Elsie Nanji named as jury president for Spikes Asia 2011

Spikes Asia Advertising Festival has announced the final three jury presidents who will chair the Craft, Design and PR juries at this year’s awards.
 
Danny Searle, chairman and chief creative officer, BBDO Singapore will head the Craft Jury; Elsie Nanji (pictured), 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.
 
Elsie Nanji created Red Lion, the design wing of Publicis Communications in India, in 2007. Red Lion has previously won Design Silver and Gold Spikes Asia awards and a Silver Design Lion at Cannes. Nanji has previously judged at both Spikes Asia and at Cannes Lions.
 
Commenting on this development, Nanji said, “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.”
 
“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,” added Elsie.

Craft Jury president, Danny Searle started his career as a film editor. After a few years as a producer, he moved on to copywriting. He has judged at Cannes Lions, The One Show and D&AD. Searle is currently on the BBDO Worldwide Creative Board.
 
Commenting on a chance to head craft, Searle said, “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.”

Tim Sutton, chairman of Weber Shandwick Asia Pacific has been appointed jury president for the new PR category.
 
Commenting on this, Sutton said,“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.”
 
On the trio’s appointments, Terry Savage, chairman of Cannes Lions, who with Haymarket Asia are joint organisers of Spikes Asia, said, “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.”