SINGAPORE (July 27, 2007) – Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) announced today the winners of SPH Ink Awards. The award, in its third year, recognizes creative print advertising developed in Singapore.

Bates Singapore emerged as the Grand Prix winner with their campaign for Gill Divers, a scuba diving centre, after intense judging by an independent panel of 10 judges made up of industry veterans.

The campaign titled “Bag Fish, Umbrella Fish and Bottle Fish” was published in bilingual newspaper my paperand was hailed by the judges for the creative use of Japanese fish printing technique to illustrate the damage to the marine ecosystem.

In a twist, the runner-up is the Chinese edition of the SPH Ink Awards ad campaign to call for entries for the competition. This means the top line-up of Gold medal winners are all Chinese ads, an indication that language is no barrier to the appreciation of creativity.

For winning the Grand Prix and two Golds, Bates won $20,000 cash while Gill Divers will receive full-page full-colour ad spaces in SPH flagship newspapers The Straits Times or Lianhe Zaobao to communicate their message again. It is second time lucky for Bates´ executive creative director Robert Gaxiola, who won the same honour last year.

The most awarded agency is DDB Worldwide, who bagged 8 awards, mostly for works to advertise retailer Robinsons and Co.

The next hit is the Readers´ Choice contest, designed for newspaper readers to vote for their favourite finalist ad campaign. More than 10,000 votes were received through sms and online. The campaign “Don´t Get Pets on Impulse” by Graphikate for the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) won the hearts of readers and beat the competition by a large margin. This is the second year in a row AVA has won the Readers´ Choice award.

In a clear signal of industry support, a total of 45 ad and media agencies participated in the SPH Ink Awards. Of the 287 entries, 37 were short-listed as finalists.

Mr James Heng, Chairman of the Ink Awards, said, “We are very heartened by the increase in support for the awards, which is into its third year. There were 60% more entries this year, and we´ve seen more participation for the Chinese and Special Buy categories too. Special thanks go out to the distinguished panel of judges. Being top professionals in creative, media and marketing, they lend a holistic perspective when selecting the best work.”

The award culminated in a ceremony cum dinner tonight at the Raffles Hotel´s Jubilee Hall. More than 300 guests from the ad industry attended the event.

Being synonymous with print advertising locally, SPH, with the support of the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents (4As) Singapore, pioneered the Ink Awards to drive local advertising excellence in print. All entries were published in SPH newspapers and magazines from May 2006 to April 2007.

The attached annexes show:
i) the list of winners by the various categories, and
ii) the list of winners by agency.

• Download SPH Ink Awards - Full Results (by Category) (57 KB)

• Download SPH Ink Awards - Results by Agency (23 KB)

Issued by Singapore Press Holdings Ltd
Co. Regn. No: 198402868E

For more information or visuals, please contact:

Mr Willy Tan
Senior Brand/Marketing Manager
Product Development & Branding,
SPH Marketing Division
Tel: 6319 8861
Mobile: 9674 2966
Email: willytan@sph.com.sg

Mr Adrian Cheong
Assistant Manager
Corporate Communications
Mobile: 9798 6097
Email: cheongcy@sph.com.sg

About Singapore Press Holdings Ltd
Newspapers and Magazines
Main board-listed Singapore Press Holdings Ltd (SPH) is the leading media company in Singapore, delivering news and information through print, Internet and broadcasting platforms. In Singapore, it publishes 14 newspapers in four languages. Every day, 2.7 million individuals or 83 percent of people above 15 years old, read one of SPH’s news publications. SPH also publishes over 90 magazine titles in Singapore and the region, covering a broad range of interests from lifestyle to information technology.

Internet and Mobile
Beyond print, the Internet editions of SPH newspapers enjoy over 100 million pageviews with 6 million unique visitors every month. Apart from SPH AsiaOne portal, SPH’s online and new media initiatives include a revolutionary mobile advertising and information service, ZapCode; recruitment and job search service, ST701; and STOMP (Straits Times Online Mobile Print), a portal that connects, engages and interacts with readers on the Web and via mobile phone messaging.

Broadcasting
SPH has a 20 percent stake in MediaCorp TV Holdings Pte Ltd, which operates free-to-air channels 5, 8, U and TV Mobile, and a 40 percent stake in MediaCorp Press Pte Ltd, which publishes the free newspaper, Today. In the radio business, SPH has a 80 percent stake in SPH UnionWorks Pte Ltd, which operates entertainment stations Radio 100.3 in Mandarin and Radio 91.3 in English.

Outdoor Advertising
In addition, SPH has ventured into outdoor advertising through its wholly-owned subsidiary, SPH MediaBoxOffice Pte Ltd, Singapore´s largest outdoor motion display advertising network media company, and a 35 percent stake in TOM Outdoor Media Group, a leading outdoor advertising company in China.

Properties
SPH owns and manages Paragon, the prime retail and office complex in the heart of Orchard Road, Singapore’s main shopping belt. SPH’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Times Development Pte Ltd, is also developing a 43-storey upmarket residential condominium, Sky@eleven, at Thomson Road.