SINGAPORE, April 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- MMA Global Asia Pacific, a not-for-profit marketing trade body, today began welcoming entries for the 2023 SMARTIES™ Awards in Asia Pacific, encouraging outstanding, accomplished brands, agencies, and marketers in the region's marketing ecosystem to submit their best work. This year, SMARTIES™ is also expanding into two new dynamic, future-forward markets: The Philippines and Thailand. According to Statista, the Philippines and Thailand digital ad spending is expected to surpass $1.6 billion and $1.5 billion, respectively, in 2023.

"SMARTIES™ APAC has established itself as a strong platform for the industry to showcase the most inspirational campaigns and case studies. It's inspiring to see a treasury of marketing and advertising geniuses come together on one of the most prestigious platforms of all times," said Rohit Dadwal, Managing Director for MMA Global in Asia Pacific. "The world of marketing aided by technology adoption is evolving at a rapid pace. To keep up with the changing times, SMARTIES™ is continuously being reshaped, reworked, and refined with emphasis on innovations, e-commerce, social, and MarTech enabling excellence in business results and impacting human lives. Winners of SMARTIES™ 2022 will be featured in the MMA Business Impact Index (BII) - a globally acclaimed index that identifies, ranks, and awards top agencies, advertisers, brands, and solution providers in the industry."

"The world of marketing aided by technology adoption is evolving at a rapid pace. To keep up with the changing times, SMARTIES™ is continuously being reshaped, reworked, and refined with emphasis on innovations, e-commerce, social, and MarTech enabling excellence in business results and impacting human lives. Winners of SMARTIES™ 2022 will be featured in the MMA Business Impact Index (BII) - a globally acclaimed index that identifies, ranks, and awards top agencies, advertisers, brands, and solution providers in the industry."

Back for its 11th season this year, the SMARTIES™ Awards is an annual competition honouring marketing innovation and creativity that results in significant business impact. Last year, SMARTIES™ debuted the world's first advertising and innovation award on blockchain in the form of NFT trophies, and this year promises to be an even bigger year. Constantly growing and innovating, the SMARTIES™ APAC awards have nonetheless remained focused on a core mission — delivering the world's only innovation award recognizing leaders, brands, agencies, and tech providers that use technology to pioneer new approaches in modern marketing.

Award submission process

Entries for SMARTIES™ 2023 are now open until July 17th, and MMA Global encourages everyone from the marketing and advertising ecosystem to participate. Gold, Silver, and Bronze awards will be awarded for each of the 24 categories, and leading performers will receive the highest honours, including Advertiser, Publisher/Media Company,  Enabling Technology Company, Best in Show, and Agency of the Year.

Marketers and agencies can concurrently submit campaigns in country-level, regional, and global awards, and submissions are welcome from across a range of categories under seven different genres: Marketing Impact, Impact Media, Purpose-Driven Marketing, Emerging Tech Marketing, E-commerce Marketing, Creative Awards, and Industry Awards. For a full list of award categories, please visit:  www.mmaglobal.com/smarties/awards/programs/apac/categories.

More information on the submission can be found at: www.mmaglobal.com/smarties/awards/programs/apac.

All Finalists will be evaluated by a panel comprising of senior brand marketers and distinguished agency leaders from across the industry and announced at the SMARTIES APAC 2023 gala ceremony on December 14, 2023 in Singapore.

The Awards will be presented in conjunction with the MMA leadership, and with several featuring a creative Forum that gathers the region's top marketers to discuss key industry insights, inspire future innovations, and encourage companies to transform their business. The Forums and Awards showcases will take place on the following dates:

• China: September 23, 2023
• India: October 5,  2023
• Vietnam: October 2023
• Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines: November 2023
• APAC (Singapore): December 14, 2023

About the MMA Global:

Comprised of over 800-member companies globally and 15 regional offices, MMA Global is the only marketing trade association that brings together the full ecosystem of marketers, martech and media companies working collaboratively to architect the future of marketing, while relentlessly delivering growth today. For more information, please visit: www.mmaglobal.com.