Malaysia – GrowthOps Asia and Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) were announced as the Grand Prix winners at the recently concluded Content Marketing Awards Asia Pacific (CMAA) 2026, taking home top honours in the Agency and Brand of the Year categories, respectively.
MARKETECH APAC’s Content Marketing Awards Asia Pacific 2026 is a prestigious celebration of dynamic, creative, and impactful content-driven storytelling across the region, honouring the campaigns, brands, agencies, and individuals redefining how content shapes connections, builds communities, and drives business impact in today’s ever-evolving landscape.
The Grand Prix — the most coveted recognition of the night — is awarded to the brand, agency, or MarTech company that performed best across all categories. Points are assigned for each win (gold = 3 points, silver = 2 points, bronze = 1 point), and winners are determined by cumulative score, with a minimum of 10 points required to be named Agency or Brand of the Year, underscoring the level of consistent excellence the title demands.
GrowthOps Asia claimed the Agency of the Year Grand Prix with nine trophies for a total of 23 points. The agency dominated with six golds for Best B2C Content Campaign, Best Content Campaign for Product Launch, Best Influencer-Led Content Campaign, Best Podcast / Audio Content Campaign, Best Social Media Content Campaign, and Best Video Content Campaign, alongside two silvers and one bronze.
Runners-up for the Agency title were Dentsu Hong Kong with eight trophies for 17 points, Leo Hong Kong with six trophies for 14 points, and Lèngua with seven trophies and VML Singapore with five trophies tied at 13 points each.
Commenting on their win, Chris Greenough, General Manager & Regional Head of Creative Services at GrowthOps Asia, said, “Bringing a great idea to life is not unlike any other great moment in life. It can feel like trying to catch lightning in a bottle. You need the right people, in the right place, at the right time. You need trust. You need courage. And, if we’re being honest, you need a little bit of luck.”
Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) emerged as Brand of the Year with nine trophies for a total of 19 points. The bank secured three golds for Best Integrated Content Campaign, Best Engagement-Driven Content Campaign, and Best Customer Acquisition Content Campaign, along with four silvers and two bronzes.
Following closely as runners-up for the Brand title were Unifi TV with six trophies for 17 points, CityPlaza Hong Kong with eight trophies for 16 points, Malaysia Airlines with eight trophies and Scoot and Singapore Tourism Board with five trophies each tied at 13 points.
Among the most contested categories, Best Storytelling Campaign drew 10 entries, with Malaysia Airlines sweeping all three podium spots — gold, silver, and bronze. Its winning campaign, “Time for Chiang Mai,” also picked up three bronze awards elsewhere in the programme and earned Malaysia Airlines two National Winner Awards, for Best Storytelling Campaign and Best Content Campaign in Travel & Hospitality.
CMAA 2026 introduced the National Winner Award for the first time, given when a specific category receives at least five entries from a single country (e.g., Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand), with the highest scorer in that category named National Winner.
Joining Malaysia Airlines in the National Winners’ circle were Unifi TV and GrowthOps Asia, who topped Best Integrated Content Campaign on the Brand and Agency tracks, respectively, with their award-winning campaign “Wedding Crashers”.
Meanwhile, Mastercard, together with its agency partners AsiaWorks and Carat, and tech partner LinkedIn, led Best Video Content Campaign with their “In The Loop: Turning Broadcast Credibility Into Always-On B2B Influence” campaign, which also earned multiple awards in other categories.
A total of 28 unique organisations attended the gala night. Winners came from markets including Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, India, Vietnam, Australia, and Mongolia, reflecting the programme’s wide regional representation.
Malaysia led the trophy count with 31 wins, followed by Hong Kong with 19. The Philippines and Singapore tied for third with 18 trophies each.
See the full list of winners HERE.
The judging process was overseen by a distinguished panel of senior creative, marketing, and media agency leaders, bringing years of industry expertise to ensure the credibility and integrity of the results.
The Head of Jury appointments and categories are as follows:
- Tim Green, Chief Creative Officer APAC, Edelman (Singapore) – Marketing Campaigns Categories (Brand, Storytelling & Cultural Impact)
- Andrew Pinto, Vice President, Unifi Brand and Marketing, Telekom Malaysia – Marketing Campaigns Categories (Integrated Campaigns, Partnerships & Impact)
- Rajat Basra, Chief Executive Officer, Omnicom Media Group (Indonesia) – Marketing Campaigns Categories (Performance, Platforms & Growth)
- Simone Tam, CEO Greater Bay Area, dentsu (Hong Kong) – Industry-Focused Categories
See the full list of the jury HERE.
In his closing speech, Joven Barcenas, Founder and CEO of MARKETECH APAC, said, “To every market represented tonight — whether you took home one award or many — your presence on this regional stage means something. Your content community is alive, ambitious, and ready to be seen.”
He continued, “We started tonight by saying this was a new chapter. Tonight, together, we wrote the first page…Thank you for making the inaugural Content Marketing Awards Asia Pacific a night to remember.”
Brands, agencies, and martech companies interested in joining next year’s CMAA may reach out via [email protected].
