We asked members of the jury of the Effie Malaysia 2014 this one question: What is the ONE Advice you would give to someone writing his/her 2015 Effie submission?

1. What is the ONE Advice
you would give to
someone writing his/her
The Unofficial 2015 Effie submission?
Compilation
1. Tell me an interesting story.
As submitted by members of the jury, Effie Malaysia 2014
Don’t try to create a good story out of good results. An effie-worthy
case is always always always a case whose story is
universally compelling. It’s a brand that needs to re-romance
the customer, or a small David against a Goliath,
or with a Robert Downey Jr-esque need to recover a fallen
reputation. An insurmountable obstacle resolved by a
powerful marketing insight or marketing innovation.
Basically, do the hairdresser / tea lady test. If it’s a story
they won’t find special, no judge will either. No matter how
you pad the results with pretty graphs.
Lau Su Lin
Head of Marketing Services
Maxis Berhad
Look deeper for a truly compelling insight, dream bigger for
a behaviour-shifting creative idea and go wider for a
barrier-breaking communications and execution plan.
Andrew Yeoh
Head of Planning
NagaDDB
Get someone who is not involved to read through your
submission and see if it tells a clear story, with the relevant
data.
Janet Lee
Director & Trainer
The 95% Advertising Academy
The unofficial “ONE Advice” Effie Awards compilation was made possible by the generous contribution of the 13
industry veterans listed here. A personal project by Alex Goh (https://www.linkedin.com/in/aboutalexgoh).

2. 2. All stories are made of these:
a beginning, a middle & an end.
What is the ONE Advice
you would give to
someone writing his/her
2015 Effie submission?
I advise all case writers to make sure that the challenge
stated in the case must link with the business objectives.
Pi Wo Chia
Head Of Planning
Ogilvy Group
Ensure the results match the objectives. It is a very simple
advice but one not properly followed through in many
entries.
Bala Pomaleh
CEO
Carat Malaysia
Submission needs to be coherent. More often than not,
submissions seem disjointed. The idea needs to solve the
strategic challenge. The creative execution needs to
communicate the idea. And the results need to match the
campaign period.
Cheryl Goh
Regional Marketing Head
MyTeksi/GrabTaxi
The Unofficial
Compilation
As submitted by members of the jury, Effie Malaysia 2014
The unofficial “ONE Advice” Effie Awards compilation was made possible by the generous contribution of the 13
industry veterans listed here. A personal project by Alex Goh (https://www.linkedin.com/in/aboutalexgoh).

3. 3. Short stories go …..... far.
What is the ONE Advice
you would give to
someone writing his/her
2015 Effie submission?
Imagine submitting an entry that was only 3 pages long:
succinct yet telling. Less is more!
Harmandar Singh
Director
Product of the Year Asia/
Sledgehammer Communications
Don't 'overtell' your case! Keep it simple, short and sweet
because we are not Shakespearean juries and will
appreciate the simplicity of problem-solution writing
because it gives a lot more clarity to what you've achieved.
Sue-Anne Lim
Integrated Marketing & Planning Director
Dentsu Utama
Keep it short, keep it sharp, keep it sweet. The best
submissions we had were great because it showed results
in simplicity.
Chris Wee
Head Of Strategy
Rev Asia
The Unofficial
Compilation
As submitted by members of the jury, Effie Malaysia 2014
Be mindful of 3 numbers when you write your cases – 841.
• 8 mins. That’s how much time the jury will spend to read
your case. Or shorter. (without accounting for the many,
necessary coffee breaks).
• 4 story peaks. The strategic challenge, the idea, the
execution and the results. Link these well.
• 1 business outcome. The clear winners make the best
case of the contribution of communications, to a business
outcome.
Alex Goh
Associate Strategic Planning Director
M&C Saatchi
The unofficial “ONE Advice” Effie Awards compilation was made possible by the generous contribution of the 13
industry veterans listed here. A personal project by Alex Goh (https://www.linkedin.com/in/aboutalexgoh).

4. 4. Honest-to-goodness story.
What is the ONE Advice
you would give to
someone writing his/her
2015 Effie submission?
Be humble about your strategy & creatives, open about
your dates & data and honest about other external
factors that were happening parallel to the work.
Chris Greenough
Head of Strategy, Asia
Next Digital
Work done for submission is never done in a vaccum but
for some purpose. So please submit some business
results or if unavailable at least some KPIs which clearly
indicated that the work done has managed to build brand
equity.
Jason Chin
CEO
IACT College
The Unofficial
Compilation
As submitted by members of the jury, Effie Malaysia 2014
Stay true to the insight and don’t story tell too far away.
Lots of the submissions I see, the team tends to over
romanticize the ‘creative propositions’ and the work, that
they lose the core business reasons of it. Some of the
best cases don’t over romanticize (and they are not sexy,
just accurate) and stick to their core story angle.
And try to find the most meaningful results, because
judges are not easily impressed by quantity.
Chan May Ling
Head of Marketing Services
DiGi Telecommunications
The unofficial “ONE Advice” Effie Awards compilation was made possible by the generous contribution of the 13
industry veterans listed here. A personal project by Alex Goh (https://www.linkedin.com/in/aboutalexgoh).

5. 5. BONUS: No sob stories.
What is the ONE Advice
you would give to
someone writing his/her
2015 Effie submission?
So your budget is small, got slashed, wasn’t as big as
competitors. Boo Hoo you. About 7 in 10 EFFIE Malaysia
entries I read always mention this every year. Assume no
judge cares. Because, the truth is ….they don’t.
Lau Su Lin
Head of Marketing Services
Maxis Berhad
The Unofficial
Compilation
As submitted by members of the jury, Effie Malaysia 2014
The unofficial “ONE Advice” Effie Awards compilation was made possible by the generous contribution of the 13
industry veterans listed here. A personal project by Alex Goh (https://www.linkedin.com/in/aboutalexgoh).