Spikes Asia 2011: Craft, Design, PR Jury Presidents announced

Spikes Asia Advertising Festival, the regional event for creative excellence in advertising and communications for Asia, announces the final three jury presidents who will convene in Singapore to chair the Craft, Design and PR juries at this year's awards.

Danny Searle, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of BBDO Singapore will head up the Craft Jury; Elsie Nanji, Managing Partner of Red Lion will lead the Design category; and Tim Sutton, Chairman, Weber Shandwick Asia Pacific will preside over the brand new PR category.

Craft Jury President, Danny Searle started his career as a film editor, way back when people actually edited film. After a few years as a producer, he moved on to copywriting and won awards in all major shows. He has judged at Cannes Lions, The One Show and D&AD. During his five years as Executive Creative Director of Clemenger BBDO Sydney he was named by Australia's number one business magazine, BRW, as Australia's best Creative Director. Danny moved to BBDO/Proximity's regional headquarters in Singapore just over four years ago. BBDO/Proximity was named Asian Network of the Year in 2008 by Media Magazine. In 2009 it was Asia's most Effective Agency (AMEs) and Asia's top Digital Agency (Asian Media Digital Awards). And BBDO has been Campaign Brief's top ranked Agency for the last three years. Danny currently sits on the BBDO Worldwide Creative Board.

"There is no other region where craft is more exciting. It's where the cultural and ethnic diversity is most vibrant. From Thailand to Japan, From India to Singapore, all have maintained a local reference or signature style. It makes the work unique and fresh for an outsider, and keeps it culturally relevant within its own country. I love that it has resisted the homogenised and familiar style of Europe and the West. Plus it makes judging it more fun," comments Danny Searle.

Design Jury President, Elsie Nanji, is a multiple award winner at both Indian and international award shows. She created Red Lion, the design wing of Publicis Communications in India, in 2007. Voted as one of the top five design brands in the country by The Economic Times in 2011, Red Lion has won Design Silver and Gold Spikes Asia awards and a Silver Design Lion at Cannes. Elsie has also previously judged at both Spikes Asia and at Cannes Lions.

"I'm delighted and honoured to be the President of the Design Jury at Spikes Asia this year. Having been a jury member at the very first design awards at Spikes in 2009, I discovered a world of fresh perspectives and leaps of imagination where the creative power of some of the most fertile minds in the world was unleashed," says Elsie Nanji.

All design innovation is an exercise in shaping the future, and has a bearing on every aspect of the human condition - from how our landscape evolves to the way we communicate. Spikes Asia has gone a long way in commemorating and celebrating this vision, and I am hoping the 2011 Festival will further set new benchmarks in the world of design," continues Elsie.

The PR category will launch for the first time at Spikes Asia this year and will be chaired by Tim Sutton who is also Asia Pacific's Chairman of parent company, Interpublic's CMG division which houses its global "below the line' marketing services businesses which include FutureBrand, GolinHarris, Jack Morton, Octagon and Weber Shandwick.

Tim is one of the global PR industry's most respected practitioners with experience in key markets around the world. A renowned corporate and brand strategy expert, he has advised numerous companies on major restructuring and brand communications strategies and is also a recognised authority on crisis management and employee communications.

"The breadth and depth of smart and strategic PR capability in Asia Pacific is growing rapidly and devising innovative effective programmes which are truly tailor-made for Asia rather than just poor copies of what works in North America and Europe," comments Tim Sutton. "This is a great opportunity to check progress and recognise the firms and people who are really raising the bar."

Terry Savage, Chairman of Cannes Lions, who with Haymarket Asia are joint organisers of Spikes Asia, remarks: "As well as being highly respected and very influential, Danny, Elsie and Tim are experts on what creative communications work in the region. Their wealth of experience and knowledge will be instrumental in leading the judging process and it's fantastic to have them onboard at Spikes Asia this year."

Other jury presidents joining Danny Searle, Elsie Nanji and Tim Sutton are Jeff Benjamin (Digital and Mobile), Mark Patterson (Media), Rémi Babinet (Film, Press, Outdoor, Radio and Integrated) and Daniel Morel (Direct and Promo & Activation).

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