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AXN wins best travel & tourism campaign award at Casbaa for ‘Hong Kong Movie Odyssey’
MUMBAI: AXN original production, Hong Kong Movie Odyssey won the ‘Best Travel and Tourism Campaign Award’ at this year’s Casbaa (Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia) Pay-TV Advertising Awards hosted on 28 October.
Hong Kong Movie Odyssey is a two-part series conceptualised jointly by AXN and the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB).
The Best Travel and Tourism Campaign Award, one of the awards under the ‘Most Effective Targeting Categories,’ was presented in recognition of its innovative concept of positioning Hong Kong as the ‘Hollywood of the East’ and communicating this via a TV production as part of HKTB’s travel and tourism campaign.
HKTB regional director – South and South East Asia David Leung said, “As competition heats up among destinations to pull in visitors, it is no longer sufficient for us to simply use classroom theories of marketing and traditional platform to reach out to our target audience. Instead of the usual travel feature program that shows popular sites of Hong Kong, we wanted to showcase Hong Kong in a creative way capitalizing on its entertainment culture and its long-standing positioning of ‘Hollywood of the East’ That marked the birth of the Hong Kong Movie Odyssey concept that we brainstormed together with AXN.”
Hong Kong Movie Odyssey, produced by AXN, took viewers to various Hong Kong film locations of blockbuster movies such as Infernal Affairs, One Night in Mongkok, He’s a Woman She’s a Man, Heroic Duo and Golden Chicken. Showcasing landmarks such as the Giant Buddha, Victoria Peak, Tsing Ma Bridge and popular districts like Mongkok and Tsim Sha Tsui, the program presented Hong Kong in a refreshing manner.
Apart from the colourful and scenic locations, viewers were also presented with an opportunity to learn more about their favourite movie stars. Local movie expert and program host, Paul Fonoroff interviewed movie stars such as Stephen Chow, Ekin Cheng and Karen Mok to gather their intimate thoughts and feelings about the places featured in the movies and what they love about Hong Kong.
“We selected AXN as our main media platform because it is well-known to be innovative in its productions, and is also one of the most-watched channels in Asia among working executives and business travelers. Through the program, we aimed to reach out to these people, to not only look at Hong Kong as a place for business, but also a place where they can bring their families and loved ones on a leisurely trip,” added Leung.
SPE Networks – Asia vice president advertising sales Gregory Ho said, “We are very grateful for all the support HKTB gave us on this project. Hong Kong is a vibrant city with many unique offerings, but we wanted to find one aspect of Hong Kong that everyone, and especially our viewers, can identify with – Hong Kong has long been regarded as a pioneer in the production of movies in Asia, with action heroes like Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan having become household names since the 70s and 80s. Hong Kong Movie Odyssey strengthens Hong Kong’s positioning as the ‘Hollywood of the East’ and allowed us to creatively showcase the destination in a different light while doing so in a highly entertaining and engaging manner for our viewers.”
“It’s a 360° integrated approach to marketing and brand building. We truly believe in developing innovative campaign our advertisers that help them cut through the clutter while fulfilling their marketing objectives and is appealing for our viewers, which ultimately is the end objective,” Ho added.
MAM
India wins big at the 2025 Global Best of the Best Effie Awards
The Womb and McCann India take home Global Grand Effies, putting Indian advertising on the world map
MUMBAI: Indian advertising just had its moment. At the 2025 Global Best of the Best Effie Awards, the most rigorous test of marketing effectiveness on the planet, two Indian agencies beat out campaigns from over 130 markets to claim Global Grand Effies, the sport’s equivalent of a world championship medal.
The Womb won for Piramal Finance with a campaign called “NEEYAT: India’s Real Credit Score,” a purpose-led push that took direct aim at systemic bias in the credit sector and reframed how creditworthiness is measured. McCann India won for ESAF Small Finance Bank with “Saving Her Savings,” a campaign centred on financial inclusion for marginalised women. Both wins came from a shortlist of 47 contenders, all of whom had already won gold or grand prizes in their home markets. Only 11 Global Grand Effies were handed out across seven markets. India got two.
The highest honour of the night, the Iridium Effie, awarded to the single most effective marketing campaign in the world, went to eos Products and Mischief @ No Fixed Address for “Women’s Shave.” Remarkably, it was their second consecutive year taking the top prize.
Other global winners included Oreo and Mondelez International for “Oreo Codes” in commerce and shopper marketing, Flamin’ Hot and PepsiCo for “Poker Face” in experiential marketing, and ALDI Australia for “Shop ALDI First” in retail.
The Best of the Best is no ordinary awards show. Entry is restricted to campaigns that have already won a gold or grand Effie at a national level, making it, in effect, a champions’ league of marketing effectiveness. Indian agencies are no longer just brilliant at cracking local markets. They are now setting the global standard.
The world’s best advertisers had better start paying attention.
