry and Crowbar is the students’ opportunity to break into it. This is platform for them to showcase their talent, pluck up courage and be open to judgment by industry veterans as well as their peers.” Added Pann and Jonathan who conceptualised this year’s fighting theme.

MindShare Singapore’s new Managing Director, Leela Nair is named the new Chairperson for the Singapore Media Awards (SMA) 2011, replacing Peter Diermayr, who has since stepped down as he moves into a new role within MindShare.

Having led teams who have won a multitude of awards including the Cannes Grand Prix Lion and NY Effectiveness award, Nair has a wealth of experience in local, regional and global account management having worked for over 20 years in media planning and negotiation.

Nair is also a strong advocate for the development of new talent and recently initiated the launch of Media Masters, a unique bootcamp style training program for entry level recruits with GroupM Singapore.

“I feel honoured to receive the role of SMA 2011 Chairperson from Peter,” says Nair, “SMA has a long standing reputation as the most prominent awards for Singapore’s media professionals, and it is a great privilege to be given an opportunity to be part of it.”

Organised by the 4As and in its 7th year, SMA celebrates exceptional media strategies used in successful advertising campaigns, as well as recognises outstanding contributions made by the media industry’s brightest minds.