Eco-Business has won two awards for best native advertising/branded content campaign and best use of online video (including VR) at the Asian Digital Media Awards 2020 held virtually on Thursday (15 October).
Organised by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), the esteemed awards recognise Asian publishers who have delivered unique and original digital media projects in the last year.
Eco-Business is the leading media organisation serving Asia Pacific’s clean technology, smart cities, and responsible business community. It produces independent journalism on critical sustainable development issues, attracting an ever-growing audience across the globe.
As part of its consistent efforts to raise awareness and action on climate change, Eco-Business launched the multimedia exhibition Changing Course 2019: An exploration of our climate crisis last year with a wide variety of government, business and civic society partners. This initiative won the special award under the category of best native advertising/branded content campaign.
The interactive exhibition was held at Marina Bay Sand’s ArtScience Museum in Singapore from 5 October to 3 November 2019 and featured photographs, an original documentary, and a virtual reality (VR) experience that explored humanity’s relationship with our planet and outlined the challenges in our current global patterns of consumption and production.
Beyond the first exhibition, Changing Course 2019 was also showcased at JW Marriott Hotel Singapore South Beach, Tzu Chi Humanistic Youth Centre and lastly at Singapore Sustainable Gallery until September this year. In addition, photographs and trailer videos from the exhibition were displayed on buses, taxis, and mass rapid transit (MRT) stations across Singapore.
In partnership with Blue Planet Environmental Solutions, Changing Course 2019 will be showcased in India for the next leg of its journey.
Eco-Business’ VR experience entitled On This Earth won another special award for best use of online video (including VR). The immersive 360-degree experience takes the viewer on a journey of discovery to the Arctic, India and Singapore to tell the story of the global climate crisis.
Changing Course 2019 was supported by a wide range of organisations including APRIL Group, ArtScience Museum, Blue Planet Environmental Solutions, City Developments Limited, ComfortDelGro, iSwitch, Henkel, the Norwegian Embassy in Singapore, OCBC Bank, Olam International, RED, Sindicatum Renewable Energy, Singapore’s Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, United Nations Environment Programme, and Wartsila.
The initiative was organised in support of Singapore’s Year Towards Zero Waste and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
Other winners in the two categories included South China Morning Post, IDN Media, and Asahi Shimbun. This year’s awards saw 26 winners across 10 categories and recognised media platforms for new approaches to digital subscriptions, data visualisation, and native advertising among others.
“We are thrilled and grateful that our work has been recognised by Wan-Ifra and the judges. In this age of misinformation, we are more determined than ever in our efforts to produce high quality journalism on under-reported issues. Our climate change coverage is growing from strength to strength, and it enables us to put together large, public-facing multimedia exhibitions like Changing Course to further advance policy discussion, improve business practices and change consumer behaviour,” said Jessica Cheam, founder and managing director of Eco-Business.
“I’d like to thank the entire team and all our partners who worked so hard on this project. It’s a sign of the times that climate change reporting is on the rise, and I’m also encouraged that the work of small independent media organisations are increasingly being recognised.”
