Spikes Asia 2026: India's Ashish Khazanchi, Anupama Ramaswamy, Puneet Kapoor, eight others on jury

New Delhi: Eleven Indian industry leaders have been named to the Spikes Asia 2026 jury. 

The Indian jurors are Ashish Khazanchi (Enormous Brands), Gurbaksh Singh (Dentsu Creative), Anirban Roy (Leo), Ashwini Deshpande (Elephant Design), Deepika Baghel (Kinnect), Anupama Ramaswamy (Havas Creative), Prachi Narayan (Havas Play), Abhinav Pratiman (Early Man Film), Puneet Kapoor (Ogilvy), Harsh Deep Chhabra (Godrej Consumer Products) and Deepshikha Dharmaraj (Burson Group).

Spikes Asia, APAC’s long-running award for creativity and marketing effectiveness, has announced its full jury line-up for the 2026 awards, to be judged across multiple specialist categories. 

The organisers said the 2026 edition will again set the benchmark for creative excellence in a region where digital-led brand building continues to grow.

This year marks the highest representation from Central Asia on the juries, with members from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Kazakhstan, which made headlines at the 2025 Spikes Asia Awards with its first-ever Grand Prixs in both Media and Music Spikes, continues its momentum with multiple juror seats. 

Brands making their jury debut include Boost Holdings, FairPrice Group, Godrej Consumer Products, Hyundai, LEGO, OPPO and Samsung.

Indian representation is spread across key effectiveness, craft and digital categories. Khazanchi joins the Creative B2B jury, while Singh will sit on the Creative Data and Innovation jury and Roy will judge Creative Effectiveness and Creative Strategy. 

Deshpande will assess work in Design and Industry Craft, Baghel in Digital Craft, Social & Creator, and Ramaswamy in Direct and Outdoor. 

Narayan joins the Entertainment, Gaming and Music jury, Pratiman the Film Craft jury, Kapoor the Healthcare jury and Chhabra the Media jury, while Dharmaraj will sit on the PR jury.

“The Jury is at the heart of Spikes Asia. Each Juror brings unparalleled expertise and a deep understanding of creativity’s role in driving business growth. Their insights will ensure that the work celebrated truly reflects the best of APAC’s creative industry,” said Melanie Speet, Director, Spikes Asia.

Simon Cook, CEO, LIONS, added that the 2026 jury line-up underlines how creativity is being judged on business outcomes as much as craft. “By recognising work that drives growth, engagement and brand value, Spikes Asia continues to highlight how innovative ideas translate into real results for businesses across APAC. We’re excited to see the work they will champion and the conversations they will inspire,” he said.

Jury panels have been announced across Audio & Radio, Film, Print & Publishing; Brand Experience & Activation, Creative Commerce; Creative B2B; Creative Data and Innovation; Creative Effectiveness and Creative Strategy; Design and Industry Craft; Digital Craft, Social & Creator; Direct and Outdoor; Entertainment, Gaming and Music; Film Craft; Healthcare; Media; and PR.

Entries into Spikes Asia 2026 are open until Thursday, January 29, 2026. 

Full jury list: 

Audio & Radio, Film, Print & Publishing

Reed Collins | Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy, APAC

Ajay Thrivikraman | Chief Creative Officer, Publicis Groupe, South East Asia

Matty Burton | Chief Creative Officer, Omnicom, Oceania

Nurlan Satarov | Creative Director, Cheil Worldwide, Kazakhstan

Pathida Akkarajindanon | Executive Creative Director, Wolf BKK, Thailand

Ruchi Sharma | Founder and Chief Creative Officer, HumanSense, Sri Lanka

Sehee Kim | Creative Director, Innocean, South Korea

Teeny Gonzales, CEO and Chief Creative Officer, SEVEN A.D., the Philippines

Brand Experience & Activation, Creative Commerce

Lisa Fedyszyn | Chief Creative Officer, Special, Aotearoa New Zealand

Ben Sun Erhei | CEO and Chief Creative Officer, Havas Creative China, Mainland China

Farrukh Sharif | Creative Director, Synthesis Advertising Agency, Uzbekistan

Jumi Kim | Head of Brand Experience Sub-Division, VP, Hyundai Motor Company, Global

Mandie Van der Merwe | Chief Creative Officer, Saatchi & Saatchi, Australia

Nopharit Dusadeedumkoeng | Chief Creative Officer, TBWA\Juice Bangkok, Thailand

Shinichi Kobayashi | Executive Creative Director and Creative Innovation Officer, ADK MS Inc., Japan

Creative B2B

Wendy Walker | VP and Chief Marketing Officer, Salesforce, ASEAN

Ant Melder | Creative Partner, Cocogun, Australia

Ashish Khazanchi | Managing Partner, Enormous Brands, India

Carolyn Devanayagam | Head of Weber Advisory APAC and Managing Director, Singapore, Weber Shandwick, APAC and Singapore

Ganzorig Vanchig | Founding Chairperson, Bat Solution Partners, Mongolia

Pearlyn Chiam | Creative Experience Director, Transmission Agency, Singapore

Creative Data, Innovation

Maurice Riley | Chief Data Officer, Publicis Groupe, ANZ

Alvin Neo | Chief Customer & Marketing Officer, FairPrice Group, Singapore

Diana Boo | Chief Marketing Officer, Boost Holdings Sdn Bhd, Malaysia and South East Asia

Gurbaksh Singh | Chief Creative Officer and Chief Innovation Officer, Dentsu Creative, India

Mark Brenndorfer | Creative Director, VML, Mainland China

Marta Caseny Rius | Group Creative Director, R/GA, APAC

Tennille Barnes | Head of Creative Tech & Innovation, Colenso BBDO, Aotearoa New Zealand

Creative Effectiveness, Creative Strategy

Shilpa Sinha | Chief Strategy Officer, McCann Worldgroup, APAC

Anirban Roy | Chief Strategy Officer, Leo, India

Hannah McHard | Head of Effectiveness, BMF, Australia

Munas Van Boonstra | Managing Director, Monks, South East Asia

Taewon Kim | CEO, INNORED, South Korea

Truong Le | Marketing Director, Samsung Electronics, Vietnam

Yabin He | Chief Growth Officer, McDonald's China, Mainland China

Design, Industry Craft

Atiya Zaidi | CEO and Chief Creative Officer, BBDO, Pakistan

Ashwini Deshpande | Co-Founder and Director, Elephant Design, India

Bianca Mente | Design Director, Design Bridge and Partners, Singapore

Biboy Royong, Executive Creative Director, Dentsu Creative, the Philippines

Joseph Lau | Global Head of Creative and Design, OPPO, Global

Kevin Wilson | Creative Director, Nani Creative, Australia

Leila Kaimoldanova | Founder, BrandForma, Kazakhstan

Digital Craft, Social & Creator

Barbara Humphries | Chief Creative Officer, Droga5 ANZ, part of Accenture Song, ANZ

Alan Leong | Content Solution Lead SEA, TikTok, South East Asia

Deepika Baghel | Senior Creative Director, Kinnect, India

Jao Bautista | Executive Creative Director, Propel Manila, the Philippines

Jennifer Tse | Social Media Director, Havas, Hong Kong SAR

Kazuki Tsuburaki | Managing Director and Executive Creative Director, Dentsu Digital, Japan

Rafael Imamniyazov | Creative Group Head, GForce Grey, Kazakhstan

Sorada Sonprasit | CEO, Publicis Groupe, Thailand

Direct, Outdoor

Anupama Ramaswamy | Managing Director and Chief Creative Officer, Havas Creative, India

Iska Hashim | Executive Creative Director, Leo, Malaysia

Jayel Ladioray | VP, Head of Consumer Communications & Experience, Nestlé, the Philippines

Mo Chen | Executive Creative Director, TBWA\Shanghai, Mainland China

Mohammad Akrum Hossain | Chief Creative Officer, POP5, Bangladesh

Renata Muratova | Independent Creative Director, Kazakhstan

Richard Williams | Group Executive Creative Director, VML, Australia

Sayaka Arimoto | Creative Director and Copywriter, Dentsu Inc., Japan

Entertainment, Gaming, Music

Britney Pai | Head of Entertainment, dentsu, Greater North Asia

Corey Chalmers | Chief Creative Officer, YoungShand, Aotearoa New Zealand

Giant Kung | Chief Creative Officer and Writer, Ogilvy, Taiwan

Mariya Mun | CEO, NOTO Agency, Kazakhstan

Prachi Narayan | Managing Partner, Havas Play, India

Primus Nair | Creative Director, Our LEGO Agency, APAC

Ryota Haraguchi | Creative Director, TBWA\HAKUHODO, Japan

Film Craft

Wuthisak Anarnkaporn | Film Director and Founder, Factory01, Thailand

Abhinav Pratiman | Film Director, Early Man Film, India

Ben Dailey | Managing Director and Executive Producer, The Sweetshop, Aotearoa New Zealand

Jacqueline Wu | President of Operation, McCann Worldgroup China and CEO of Craft China, Omnicom Production, Mainland China

Joanne De Rozario | Managing Director, Prodigious, South East Asia

Rani Rauf | Director, Executive Producer, Hidra Production, Indonesia

Rick Sakurai | Creative and Managing Director, MassiveMusic Tokyo, APAC

Healthcare

Rohini Miglani | Former VP at P&G, Asia, Middle East, Africa and India

Brian Ng | Chief Experience Officer, Publicis China and Head of Strategy, Publicis Health China, Hong Kong SAR and Mainland China

Catherine Huang | Director, Public Affairs, Gilead Sciences, Taiwan

Jini Mathai | Regional Business Head, Havas Health Network, South East Asia

Puneet Kapoor | Chief Creative Officer, South region, Ogilvy, India

Sharon Howard-Butler | Creative Partner, Omnicom Health, Australia

Shoji Taniguchi | Executive Creative Director, Dentsu Digital, Japan

Media

Josh Gallagher | Chief Strategy & Growth Officer, WPP Media, APMEA

Ahmed Kapadia | Chairman and CEO, Synergy Group, Pakistan

Harsh Deep Chhabra | Global Media Lead, Godrej Consumer Products Limited, Global

Huong Ta | Personal Care Lead and Media Director, Unilever, Vietnam

Miki Lee | Managing Director, Starcom, Taiwan

Sarah Louzioui | CEO, Havas, Cambodia

Sian Whitnall | CEO, OMD, Australia

PR

Tomoko Tagami | Founder and CEO, Synasia, Japan

Daniel Ko | Executive Creative Director, Edelman, Singapore

Deepshikha Dharmaraj | CEO, Burson Group, India

Elizabeth Bae | Managing Director, Weber Shandwick, South Korea

Jon Austin | Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Supermassive, Australia

Mihi Blake | Founder and Managing Director, Māia, Aotearoa New Zealand

Sisca Margaretta | SVP, Corporate Communications, Visa, APAC