APAC Effie Awards 2014 announces heads of jury

APAC Effie has announced the first two of the four heads of jury who will form the Judging Committee for its 2014 Awards.

Ajay Kakar, Chief Marketing Officer, Financial Services, Aditya Birla Group, comes with a unique agency-cum-client perspective. He has worked at the agency end for over 14 years, at Ogilvy & Mather, across the 3 key disciplines of Direct Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations. For the last 8 years, he has been a client. Today, he leads marketing across the 9 lines of business of the Aditya Birla Financial Services Group, that include life insurance, asset management, broking, general insurance broking, online money management, non-banking financial companies (NBFC), private equity, project and structured finance, and wealth management & distribution.

On his appointment as a head of jury for APAC Effie, Kakar (left) said, “Having chaired the Effie India Awards for the last 3 years, I am indeed honored to now be invited as a head of jury for the APAC awards. In recent years, the need and demand for work that works in the market place, have given the Effie award a pride of place on the shelves of both agencies and marketers. As a head of jury I do look forward to the exciting opportunity to review the most insightful and impactful campaigns from across the region.”

Ben Lightfoot, (right) CEO, McCann Worldgroup Singapore, was appointed in 2010 after re-establishing the McCann presence in the New Zealand market, where he held a dual role of Creative and Managing Director. With more than 18 years of experience within advertising and communications, Lightfoot has held senior roles in both creative and management across brand, retail, direct and digital, and has been internationally awarded for both strategy and creativity in each of these disciplines.

“We have seen so much great work come out of our region, both in terms of creativity as well as effectiveness. I am really excited to see how the strategies developed led to innovative integrated creative solutions. Strategies unique for Asia Pacific, that broke away from category norms and delivered exceptional results,” said Lightfoot, who also helms the roles of APAC Effie Committee Member and Chairman of Effie Singapore.

Commenting on the appointments, Connie Chan, 2014 Awards Chairman said, “We’re delighted to welcome the heads of jury on board the Judging Committee. The rich experience and expertise of these Heads make up a powerful composition for the Judging Committee, with a good mix of industry leaders from different backgrounds across APAC. We look forward to the great dynamics arising from the interaction and tapping on their perspectives in the judging sessions.”

Finalists will be announced at the end of February 2014, with the Awards Gala set to take place in Singapore in April 2014. For more information visit here.