James Thompson and Rahul Welde to chair Effectiveness and Media Strategy juries at AMES

The Asian Marketing Effectiveness & Strategy Awards, Asia Pacific’s premier awards for hounouring outstanding marketing strategies in the region, has announced the first of its jury presidents as James Thompson and Rahul Welde. Australia’s Gavin Ashcroft, chief strategy officer, Australia & New Zealand, Carat will sit on the Effectiveness jury.

James Thompson (pictured left), Global Managing Director, Diageo Reserve, will chair the Effectiveness jury. Born British (and also an American citizen) James left the UK in 1996 for an adventure and still hasn’t returned. He has been with Diageo since 1994 in a variety of roles and locations but is currently based in Singapore to lead the luxury business for Diageo. Prior to joining Diageo he worked for Unilever in London, New York and Brussels. Thompson is a strong advocate of the impact creativity can have on businesses, and of the opportunities businesses offer people to create legacies and transformation. He believes that a combination of rigour and flair is a vital recipe for commercial success.

Commenting on his role as president, Thompson said, “I am delighted to have been invited to chair the jury at this year’s AMES. This event has become one of the most prestigious on the region’s awards circuit. It celebrates brilliant joined-up thinking and the effectiveness that great execution of that thinking generates. It is exciting to have an opportunity to review the best of the best work – with a distinguished panel from across the industry.”

Effectiveness Jury

James Thompson, Diageo, Managing Director Global Reserve – Jury President

Ashutosh Srivastava, Chairman / CEO, APAC, Russia & Emerging Markets, Mindshare

Charles Cadell, President, Asia Pacific, McCann Worldgroup

Cheuk Chiang, CEO, Asia Pacific, Omnicom Media Group

Chris Thomas, Chairman and CEO of BBDO Asia, Middle East and Africa, Chairman of Proximity Worldwide, BBDO/Proximity ‎

Christine Xu, VP and CMO, China, McDonald’s,

David Brain, President & CEO, Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa, Edelman

David Mayo, CEO, Bates CHI & Partners Asia

Dick van Motman, Chairman & CEO Dentsu Aegis Network/Southeast Asia, Dentsu Aegis Network

Freddy Bharucha, General Manager, Asia Marketing, Procter & Gamble

Gavin Ashcroft, Chief Strategy Officer, Australia & New Zealand, Carat

Gerry Boyle, Chairman, Asia Pacific, ZenithOptimedia

Harpreet Singh Tibb, Director of Marketing, India & South Asia, Kellogg

Hyoung Do Lee, Planning Director, South Korea, Cheil Worldwide

Jarek Ziebinski, President, Asia Pacific, Leo Burnett

Keith Smith, President, International, TBWA Group

Mark Heap, CEO, Asia Pacific, MediaCom

Matthew Godfrey, President, Asia, Y&R

Nirvik Singh, Chairman & CEO, Asia Pacific, Grey Group

Paul Heath, Chairman & CEO, Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific

Rob Campbell, Regional Head of Planning, Wieden + Kennedy

Rupen Desai, Regional President, Asia Pacific, Lowe + Partners

Sarah Reiter, President, Asia Pacific, FutureBrand

Steve Blakeman, CEO, Asia Pacific, OMD

Vikram Sakhuja, Global CEO, Maxus Worldwide

Vishnu Mohan, CEO, Asia Pacific, Havas Media Group

Wong Mei Wai, Head of Marketing, Vietnam, Asia Pacific Breweries

Heading up the Media Strategy jury will be Rahul Welde (pictured left), Vice President of Media at Unilever. He is responsible for driving the media and communication agenda through a network of agencies and partners in the region and has played a pivotal role in driving digital in the region with key strategic partnerships with global as well as regional players. He is a strong advocate of non-traditional thinking and a number of projects under his stewardship have received wide acclaim and recognition. He is actively involved in industry issues and is the Regional VP Media & Marketing for The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and Chairman of Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), APAC.

Commenting on his position as jury president, Welde says, “It’s fantastic that the AMES are recognising Media Strategy as its own section in 2014 and I am very much looking forward to being a part of this category in its inaugural year. Media strategy is a crucial part of any marketing campaign and I can’t wait to see the unique, imaginative and innovative ways in which the region has deployed it to achieve quantifiable results”.

Media Strategy Jury

Rahul Welde, Vice President of Media, Unilever Asia, Africa, Middle East, Turkey and Russia – Jury President

Amcke Becker, Marketing Excellence Manager, Asia & Middle East, FrieslandCampina

Bindu Sethi, Chief Strategy Officer, India, JWT

Catherine Williams, Partner, Strategy, Asia Pacific, Mindshare

Chun-Yu Shih, General Manager, WebGene Inc.

Donna Kim, Media Strategy Director, South Korea, Cheil Worldwide

Guy Hearn, Chief Innovation Officer, Asia Pacific, Omnicom Media Group

Jerry Blanton, Vice President & Global Marketing Director, Asia & EMEA, Citibank

Joe Nakamura, CEO, Japan, UM

Koichi Yamamoto, Senior Planning Director, Japan, Dentsu Inc.

Lilian Leong, Managing Director, Hong Kong, IPG Mediabrands

Lizzie Nolan, Asia Pacific Head of MediaCom Beyond Advertising, MediaCom

Malcolm Hanlon, Chief Operating Officer, Asia Pacific, ZenithOptimedia

Masashi Ariizumi, Senior Planning Director, Japan, ADK

Neil Stewart, Global Chief Client Officer, Maxus

Ranganathan Somanathan, Chief Operating Officer, South East Asia, Starcom MediaVest Group

Rohan Jha, Senior General Manager of Media & Promotions, Sony Music Entertainment India

Sean O’Brien, CEO, Asia Pacific, Carat

Sean Rach, Regional Director, Brand and Corporate Affairs, Prudential Corporation Asia

Stephanie Bell, Regional Media Director, China, Australia, Japan and Korea, L’Oreal

Torie Henderson, President, Global Account Management, Asia Pacific, Omnicom Media Group    

Commenting on the appointments, Terry Savage, Chairman of Lions Festivals, said, “We’re delighted that James and Rahul are joining us as we expand the awards to include strategy alongside effectiveness. They are proven achievers in the industry and it will be fantastic to work with them as we look to award truly ground-breaking work from across the region.”

A further two new awards categories, Digital Strategy and Data & Analytics, are also being introduced this year and details of the jury presidents and their juries for them will be announced soon.

Entries into the AMES are being accepted until 7 March. Submissions can be made through the website, where further details of rules and fees can also be found. The chosen winners of the 2014 AMES will be revealed and honoured on stage at the dedicated Awards Ceremony, which this year takes place in Singapore on 29 May. Anyone wishing to be a part of the celebrations can book their place here.