SPIKES ASIA 2021 HIGHLIGHTS AND WINNING WORKS
Let’s say, every now and then an idea or two walks past your mind that you consider as “a creative idea”. However, you have never attempted to give those ideas a true form. This means that you are not quite creative! Pardon me for breaking it down to you. Yes, you may be imaginative, but true creativity comes only with a vision to turn imaginations into reality. When you have actual creativity oozing out your brain, you’ll feel the itch to innovate and discover new paths that lead to new destinations or at least to the same destination but in a much more fun and convenient way. And we can never simply talk about creativity without mentioning Spikes Asia in the same breath. The spikes we will learn about in detail in a few moments are not your average spikes on a cactus or some popular millennial hairstyle name. We are gossiping about the leading Awarding Body in the Asia Pacific region. It is considered the yardstick for creativity throughout the continent. Since its commencement in 1986 as the Asian Advertising Awards, the association has set the benchmark and determined the standard for creativity in correlation with effectiveness for the creative communications industry of the Asia Pacific region. In other words, Spikes Asia is the continent’s most historic and prestigious award. It encompasses a 3-day long fest that reaches out to the most proficient and prominent judges who stand as part of the award ceremony’s jury, as well as fresh and raw talent. Here, the creative communications community of Asia gathers to celebrate the region’s advertising talent, negotiate the industry’s fundamental issues, broaden their horizons, and form links with professionals of the industry.
Spikes Asia is a collaboration between Haymarket and Lions Festivals. These two organizations present the region with the opportunity to bring under one roof (not in COVID times though!) the crème de la crème of creative minds in the world and provide them with a platform to bond and share ideas with each other and everyone else. In 2021, the ceremony took from February 22nd to February 25th, and for the first time, Spikes Asia partnered with Campaign Asia to provide its audience access to a four-day long journey to bottomless live content presented on-demand, that is based on market effectiveness and creative communications. This time, the theme for the event was: “Creativity is the growth engine”. The statement is bold, both figuratively and literally (pardon the jest!), and has a deep inherent meaning underlying it. Offering important learning, key insights, and practical how-to session and well as providing basic know-how was the fundamental objective of the program. Spikes Asia 2021 even organized a webinar named, “How to win a spike”, discussing and suggesting current and potential participants on how to prepare their work so that they can make themselves the safer bet to take the award home and become familiar with winning ways. The jury of the Award show consisted of 86 of the finest and class-leading creative minds that are there on the planet, with equal fractions of male and female experts. A few examples include Emily Bull (Managing Director and Founder of hellofuture.tv), Joakim (jab) Borgstrom (Worldwide Chief Creative Officer of BBH GLOBAL), Kaveri Khullar (Vice President of Consumer Marketing at Mastercard Asia Pacific), Malcolm Poynton (Global Chief Creative Officer and President Creative at Cheil Worldwide GLOBAL), and so on.
The Spikes Asia 2021 debuted a new online format for the competition. It included two distinct competitions- The Young Spikes Film Competition and the Young Spikes Integrated Competition. The competitions are meant for people equal to or under 30 years of age, more specifically people born on or after 27th February 1990, who are involved in the communications and advertising industry. The competitions have been launched in collaboration with Conservation International. In the Young Spikes Film Competition, two-member teams will be asked to create a 60-second video advertisement based on the brief provided by Conservation International. And in the Young Spikes Integrated Competition, a two-member unit is required to design a campaign in accordance with a brief set by Conservation International. The competition is aimed at Young Brand Marketers, Art Directors, Strategists & Planners, Copywriters, PR Executives, Account Managers, and other competent branded creative communications talents. The prizes for these competitions will include Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals as well as delegate passes to the next Spikes Asia Fest, given to the winning participants by a panel of industry experts and professionals. On 1st March 2021, the Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Tangrams Awards’ Winners were announced. On March 4, 2021, the Spikes Grand Prix and Special Awards Winners were announced.
Speaking of creativity of the highest order, FCB India has displayed and demonstrated just that, as they achieved the milestone of winning a “Hattrick of Spikes Grand Prix”. FCB India’s world-renowned campaign, “Times out and Proud for Times of India” bagged the Grand Prix at the Spikes Asia 2021, leading them to a straight third consecutive triumph at the Spikes Asia Awards. Previously, FCB India had won the coveted Grand Prix in 2018, for their “Sindoor Khela- No conditions apply” for the Times of India, and in 2019, they won the Grand Prix in the Brand Experience and Activation category for “The Open Door Project”, aimed at The Millennium Schools. Rohit Ohri, Group Chairman & CEO of FCB India was quoted saying, “Our Grand Prix hattrick at Spikes is the best testimony to our creative transformation journey. Over the last three years, FCB India has won the biggest global awards and has been named as the No.1 creative agency in India by WARC and the One Show Global Creative Rankings. This is truly a dream come true for me and my team”. Furthermore, he added, “For me winning glass is truly the most authentic win because this is an award that celebrates changing the world, not just changing the brand”. On the other hand, creative data and tech agency, Wunderman Thompson dominated the event as they bagged 2 Grand Prix, 2 Gold, 2 Silver, and 10 Bronze at Spikes Asia 2021 Festival. With this victory, the agency was named The Thailand Country Agency of the Year. Bringing all these talents together, displaying such great feat, and introducing the globe to such promising prospects, Spikes Asia remains one of the top tier Award Associations and the best in the region it belongs to. With passing times it only promises to become even more prominent, bringing new exciting and creative minds as well as ideas to the forefront in the coming future, opening the door to a world of new opportunities for the young talented minds of the next generation.
Article By Farhat Chowdhury
