BLWN celebrates 12 wins at AOTY and MARKies 2026, including four Local Hero awards

This post is sponsored by BLWN.

BLWN picked up 12 wins at this year's MARKies and Agency of the Year (AOTY) Awards, decided by senior client-side marketers, a different kind of scoreboard than most industry awards.

Add to that a wider community built through SAMA and the 4As, and this year's wins start to look less like a scoreboard and more like trust earned in more than one place.

We spoke to four of BLWN’s team leads – Mark Lee (CEO), Monica Shenton (head of content and strategy), Michelle Tan (head of social media), and Wong An Jie (head of creative) – about what earning that kind of recognition has actually looked like behind the scenes.

Between winning across so many categories, what stood out most to you personally this year?

Lee: What stood out most wasn’t the number of awards, but what they represent. Recognition across so many disciplines tells us we’re building the kind of agency today’s businesses need. One that brings strategy, creativity, digital, and design together to solve commercial challenges, not just marketing ones. The real win is where we help shape our clients’ businesses, not just their campaigns.

Strategy often happens before consumers ever see a campaign. What do you think people misunderstand most about strategic work?

Shenton: People often think strategy is about finding the big idea. I think it’s about finding the right problem, since a strong creative idea only goes so far if it’s answering the wrong question. Much of our work is helping clients step back from what they think they need and uncover what’s actually preventing growth. Strategy isn’t there to limit creativity; it gives creativity something meaningful to achieve.

Being named Digital Agency of the Year covers a lot of ground. Where does social specifically fit into that story?

Tan: I think we’ve outgrown the idea that social is just another marketing channel. It’s where brands prove whether they really understand their audience. Anyone can publish content, but few consistently create something people genuinely want to engage with. That’s where we focus: using social to solve business problems, not just hit engagement targets, because that’s what actually builds brand affinity and drives commercial impact.

BLWN also picked up Brand & Design Consultancy of the Year. What do you think design had to prove differently this year compared to last?

Wong: This year, design had to prove it could scale, not just deliver strong local work. Last year’s portfolio leaned heavily on local impact; this year, we expanded into international and regional territory, including work for Kia and a multi-country rebrand for CIMB across Southeast Asia. Taking on those high-stakes, cross-border projects showed that design at BLWN builds lasting brand equity and scales seamlessly, not just locally.

If you had to name one skill your team has gotten noticeably better at this year, what would it be?

Shenton: Simplification. As briefs get more complex, it’s easy to overcomplicate the solution. This year, we’ve gotten much better at identifying the one insight that truly matters and building everything around it. That discipline makes ideas easier for audiences to understand, easier for clients to buy into, and ultimately more effective.

What’s the biggest shift you’ve seen in consumer behaviour over the past year?

Tan: Everyone says attention spans are shrinking. I don’t buy it. People still spend hours consuming content but they’re just quicker at deciding what’s worth their time. The real shift is that audiences expect brands to show up like creators, not advertisers. If your content feels interruptive, they’ll scroll. If it adds value, they’ll stay. That’s the bar now.

BLWN also won Creative Agency of the Year. What separates work that just looks good from work that’s actually built to shift how people see a brand?

Wong: Work that just looks good relies on aesthetics. Work that shifts how people see a brand relies on strategy and courage. Our “Why Kia?” campaign is a good example where the design was literally one line of text: “Kenapa pilih Kia?” Instead of defending Kia with features and promises, we threw the question back to the market and let the audience answer it themselves. That’s the difference between decoration and actually changing how people see a brand.

If you had to describe this year’s growth in one word, what would it be, and why?

Lee: Momentum. Every achievement has created opportunities for the next one. We’ve grown our capabilities, earned the trust of more ambitious clients, and taken on work that’s bigger in scale and complexity. More importantly, our team has grown in tandem with the business. Awards are a milestone, not the destination. What excites me most is that we’re building the kind of momentum that pushes us to keep raising the standard every year.

About BLWN

BLWN is a 360-degree creative marketing agency guided by the mantra “When strategy meets creativity – magic happens”. It helps brands say things the way people want to hear them through strategic and innovative creative work. With expertise spanning branding, strategy, social media, digital, design, content and on-ground activation, the agency builds campaigns that drive measured effectiveness for clients across Malaysia and the region.

As a founding board member of the Strategic Asia Marketing Alliance (SAMA) and a member of the 4As, BLWN helps shape the region’s marketing future through cross-market collaboration and shared innovation.

Learn more at www.blwn.com.my.