PETALING JAYA: Advertising company Initiative Malaysia, including BPN Malaysia, has retained its position as the leading media agency in Malaysia on media research company Recma’s latest qualitative evaluation, the only agency in the country to score a dominant profile for five consecutive reports.

BPN is part of, and an agency brand under Initiative.

With sister agency Universal McCann (UM) at the No. 2 spot, IPG Mediabrands has remained the top agency group for the last seven years.

Initiative and BPN are part of IPG Mediabrands.

Agency rankings are based on 18 criteria, with the qualitative scores tabulated to give a profile ranging across the following levels – dominant, high, very good, good, average and emerging. This edition of the qualitative evaluation features 15 agencies in Malaysia and stands as a key tool to assess competition on a local basis.

Darren Yuen, chief executive officer of Initiative said, “This dominant position is driven by our dedicated team who have worked consistently over the past few years to build enhanced analytics, marketing technology or martech, content and consultancy services for our clients.”

“This has helped us drive positive momentum across pitches and new business, and we have steadily grown our resources, upskilling digitally to keep fostering this spirit of cultural disruption,” he added.

Initiative also recently picked up a Gold in the Brand Content & Entertainment – Products category at the Malaysian Effie Awards 2023 for the campaign “From Unlimited to Unbeatable” for client U Mobile.

“Winning one of only three Gold Effie awarded for the night is not just a recognition of our agency’s accomplishments, it’s a celebration of our relentless pursuit of excellence.

“It’s a reminder that when passion meets precision, there’s no limit to what we can achieve with our clients,” Yuen added.