Jury President

Paco co-founded Activista, a creative company dedicated to helping brands and organizations make a positive impact. Before that, he held creative leadership positions at agencies like Sra. Rushmore in Madrid, Ogilvy Brazil, BBH London, and Anomaly LA. Paco has won nearly every major international advertising award and was recognized by the Cannes Lions Report as one of the Most Awarded Creative Directors for three consecutive years. He was also included in Forbes Magazine's list of the 100 Most Creative People in the World and named Creative Director of the Year by the Brazilian Advertising Association. Paco serves on the D&AD Global Advisory Board and Impact Council. He is also a motivational speaker and panelist who has delivered keynotes at venues worldwide.

Creative Juror

Achilles, born in Hong Kong and raised in Taiwan, has worked in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and New York over a 20+ year career. After an unsuccessful stint as account servicing, he found his passion in creative, with roles at Freeway, JWT, Leo Burnett, Wieden+Kennedy, Translation LLC, Uniqlo, and Apple.

Creative Juror

Karla Henwood is the Executive Creative Producer at Squeak E. Clean Studios. For over 25 years, she has been a driving force in the global Sound & Music industry. A celebrated thought leader, award judge, and founder of Chicks in Advertising, Karla champions creativity, talent, and diversity with transformative vision.

Creative Juror / Media Juror/ Hong Kong Roots Chair

Tan Khiang, a Singaporean, has been in the Advertising business for 40 years and owns Wowwowtank, a hybrid advertising agency with branding, advertising and video production capabilities focused on the real estate sector. TK has worked in major advertising agencies like Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi and Publicis in Singapore. He came to Hong Kong in 1988 to join The Ball Partnership, and then to Grey and Euro RSCG. His last appointment was at M&C Saatchi Hong Kong where he was the Regional ECD for Greater China. TK started wowwowtank in 2003. He has been teaching Masterclass in Art Direction at the Hong Kong PolyUniversity since 2008 as well as the MSSC in Advertising, Art Direction at the Chinese University.

Creative Juror

KK is an all-round creative with over two decades of experience in brand communication. Originally from Malaysia, his career has spanned multiple networks across Southeast Asia, including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand. His impressive portfolio includes collaborations with renowned brands like Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, Citibank, and Sony. KK’s creative excellence is recognised globally, with over 300 international awards from prestigious advertising festivals, including Indonesia's recent first and only D&AD Yellow Pencil. KK is also a respected figure within the industry, having served as a juror for esteemed award shows, including D&AD, One Show, One Asia, Spikes, AdFest, MadStars, LIA China, Longxi, China 4As, and Kam Fan.

Creative Juror

Merlee Jayme is the Chairmom®, Chief Creative Officer of Jayme Headquarters, and The Misfits Camp -both brave spaces for diverse creativity. Before this, she was the Chief Creative Officer in Asia & Pacific for Dentsu and Global President for Dentsu Mcgarrybowen Worldwide. Having won major awards, including the Philippines’s only Cannes Lions Grand Prix, she was among the eight women in the world’s top 100 Chief Creative Officers by the 2019 Drum Global Ranking.

Creative Juror

As a creative with experience from the broadcast era to the digital age, Papop believes that communication in advertising is fundamentally human to human. Despite today's complexities of multi-screen channels, social platforms, immersive experience and even Al, the most important interaction still happens in the human heart.

Media Chair

Originally from Germany, Jan has over 16 years of experience in Asia, specializing in marketing and media. A former global media director, he now leads Virtus Asia Consulting as CEO. Jan is also a respected industry panellist and judge for global and regional marketing awards.

Media Juror

With over 25 years of experience across North America, APAC, and China (including roles as agency CEO, CPO, CDO, and Head of Marketing for Microsoft Digital Stores), she is now a professional consultant at CUHK, leveraging her expertise in digital transformation to drive connections between media, creativity, and technology while nurturing young talent for the future.

Media Juror

Roid is an accomplished executive in advertising and marketing, specializing in media strategy and creative leadership. He is currently a Strategy Director at a MarTech company, overseeing business development in China and Hong Kong, and he also teaches as an Adjunct Professor in The City University of Hong Kong's Executive MBA program.

Media Juror

Tina Chao, a veteran marketer, has driven leadership and digital transformation at McDonald's Hong Kong since 2019. She has elevated the brand's cultural relevance and built the city's top food ordering mobile app, making McDonald's one of the most beloved consumer brands in Hong Kong over the past five years.

Hong Kong Roots Juror

Born and raised in the bustling metropolis of Hong Kong, Afa Annfa has become a prominent figure in the local art scene known for her contemplative exploration of human interconnectedness in the modern world. In Jan 2025, She curated and co-created a food art exhibition A&G BOULANGERIE with local food stylist Gloria Chung at JPS Gallery, which received very positive reviews and garnered extensive media coverage.

Hong Kong Roots Juror

Hoi Hau spent a decade-long as a distinguished creative professional in the realm of advertising. His journey commenced in 2008 at the esteemed Ogilvy & Mather Advertising Hong Kong, followed by a transition to McCann World Group Hong Kong in 2009. In 2010, he ventured into the realm of production and established his own studio, N For November. Recognizing his artistic acumen and visionary prowess, Hoi Hau was invited to join The Another Factory as a director in 2011. Notably, his work has been featured in prestigious exhibitions hosted at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum. Hoi Hau's passion lies in the convergence of film and animation, as it allows for seamless exploration across cultural boundaries. His unwavering trust in his own artistic sensibility and conceptual acuity has consistently enabled him to forge new paths and lead to new innovative directions with deep understanding of traditional and digital advertising platforms.

Hong Kong Roots Juror

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Kearen is a multimedia artist who excels in editing, directing, acting, and teaching. Starting as an actress on stage, she progresses to produce a series of her own theatrical work, playing roles of scriptwriter, director and actress herself. In 2018, she won the Best New Director award at the 37th Hong Kong Film Awards with her directorial debut film '29+1'.

Hong Kong Roots Juror

Jackal is the founder of “Fat Jai” an intellectual property, who is also the mascot for “FAT COFFEE WITH” which has collaborated with many brands over the years, from figures, artwork, household items, to everyday essentials. This collaboration has allowed him to connect deeply with his roots in commercial design, enabling him to express his vision for his passion in culture, art and lifestyle through the lens of “FAT JAI.”

Hong Kong Roots Juror

Neo Yau, a scriptwriting graduate from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, debuted his career in acting in 2014. Since then, he continues to take up key acting roles in various movies. In 2018, he showcased his talents collectively as writer, director, and actor in the acclaimed TV drama "Haters Gonna Stay.” In 2020, he founded the popular YouTube channel "Trial & Error" which swiftly amassed 100,000 subscribers in two months and now boasting 480,000 subscribers. Neo was selected as ambassador for the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival in 2021 and the youth ambassador for the Hong Kong International Film Festival in 2022. He himself was no stranger to award shows, having been nominated twice in the Hong Kong Drama Awards in 2020 and 2023 respectively. 2024, he received his first nomination for Best Actor at the 61st Golden Horse Awards for starring in the movie "The way we talk." Neo has just been nominated for Best Actor at the 43rd Hong Kong Film Awards for the same role.

Hong Kong Roots Juror

In the last two decades or so since Sandy Choi returned home to Hong Kong from London with a degree in Graphic Design from Saint Martin's School of Art, his work has won numerous local and international awards. Prior to founding his own design consultancy Sandy Choi Associates (now Sandy Eddie Tommy Associates) in 1997, Sandy had worked for several years in a number of noted design and advertising agencies including Steiner&Co, The Ball Partnership in Hong Kong and JWT in Shanghai.