Spikes Asian Advertising Awards set to be relaunched

Televisionpoint.com Correspondent | Mumbai
The International Advertising Festival, the organisers of Cannes Lions, Dubai Lynx and Eurobest along with Haymarket Media, have entered into an agreement to relaunch Spikes Asian Advertising Awards into a major advertising festival for the continent.

The annual event is scheduled for September 2009, and the event is expected to be held in Singapore. Spikes was started in 1986 by the Media magazine published by Haymaket Media. The event was being held in Bali for the past three years.

Tim Waldron, managing director, Haymarket Asia, said, "This venture with Cannes will allow us to accelerate our growth strategy for Spikes. It is one of the toughest trophies to win regionally and we believe that is down to the quality of judging. Cannes Lions has that same view, so the decision to work together in building an important awards festival in the region was an easy one."

The awards competition will be open to companies who produce work that runs in Asia, with the judgment conducted live during the event. Five juries composed of international and regional creatives and industry experts, each led by a jury president, will judge the entries and award the Spikes Asia trophy to the best in press, film, outdoor, radio, cyber, integrated, direct and promo, media, craft, and design categories.

The festival also will roll out the Young Tigers competition in 2009 to develop young talent and give them international exposure.

"We are committed to bringing a great event to Asia. Haymarket has a similar vision and we felt the power of Cannes and the power of Haymarket is a compelling combination that will be well received by the market," said Terry Savage, chairman, Cannes Lions.