Dentsu Inc Tokyo’s CCO Yuya Furukawa named grand jury president for 2017 Cresta Awards

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Yuya Furukawa.jpgThe Cresta Awards has selected Yuya Furukawa Chief Creative Officer for Dentsu Inc Tokyo as 2017 Grand Jury President.

“The problems of scam ads and the quality of judging panels are getting serious in the awards business. Discussion in the closed judging rooms can sometimes lead to results that make people question them. The Cresta Awards has a purely mathematical judging system, and it is actually the fairest award we have,” said Furukawa.

“We are thrilled and extremely honored that Mr. Furukawa accepted our invitation to become the Grand Jury President as we celebrate Cresta’s 25th anniversary. Under his leadership, Dentsu is a powerhouse of top level creativity which is evident by the many accolades they receive every year. So much so that Campaign Brief Asia listed him as their #1 Award Winning Creative Leader in 2015 and 2016,” said Nancy Ross, President and Co-Founder, Cresta Awards.

Furukawa (pictured above) started out years ago at Dentsu as a TV writer, when advertising life was much simpler. Under his leadership today, Dentsu’s creative teams work on projects ranging from product development, branded content creation, pure content creation, including TV programs and movies, content export, space planning and design, digital platform development, business strategy and consulting, and PR to traditional advertising. Furukawa himself is also involved in government projects such as the Olympic Games and the National Stadium. He is also Director of Dentsu Lab Tokyo, an initiative to bring new forms of creation through technology by combining research, ideation, and development. International accolades for Furukawa include gold, silver, bronze awards at Cannes, D&AD, One Show and Spikes, among others, as well as Grand Prix at Adfest. In 2005, he won the Creative Person of the Year award of the Japan Advertising Agencies Association. He is also a familiar face as a judge at international awards, including Cannes, D&AD, Clio, Spikes and Adfest, and as a speaker at various conferences.

Besides his work as Chief Creative Officer, Furukawa is also known for writing scenarios for TV and radio programs, lyrics for pop songs, and columns for a major national newspaper and an industry magazine. He is also the author of the book ‘All Work is the Work of Creative Direction’.

The 2017 Cresta Grand Jury is comprised of 84 members from 44 countries. The shortlist, prepared by pre-selection juries around the world, is sent to each member who judge the entries in their own time. There are no discussions, no politics and this results an emphasis being put solely on creativity.   

The Cresta Awards, celebrating their 25th anniversary is open to all advertising agencies, advertisers, studios, and production companies worldwide. Both national and international campaigns may compete for the Grand Prix, Gold, Silver and Bronze Cresta statues awarded. The deadline for entries into the 2017 competition is Friday 10 March. All advertising and marketing communications used since 1 January 2016 through 31 March 2017 are eligible as entries.

Entries can be submitted online starting on February 13th here