The Spikes Asia Festival of Creativity has announced the launch of three new academies for the youth that will run during the 2013 festival. The Festival already ran the Young Creative Academy. Now, a Young Media Academy, a Young Executive Academy and a Young Marketer Academy have been added.
The Young Media Academy will offer media professionals, aged 28 or under, the chance to be part of a three-day programme themed around creativity in media. The academy will demonstrate the value and execution of creativity in media channels. It will be led by Philip Talbot, outgoing CEO of ZenithOptimedia APAC, and founder and CEO of Asia Communication Expertise.
The Young Account Executive Academy which will be led by John Wright, who has worked with agencies like JWT, Young & Rubicam, Ogilvy & Mather, Chiat Day Mojo and The Campaign Palace across Australia, UK, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. He teaches part time in advertising strategy, principles and practice, at the University of Technology,Sydney.
“The programme will focus on how to build stronger client relationships but also provide a deeper understanding of how creativity is making a difference for both client and agency,” informed a Spikes Asia statement. McCann Worldgroup will sponsor the inaugural Young Account Executive Academy.
On the initiative, Charles Cadell, president McCann WorldGroup Asia Pacific, said, “Given the ever growing scarcity and thirst for talent in Asia, it is critical for the success of our industry that we treat talent development as a primary mandate. McCann is determined to be a leading creative powerhouse across the region and one element of this is to ensure that our suits are as committed and driven as our creative teams to achieve this goal.”
Open to 15 students aged 23 and under, the Young Creative Academy will return to Spikes Asia. Noor Azhar, senior lecturer in Visual Communication and Media Design at the Singapore Polytechnic Design School, will mentor students. Prior to his stint as lecturer, Azhar practiced advertising as art director at CreAds Advertising and Batey Ads and then went on to set up integrated brand communications agency Just Media (now JM Asia). Cheil will sponsor the academy for the fifth year.
The Young Marketers Academy is looking to marketers and brand managers who are working at client companies and are aged 30 and under. The academy will look into the importance of why creativity matters to brands today. The group will be mentored by Joe Talcott. Talcott has spent 30 years in the marketing industry, including 17 years at McDonald’s in markets across the world including Chicago. He worked on the launch of the ‘I’m lovin’ it’ campaign as global marketing director. Currently, he heads creatism.is, a business that helps marketers and agencies connect to produce superior communications. Sponsoring the Young Marketers Academy will be Dentsu.
Dick van Motman, chairman and CEO, Dentsu Network/Asia, said, “At Dentsu, we believe creativity is key to driving long-term customer engagement for brands. As a 112-year old company that was built around innovation, we are committed to investing in talent as the future of our industry for tomorrow. The ability to successfully apply creativity in every aspect of marketing is extremely valuable to young professionals today,” says. It’s a skill that will never grow old because of the role it plays in the success of a campaign, career or an organisation. The Young Marketers Academy will give participants a fresh perspective on creativity through experts who have been successful at harnessing it in their careers.”
About the academies, Steve Latham, director of talent and training, Lions Festivals, said, “Year on year Spikes Asia has been growing and we believe it important that investment in the future of the industry should be part of this growth. These academies represent four key areas of the industry and offer an unbeaten opportunity to not only learn from unique presentations, but to do this against a backdrop of intensive creativity whilst benefitting from all that the Festival has to offer.”
The Spikes Festival of Creativity is a collaboration between Lions Festivals, organisers of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, and Haymarket, publishers of Campaign India.