Kuala Lumpur, 24 April, 2012  - Aspiring Studios took the plaudits by emerging as champions in the National BizVid Challenge 2011/2012 Finals that was held at UCSI University.

Comprising UCSI University students Sunny Chong Yee Ping and Emest John Lee Xian Zheng, the team delighted the home crowd by besting four other finalists in the multi-tiered competition that required participating teams to produce a two to three-minute viral video that promoted Canon products for the Finals.

The duo, both students at the University's Faculty of Business & Information Science (FoBIS), even found praise from Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr. Wee Ka Siong who delivered the keynote address at the Finals.

"The top three videos – especially the winning one – were of high quality. The storylines were impressive and there were hidden messages that viewers had to take note of," he said in a press conference after the event.

"Such videos are now the trend and businesses are employing them to attract more customers. The same applies to politics and people prefer YouTube videos over long documentaries nowadays. The creators of such videos have the ability to convey core messages effectively."

For their efforts, Chong and Lee bagged the grand prize of RM5, 000, a Canon Legria camcorder worth RM5, 599 and a week-long internship at the New York Academy of Sciences – courtesy of Akademi Sains Malaysia – for one student. As Chong is completing his studies soon, it was mutually agreed that Lee would get the golden ticket to the United States.

Second spot went to Team Rolladice from Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka while Team Exodus of UCSI University placed third. For their efforts, the teams bagged, RM3, 500 and RM1, 500 respectively, along with Canon camcorders.

Themed "A Day Full of Stories", the winning video featured a videographer's footage as he strolled along a busy shopping district in Kuala Lumpur. During the short walk, the video captured a mother's dedication to her child, aspirations, the simple pleasures of courtship and individual expression through art and music.

The video struck a chord with the judges and the Star Radio Group marketing director Victor Gu was effusive with praise. "I like it a lot," he said, praising the video's tone, storyline and concept. Noting that the production process could be improved, Gu quizzed the team on the video's core message and their selection of various elements.

"We wanted to capture the beauty of small things; precious everyday moments that are often overlooked due to work and other commitments," said Chong. "Things all of us can relate to like a mother's love. We constantly need to retain these memories and that is where Canon comes in to delight us – always."

Chipping in, Lee said that they agreed not to adopt a "hard sell" approach. The danger, he said, was to focus excessively on a product at the expense of personal appeal.

This approach, said Leo Burnett Group CEO Tan Kian Eng – another judge on the panel – set the duo apart from the competition. "Their message was clear and they did very well," he said. "The quality of the video may not the best but let's not forget that they are majoring in business; not filmmaking.

The other judges in the five-man panel included the Multimedia Development Corporation's (MDeC) Head of Talent Department Muhammad Imaran Kunalan Abdullah, Canon Marketing (Malaysia) Marketing Manager Alfred Kok and Erican Education Managing Director Eric Chong.

UCSI University Vice-Chancellor Dr Robert Bong and UCSI University Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Academic Affairs and Research, Professor Emeritus Dr. Lim Koon Ong were also present at the event.

Organised by the faculty, the nationwide competition was held with sponsorship from Canon and support from the Multimedia Development Corporation and the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry.

A total of 62 teams from higher education institutions nationwide participated in the competition.