Spikes Asia 2012: Kassaei, Proctor, Manikas named as first jury presidents

The Spikes Asia Advertising Festival, slated for 16 to 18 September in Singapore, has named its first three jury presidents: Amir Kassaei, Dominic Proctor, and Tina Manikas.

Kassaei, chief creative officer of DDB Worldwide, will lead the Film, Print, Outdoor & Radio and Integrated Jury. A veteran of TBWA Worldwide, Barci & Partner and Springer & Jacoby before joining DDB, Kassaei and his team are recipients of more than 2,000 national and international awards including 40 Cannes Lions in the past five years. He has made it his mission to ignite a new creative revolution at DDB and for the industry as a whole.

"I am looking forward to a lot of innovative and inspiring ideas of international endurance," Kassaei said. "Asia is going to play a very important role—not only in terms of the economy, but also in creative terms—for our industry and for business overall."

Proctor, president of GroupM Global, will lead the Media Jury. In his current role, which he assumed in January, Proctor oversees GroupM's global media agencies: Mindshare, Maxus, MEC and MediaCom. In 1997, having already served for five years as CEO of JWT, he launched Mindshare Worldwide, WPP's first media planning, buying, and research agency.

"There is no doubt that [the media] sector has gained hugely in importance as the media landscape has become much more difficult to navigate," he said. "One thing that reflects that importance is the quality of entries into the industry awards."

Manikas, global retail and promotions officer for Draftfcb, will preside over the Direct and Promo & Activation Jury. Her 25-year career has seen her become a recognised leader in the industry and seasoned presenter on trends and insights at retail and integrated forums. At Draftfcb she overseas retail marketing and activation efforts worldwide, with an international account portfolio including Beiersdorf, Kraft, Motorola, Brown-Forman as well as U.S. based blue-chip clients MilkPEP, Taco Bell and Del Monte.

"I look forward to seeing all of the fabulous entries and I’m excited to help the region continue to set the bar for great work," she said.

Spikes Asia is firmly established as a must-attend event, according to Terry Savage, chairman of Lions Festivals. "To ensure that it remains so, and that it stays as a true reflection of the industry and region, it’s crucial that we have the right people involved," he added. "All respected in their fields, Amir, Dominic and Tina have been chosen for their proven achievements and their clear ability to determine the best in creativity and set precedent within the region."

The Spikes Asia Advertising Festival is a collaboration between the Lions Festivals, organisers of Cannes Lions, Dubai Lynx and Eurobest; and Haymarket, publishers of Campaign Asia Pacific.

This article was first published on www.campaignasia.com