4As Singapore appoints Grey’s chief creative officer Ali Shabaz as 2014 Chairman Gong CCA
4As Singapore has appointed Ali Shabaz (pictured left) as Chairman, Gong CCA 2014. Shabaz’s career spans over twenty years across three markets, India, Middle East and Singapore. He has worked on various big brands that include Visa, HSBC, Sunsilk, KFC, FedEx, ICI Paints, Qatar Airways, Pizza Hut, Silk Air and Glaxo Smith Kline.
Under his leadership since 2010, Grey Singapore has won a multitude of international creative awards. In 2013 the agency was named “Creative Agency of the Year” at the Singapore Press Holdings Ink Awards. Grey Jakarta, also under his leadership has risen to the third spot in the country’s creative rankings.
During his earlier tenure at JWT Singapore, the agency emerged as the third most awarded office within the WPP network and the most awarded JWT office in the world. A slew of awards – 20 Cannes Lions, Effies, Silver nominations at D&AD, One Show Pencils, Clios, Grand Prix at Media Spikes, Grand Prix at Ink Awards – have placed him firmly among the top creative leaders in Asia.
Shabaz has been ranked among the 10 “hottest” creative people in Asia by Campaign Brief and one of the top 10 ECD’s in the region. He has been honoured “Advertising Professional of the Year” by Institute of Advertising Singapore (IAS) and has been voted one of the “Most Influential Creative Directors” in Singapore by IAS every year, since 2007.
“I am honored and excited to chair the Gong CCA this year. It’s without doubt the single biggest showcase of creativity in Singapore. I believe for the young ones, the Gong CCA is a fantastic opportunity to shine. Many illustrious careers have been launched from this stage. For agencies and clients it serves to set the bar on the quality of work. The people at 4As and the previous Chairmen have done a pretty amazing job taking the Gong CCA from strength to strength. It’s a weighty task ahead for me but I’m sure with the support of my peers and the entire industry, this year will be a memorable one”.