Asia Pacific Effie Awards 2017 names Ashish Bhasin and Jean-Paul Burge as jury heads

Asia Pacific Effie Awards, the region’s symbol of marketing effectiveness excellence, has named the first 2 Heads of Jury – Ashish Bhasin and Jean-Paul Burge.

Bhasin (pictured left) is the Chairman & CEO Dentsu Aegis Network South Asia and Chairman Posterscope and MKTG – Asia Pacific. He is also a member of the Dentsu Aegis Network Asia Pacific Executive Board. A well-known personality in the Advertising & Media industry in Asia Pacific for the past 29 years, Bhasin has built the Dentsu Aegis Network in India from a 50 member team to a 3000 member powerhouse.

Prior to this, Bhasin successfully led and set up several of Lintas India’s (IPG) businesses and also had the global role of Executive Vice President, Lowe Worldwide and Asia Regional Director for Integrated Marketing.

His leadership and contributions are apparent from the multiple awards he has received, such as the Campaign Asia – South Asia Agency Head of the Year award 2016 and 2015 and MXM’s Media Person of the Year- 2016. As a veteran in the industry, Bhasin has also served on global juries and trade bodies in India.

Commenting on the appointment, Bhasin shared “I am very pleased to accept the invitation to be the Head of Jury at the APAC Effie 2017. It gives me a great opportunity to see some of the best work around the region, across markets as well as to interact with some of the best minds in our business. I look forward to APAC Effie 2017 being a grand success.”

Burge (above right) is the Chairman and CEO of BBDO Asia. Burge began his career at JWT London in 1998 and joined BBDO in 2004. Over the past seventeen years he has worked in London, Bangkok, Amsterdam, Hong Kong and Singapore.

In 2007 he was appointed Managing Director of BBDO and Proximity Singapore, and was subsequently promoted to Chief Executive Officer in October 2008 and to President South East Asia in 2010. Burge has led BBDO to become the most awarded network for creativity and for effectiveness in the region, including the APAC Network of the Year in the Effie Global Index. Many of the BBDO Asia offices are also leaders in their respective markets, creating award-winning advertising and brand communications solutions for clients including HP, Exxon, FedEx, Guinness, Pepsi, Johnson & Johnson, DaimlerChrysler and Fonterra.

“There is no part of our business that is going unchanged, more touch points, more data, less money and more scrutiny on all that can be scrutinized. What does however continue to separate success from failure is effectiveness. Creative work that is not effective is not creative and as we say at BBDO in the absence of great work nothing else matters. I’m delighted to Head a Jury at the APAC Effie and contribute to an agenda that demands great effective work,” Burge commented.

Now in the fourth year, the APAC Effie is a highly coveted awards, recognised by agencies and marketers to be the most prestigious and ‘must-enter’ effectiveness awards in the region. It celebrates ideas that work and honours marketing communications that have achieved the most significant results.

The remaining Heads of Jury and full jury will be announced progressively. Stay tuned for more updates.