MAM
Spikes Asia announces Grands Prix and Special Award winners for 2023
Mumbai: APAC’s prestigious and marketing effectiveness award Spikes Asia has revealed the Grand Prix and Special Award Winners for 2023. Australia received the most Grands Prix, with eight, followed by New Zealand and South Korea, both of which received four-the most that South Korea has received in a single year for Spikes Asia. South Korea received its first Grand Prix award in Media, Innovation and Glass: The Award for Change. For the first time, the Philippines received a Grand Prix in Brand Experience & Activation, while Mainland China received a Grand Prix in Creative Commerce and Film. In addition, Japan received its first Grand Prix in Music.
Lions CEO Simon Cook said, “Congratulations to our 2023 Spikes Asia Award winners, for setting the creative benchmark across APAC for a 36th year. This year’s winners really showcase the level of excellence coming from the region and the new trends emerging from a ‘post pandemic’ body of work. The deep insights from this year’s work will be explored, in-depth during Spikes Unlocked, followed by the Spikes Asia Creativity Report, providing the official rankings for this year’s top performing Networks, Agencies and Companies from across the region.”
Leo Burnett CEO South Asia & BBH India chairman Dheeraj Sinha said, “We are chuffed to be recognized as the ‘Asia Pacific Agency of the Year’ at one of Asia’s biggest platforms for creativity. At Leo Burnett we’ve been tirelessly working to create work for our clients that solves both business and human problems and makes real impact. And the fact that its work across seven brands that has been recognized across categories including Glass, Healthcare, PR etc, is a testament to the culture of creativity that we have managed to build. We are thankful to our client partners who have believed in our thinking. This is for all the awesome teams at Leo Burnett.”
Leo Burnett CEO & CCO South Asia Rajdeepak Das said “Having our work across 7 brands including P&G – Whisper, Mondelez – Oreo, MPL, Airtel, Spotify, Burger King being recognized across categories at Asia’s biggest creative award show tells us that we are doing something right. We believe in epic brands doing epic work. From bringing the missing chapter on periods to Indian textbooks so that 23 million girls don’t drop out of school to designing the jersey for the Indian cricket team using data, to creating the biggest social media frenzy to help India #BringBacktheWorldCup and giving India a chance to watch the unrecorded iconic 175 runs scored by Kapil Dev, we have been trying and will keep trying to push the boundaries of creativity. Cheers to our brand partners and the team.”
This year’s Grand Prix winners are:
Brand Experience and Activation
From 367 entries received, 31 Spikes have been awarded: 4 Gold, 10 Silver, 16 Bronze and the Grand Prix that went to ‘Unbranded Menu’, McDonald’s, Leo Burnett, Manila, The Philippines.
Creative Commerce
From 55 entries received, 5 Spikes have been awarded: 2 Silver, 2 Bronze and the Grand Prix that went to ‘Corona Extra Lime’, Corona, Draftline, Shanghai, Mainland China.
Creative Data
From 52 entries received, 5 Spikes have been awarded: 1 Gold, 2 Silver, 1 Bronze and the Grand Prix that went to ‘Flipvertising’, Samsung, CHEP Network, Sydney, Australia.
Creative Effectiveness
From 29 entries received, 4 Spikes have been awarded: 1 Silver, 2 Bronze and the Grand Prix that went to ‘Make Lamb, Not Walls’, Lamb, The Monkeys, Part Of Accenture Song, Sydney, Australia.
Design
From 125 entries received, 12 Spikes have been awarded: 2 Gold, 3 Silver, 6 Bronze and the Grand Prix that went to ‘Suntory Tennensui Endless Dawn’, Suntory, Dentsu Craft Tokyo, Japan.
Hong Kong and jury president for the 2023 Design jury founder, creative chairman, Good People Basically Alvin Lim commented, “The UX design of the Suntory Tennensui “Endless Dawn” website is a critical aspect of its success. Its intuitive navigation and meticulous attention to detail results in a seamless and immersive user experience that encourages users to explore and engage. The website’s powerful combination of brand storytelling, superb design craftsmanship, and UX design raises the bar for design quality and innovation, setting a new standard that inspires and deserves recognition.”
Digital Craft
From 78 entries received, 7 Spikes have been awarded: 1 Gold, 2 Silver, 3 Bronze and the Grand Prix that went to ‘The First Digital Nation’, The Government Of Tuvalu, The Monkeys, Part Of Accenture Song, Sydney, Australia.
Direct
From 197 entries received, 19 Spikes have been awarded: 4 Gold, 6 Silver, 8 Bronze and the Grand Prix that went to ‘Flipvertising’, Samsung, CHEP Network, Sydney, Australia.
Entertainment
From 124 entries received, 11 Spikes have been awarded: 2 Gold, 3 Silver, 5 Bronze and the Grand Prix that went to ‘Last Performance’, Partners Life, Special, Auckland, New Zealand.
Film
From 390 entries received, 30 Spikes have been awarded: 5 Gold, 10 Silver, 14 Bronze and the Grand Prix that went to ‘The Comeback – Shot On iPhone’, Apple, TBWAMedia Arts Lab, Shanghai, Mainland China.
Film Craft
From 249 entries received, 25 Spikes have been awarded: 6 Gold, 8 Silver, 10 Bronze and the Grand Prix that went to ‘Kaguya by Gucci’, Gucci, Tsuzuku, Tokyo, Japan / Dentsu Inc., Tokyo, Japan.
Glass: The Award for Change
From 35 entries received, 4 Spikes have been awarded: 3 Glass Spikes and the Grand Prix that went to ‘Knock Knock’, Korean National Police Agency, Cheil Worldwide, Seoul, South Korea.
Grand Prix for Good
The Grand Prix for Good has been awarded to ‘Classify Consent’, Consent Labs, TBWASydney, Australia.
Healthcare
From 108 entries received, 12 Spikes have been awarded: 2 Gold, 4 Silver, 5 Bronze and the Grand Prix that went to ‘The Missing Chapter’, Whisper, Leo Burnett, Mumbai, India
India and jury president for the 2023 healthcare jury CEO and co-founder, Pointblank Healthcare Communications Bindu Menon said, “The Grand Prix winner in Healthcare was ‘The Missing Chapter’ by Whisper from Leo Burnett India. This work scored on all aspects. It was a great strategy backed by powerful execution, brilliant art direction and illustration. The idea was simple but the craft took it to another level. This work can bring about irrevocable change and is truly life changing in terms of impact. While the work was addressing a key social issue related to the category, the impact this could have on the client’s business is undeniable.”
Industry Craft
From 93 entries received, 7 Spikes have been awarded: 1 Gold, 2 Silver, 3 Bronze and the Grand Prix that went to ‘Rejected Ales’, Matilda Bay Brewery, Howatson+Company, Sydney, Australia.
Innovation
From 29 entries received, 4 Spikes have been awarded: 1 Gold, 2 Silver and the Grand Prix that went to ‘Hydrogen Garbage Truck’, Hyundai Motor Group, Innocean, Seoul, South Korea.
Integrated
From 38 entries received, 3 Spikes have been awarded: 2 Integrated Spikes and the Grand Prix that went to ‘If You Seek Campaign’, Tourism New Zealand, DDB New Zealand, Auckland, New Zealand.
Media
From 206 entries received, 19 Spikes have been awarded: 3 Gold, 7 Silver, 8 Bronze and the Grand Prix that went to ‘Knock Knock’, Korean National Police Agency, Cheil Worldwide, Seoul, South Korea.
Mobile
From 47 entries received, 6 Spikes have been awarded: 1 Gold, 1 Silver, 3 Bronze and the Grand Prix that went to ‘Knock Knock’, Korean National Police Agency, Cheil Worldwide, Seoul, South Korea.
Music
From 55 entries received, 5 Spikes have been awarded: 1 Gold, 1 Silver, 2 Bronze and the Grand Prix that went to ‘Journa-Rhythm’, The Asahi Shimbun company, TBWAHakuhodo Inc., Tokyo, Japan.
Outdoor
From 195 entries received, 16 Spikes have been awarded: 2 Gold, 5 Silver, 8 Bronze and the Grand Prix that went to ‘Phone It In’, Skinny, Colenso BBDO, Auckland, New Zealand.
PR
From 176 entries received, 18 Spikes have been awarded: 3 Gold, 6 Silver, 8 Bronze and the Grand Prix that went to ‘The First Digital Nation’, the govt of Tuvalu, The Monkeys, Part Of Accenture Song, Sydney, Australia
Print & Publishing
From 48 entries received, 4 Spikes have been awarded: 1 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze and the Grand Prix went to ‘Kitchen’, ‘Restroom’, ‘Living Room’, Ikano (Thailand) Limited, Ogilvy, Bangkok, Thailand.
Radio & Audio
From 70 entries received, 7 Spikes have been awarded: 2 Gold, 1 Silver, 3 Bronze and the Grand Prix that went to ‘Phone It In’, Skinny, Colenso BBDO, Auckland, New Zealand.
Social & Influencer
From 151 entries received, 13 Spikes have been awarded: 2 Gold, 4 Silver, 6 Bronze and the Grand Prix that went to ‘#BringBack2011’, OREO, Leo Burnett, Mumbai, India
Strategy and Effectiveness
From 88 entries received, 8 Spikes have been awarded: 1 Gold, 2 Silver, 4 Bronze and the Grand Prix that went to ‘Resilience Road’, Suncorp, Leo Burnett, Sydney, Australia.
Spikes Asia Special Awards have been given as follows:
Asia-Pacific Agency of the Year
1. Leo Burnett, Mumbai, India
2. Cheil Worldwide, Seoul, South Korea
Agency of the Year by Market
The Monkeys, Part Of Accenture Song, Sydney, Australia
Cheil Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
Leo Burnett, Mumbai, India
Dentsu Inc., Tokyo, Japan
TBWAMedia Arts Lab, Shanghai, Mainland China
DDB New Zealand, Auckland, New Zealand
Mullenlowe Singapore, Singapore
Cheil Worldwide, Seoul, South Korea
Ogilvy Bangkok, Thailand
Leo Burnett, Manila, The Philippines
Independent Agency of the Year
1. Howatson+Company, Sydney, Australia
2. Special, Auckland, New Zealand
3. Bear Meets Eagle On Fire, Sydney, Australia
Network of the Year
1. Leo Burnett
2. BBDO Worldwide
3. TBWA Worldwide
Media Network of the Year
1. Wavemaker
2. PHD Worldwide
3. Hearts & Science
Spikes Palm
1. Lunar Films, Mainland China
2. Collider, Australia
3. Revolver, Australia
4. FactoryOne, Thailand
5. Finch, Australia
Strategy & Effectiveness Agency of the Year
1. The Monkeys, Part Of Accenture Song, Sydney, Australia
2. Leo Burnett, Sydney, Australia
3. BBDO India, Mumbai, India
Young Spikes Competition winners are as follows:
Digital
Gold:
Hideyuki Tsushima / Ryosuke Nakanishi
HAKUHODO.INC / Japan
‘tinder GREEN’
Silver:
Eliza Smith / Heidi Rabbitts
Dentsu Creative / Australia
‘The Greenwash Penalty’
Bronze:
Renzo Gabriel Valmonte / James Dominic Mendoza
TBWA/4As / The Philippines
‘BABY NATURE’
Integrated
Gold:
Leonie Duff / Lilly Wollmering / Leighton Howindt
Dentsu Creative / Australia
‘Save The Sea With Your Pee’
Silver:
Hikari Ono / Yutaro Nagata
TBWAHAKUHODO Inc / Japan
‘SAVE YOUR LOOK-A-LIKE’
Bronze:
Iris Teoh / Yasira Yusoff
The GOVT Pte Ltd / Singapore
‘Save Our Legends’
Marketers:
Gold
Amanda Wen Sze Wong / Ker Seng Tan
Malaysia Aviation Group / Malaysia
‘Know No Limits’
Silver
Tauhid Irteza Ali / Fahimul Khan
Banglalink Digital Communication Ltd / Bangladesh
‘Don’t Be A Superhero’
Media:
Gold
Kate O’Loughlin / Summer Treseder
Initiative AU / Australia
‘From a drop in the ocean to a wave of change’
Silver
Kairi Ogihara / Yuto Nakajima
Hakuhodo / Japan
‘Funbrella’
Bronze
Sohyun An / Eunsoo Jang
Cheil Worldwide HQ / South Korea
‘What’s in your waves’
PR:
Gold
Wang Shu / Hu JiaJun
1211MOB / Insight Group / China
‘MakeMoneyCleaner’
Silver
Monique Horsley / Kean Szczur
Dentsu Creative / Australia
‘Carbon Sink Inc.’
Bronze
Airi Miyasaka / Kotaro Tamaru
Hakuhodo / Japan
‘Blue Friday’
On 23 March, Spikes Unlocked will be published featuring exclusive content from jury presidents and jury Members on what made the winning work exceptional. The Spikes Asia Creativity Report will be released on 30 March, which shines a light on the best Asian creativity, as selected by Spikes juries. The report will feature interviews with winners about how the work was created, insights from jurors, trends and themes that have emerged, along with the annual rankings for this year’s top performing networks, agencies and companies from APAC.
All results can be found at www.lovethework.com/en-GB/spikes-asia.
Brands
Tessolve lands a semiconductor veteran to drive its next big push
Ravi Kumar Chirugudu, who started his career at ISRO and has spent 35 years building chips and companies, joins the Bengaluru-based firm as president and chief operating officer
BENGALURU: Tessolve has never been shy about its ambitions. The Bengaluru-based engineering services firm already counts 18 of the world’s top 20 semiconductor companies among its clients, employs more than 3,500 engineers across 12 countries, and last year pocketed a $150m investment from TPG. Now it has hired the executive it believes can turn those assets into something bigger. Ravi Kumar Chirugudu, a 35-year semiconductor veteran who once built satellite payloads for ISRO and has since scaled engineering organisations across three continents, joins as president and chief operating officer, effective immediately.
THE MAN AND THE MANDATE
The appointment is, by any measure, a serious hire. Ravi Kumar Chirugudu comes to Tessolve after senior leadership stints at HCL Technologies, Altran and Wipro, where he managed large profit-and-loss portfolios and oversaw cross-regional teams. Over the course of his career, he has been instrumental in bringing more than 1,000 new products to market across the high-tech, energy and manufacturing verticals. Before the private sector claimed him, he began his working life as a scientist at the Indian Space Research Organisation, contributing to research and development in charge-coupled device technology and satellite payloads, a foundation that shaped everything that followed.
In his new role, he will lead Tessolve’s global growth strategy: expanding its engineering capabilities, deepening customer relationships and accelerating innovation across semiconductor and high-performance computing domains. The brief is broad, but the context is specific. Tessolve operates in the $550 billion global semiconductor market, and its recent moves, the acquisition of Germany’s Dream Chip Technologies and the TPG funding round, have sharpened both its reach and its expectations.
Srini Chinamilli, co-founder and chief executive of Tessolve, is characteristically direct about why Ravi Kumar Chirugudu was the choice:
“As we scale our global semiconductor and system engineering capabilities, Ravi’s appointment marks an important step forward. As global semiconductor demand continues to accelerate across industries, it is creating significant opportunities across the semiconductor lifecycle, from design, packaging, validation and systems integration. Ravi’s deep knowledge and leadership in this ecosystem brings the right mix of industry expertise, customer connect and execution capability, which will play a key role in strengthening our position as a trusted global engineering partner and reinforcing our market leadership.”
THE NEW ARRIVAL SPEAKS
Ravi Kumar Chirugudu, for his part, frames the move in terms of timing and culture, two factors that veteran executives tend to weigh as heavily as title or compensation:
“I am happy to join Tessolve at a time when the industry is rapidly evolving towards more complex, AI-driven systems. What stands out to me is its strong people-first culture and its commitment to bringing value to its customers. The strength of its global team, combined with its deep expertise in semiconductor innovation and next-generation product engineering, creates a solid foundation to build differentiated, scalable solutions. I look forward to working closely with the team to drive strategic growth and strengthen its role in shaping the global semiconductor ecosystem.”
The reference to AI-driven systems is not incidental. The semiconductor industry is in the midst of a structural reshaping, driven by the insatiable compute demands of artificial intelligence. For engineering services firms like Tessolve, which offers end-to-end capabilities from silicon design to packaged parts and invests in high-performance computing, high-speed interfaces, photonics and 5G, the moment is both an opportunity and a test. The company says it is well positioned to capture the next wave of industry growth. Ravi Kumar Chirugudu is now the person who has to prove it.
He came in from outer space, literally, and spent three decades learning how the semiconductor industry works from the inside out. Now Tessolve is betting that accumulated knowledge can help it cross the next frontier. In the $550 billion global chip market, the gap between ambition and execution is measured in engineering hours and leadership quality. Tessolve has just gone shopping for both.
