SINGAPORE – Today marks a new era for the 4As in Singapore, with the introduction of The Festival of Creativity – a 3-day long festival that combines The Creative Circle Awards and the Crowbars into one big creative event.
BBDO Singapore and MullenLowe Singapore have been appointed as agency partners, and will collaborate with the 4As on design, format and themes for the festival. In addition, Primus Nair of BBDO Singapore will be Chairperson for the Crowbars with Ang Sheng Jin and Daniel Kee from MullenLowe as co-Chairpersons for the CCAs.
Over the three days, the festival will feature talks by industry professionals and showcase the latest and best work from Singapore agencies emerging talent from design schools and institutions. The CCAs and the Crowbars ceremonies will be held in the month of October.
The Festival of Creativity has been created to celebrate the success and share the expertise of our industry leaders in the hope that we help shape and inspire the young creative leaders of tomorrow.
In line with the 4As’ key objectives, the 3-day festival is the ideal platform to champion creativity and relevance of the advertising and marketing communications industry in Singapore and increase the profile of Singapore as the creative heart of Asia.
Furthermore, it provides advertising professionals with a collective voice in the hope it inspires, nurtures and celebrates talent and creativity.
Each award show will remain as is. The Crowbars will continue to act as the leading award show for emerging creatives – communications & design – to showcase their best ideas. And the CCAs will celebrate the work of creative professionals in the advertising and marketing communications industry in Singapore.
“A marvelous idea! We have been looking for an effective way to link these separate Creative events and their target audiences together,” says Bernard Chan, CEO, 4As. “The new Festival of Creativity will effectively bridge the gap currently existing between the graduates of the PET (Pre-employment Training) institutions, and the Industry practitioners. It also allows us the additional advantage of bringing on board cross-exposure and talent education components to strengthen and speed up the learning process for the younger Creative Talents.”
“A joint festival is great for all parties,” notes Primus Nair, ECD BBDO Singapore, Chairman – The Crowbars. “For students, it’s a way to connect with industry professionals and for agencies, it allows for much needed access to a young, dynamic talent pool. The idea of a festival, as opposed to a single awards night, will hopefully foster a healthier creative atmosphere in the industry.”
“By combining both the Crowbars and the Gongs and introducing seminars and public exhibitions of the work, the Creative Circle Awards can evolve from a series of disparate events into a fully-fledged creative festival,” says Ang Sheng Jin and Daniel Kee, Executive Creative Directors, MullenLowe Singapore, Co-Chairmen – The Gongs. “Students will have access to working professionals while industry practitioners can tap directly into a young talent pool that’s full of fresh ideas. We are excited about the potential ideas exchange and injection of relevance the industry as a whole stands to gain. This move will help Singapore’s creative industry come full circle—professional input accelerating student development even as youthful energy fuels tired flames. We will be looking to celebrate ideas that push the boundaries for our clients and ourselves, effectively raising the bar on creativity for the nation as a whole.”
