Entrants from across the region will compete in the Young Spikes Integrated competition, sponsored by JWT, Young Spikes Media competition and, launching this year, the Young Spikes Digital Competition, while students throughout Asia Pacific can kick-start their careers in the Student Creative Award for Print, sponsored by Y&R.
Challenging participants from advertising and communication organisations to create an integrated campaign in response to a brief set by a charity or non-profit organisation, the Young Spikes Integrated competition brings teams of two in front of a panel of experts to present their campaigns.
Speaking on the competition, Lo Sheung Yan, Chairman of the JWT Asia Pacific and Worldwide Creative Councils said, "We are excited to continue our partnership with Spikes for this competition, which aims to cultivate young talent in the region. JWT celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, and the pioneering spirit of the Young Spikes contestants, who will go on to play a key role in shaping the future of the ad industry, is perfectly in line with our own history and heritage."
Young Spikes Media Competition
Teams of two media specialists will compete in the Young Spikes Media competition to develop an innovative media strategy in just 48 hours. Participants aged 28 years and under, from media agencies or media owners, will respond to a brief presented by a charity or non-profit organisation. The name, objectives, strategies and target audience will be released to the competitors on Tuesday 23 September.
Launching in 2014, with a focus on integrated social media campaigns, the Young Spikes Digital competition requires entrants to use social media as a platform to solve a client problem in a creative way. In pairs, competitors must present their creative insight, solutions and explanations of how the technology can solve the communication problem.
Their own juries will judge each the Young Spikes Competitions with the winners being announced and presented with their trophies at the awards ceremony, taking place on 26 September in Singapore. Each winner will receive a complimentary delegate pass to the 2015 festival.
Students participating in this year's Student Creative Award for Print faced a brief from The Sovereign Art Foundation, a charity based in Hong Kong and relaunching in Singapore. The challenge, to create a print ad that will direct viewers to the website for further information, allows students to display and gain recognition for their talent as well as a chance to win a pass to Spikes Asia 2014.
Speaking on the sponsorship, President of Y&R Asia, Matthew Godfrey commented, "We are excited to embark on this partnership and sponsor the Young Spikes competition, discovering the region's young talent. It has been a great few years for the agency's own young talent initiatives in Asia, with Young Lions wins for Australia and China at Cannes plus the Chimera Challenge, our 300-strong Zed Academy programme as well as our very successful Future Sparks competition. We are pleased to be supporting the bright talents who are the future of advertising in Asia."
Further learning opportunities are available throughout the Spikes Asia festival, taking place at Suntec in Singapore from 23-26 September, through various academies and training programmes. For more information, go to www.spikes.asia.
