The International Advertising Festival, the organisers of Cannes Lions, Dubai Lynx and Eurobest, and Haymarket Media Ltd, the publishers of Media and Campaign, have entered into an agreement to partner and relaunch Spikes – Asian Advertising Awards into major advertising festival for Asia.
The Spikes, established by Media magazine in 1986, has celebrated creativity in advertising for over 22 years. Held in Bali for the past three years, it has consistently sought to raise the bar for creative excellence and has been instrumental in putting Asian advertising on the global stage.
The new joint venture, Spikes Asia – The 1st Asian Advertising Festival, will build the event into the region’s largest forum for individuals involved in creativity and communications. It will be the region’s must attend event, attracting art directors, creatives, copywriters, media agency executives, clients, account managers, agency heads, producers, directors and journalists from the region and globally.
The annual event will take place in September. Launching in 2009, it is expected to be held in Singapore – a destination with world-class facilities and the capacity to grow Spikes Asia.
During the festival, delegates will be able to view the most extensive exhibition of creative work from Asia, attend unique topical seminars and workshops and honour winning work at gala awards ceremonies.
The awards competition will be open to companies who produce work that only runs in Asia, with the judging conducted live during the event. Five juries composed of top international and regional creatives and industry experts, each led by a jury president will judge the entries and award the coveted Spikes Asia trophy to the best in press, film, outdoor, radio, cyber, integrated, direct & promo, media, craft, and design.
As part of the event’s commitment to developing young talent in the region, the festival will roll out the Young Tigers competition in 2009. This programme will also give young creatives and students a world-class experience during Spikes Asia and an opportunity to learn and be inspired by the best creative minds in the industry.
Terry Savage, Chairman of Cannes Lions, said: “We are committed to bringing a great event to Asia. Haymarket has a similar vision and we felt the power of Cannes and the power of Haymarket is a compelling combination that will be well received by the market.”
Tim Waldron, Managing Director of Haymarket Asia, said: “This venture with Cannes will allow us to accelerate our growth strategy for the Spikes. The Spikes is one of the toughest trophies to win regionally and we believe that is down to the quality of judging. Cannes Lions have that same view, so the decision to work together in building the most important and prestigious awards festival in the region was an easy one.”
Phil Thomas, CEO of Cannes Lions, said: “We aim to build a series of world class regional events to support our Global event Cannes Lions. ” Spikes Awards already has traction in the region and with our festival expertise we will grow the festival into a major force in the region.”
About the Cannes Lion Festival
The International Advertising Festival – Cannes Lions – is the largest gathering of worldwide advertising professionals and advertisers as well as the most prestigious annual advertising awards. More than 10,000 registered delegates from 94 countries and around 12,000 total visitors from the advertising and allied industries attend this event to celebrate the best of creativity across all media mix, discuss industry issues and network with one another. Over 28,000 ads from all over the world are showcased and judged at the Festival. Winning companies receive the highly coveted Lion trophy, honouring the most creative TV/cinema, print, outdoor, interactive, radio, design, sales promotion, integrated advertising, as well as the best media and direct marketing solutions. A unique programme of high-profile seminars, workshops and keynote speakers, organised by some of the biggest names in the industry, are also presented.
About the Haymarket Media Group
The Haymarket Media Group established in 1957 is the largest privately-owned magazine publisher in the UK, and one of the fastest growing media companies globally. The principal business is centred around its consumer, business, professional and customer publications. These are complemented by digital platforms and live events, including extensive exhibitions, conferences and awards. The Group’s global expansion comes from wholly owned subsidiaries, joint ventures and extensive licensing of key magazines to other publishers. In Asia from their offices in Hong Kong, Mumbai and Singapore, Haymarket Media Ltd publish market-leading titles Media, Finance Asia, Asian Investor, CEI Asia Pacific and Campaign India. In addition Haymarket organize a number of the regions leading industry awards and conferences relating to the communications and finance sectors. For more information about the Haymarket Media Group see www.haymarket.com.
