Ogilvy worldwide chief creative officer Tham Khai Meng to lead LIA 2013 TV/Cinema/Online Jury

Tham Khai Meng, Worldwide Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy & Mather will head up the LIA 2013 TV/Cinema/Online Jury in Las Vegas this year.

Khai (left) has explored every corner of the ad business in a 27-year career that has seen him building brands and agencies on four continents. Advertising Age considers him “one of the world’s most influential people in the communications business.”

Khai is now enjoying his role as Worldwide Chief Creative Officer of Ogilvy & Mather and Chairman of its Worldwide Creative Council. He is also a member of the Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide Board and Executive Committee.

In 2000, Khai joined Ogilvy & Mather as Regional Creative Director and Co-Chairman of its Asia Pacific network. While there, he was named Campaign Brief Asia’s “Creative Director of the Year” for seven straight years, an unprecedented honor that led to his 2008 induction into the Campaign Brief Hall of Fame.

Khai has won countless Awards and Grand Prix over the years from every major award show including Cannes, LIA, and Clio. He’s also chaired jury panels for all of them. In 2012, Khai led Ogilvy & Mather to victory at the Cannes Lions, bagging a Grand Prix, 83 Lions, and the coveted Network of the Year award for the first time in the agency’s history.

Khai has also been a panelist at the World Economic Forum in 2010, and is a board member of The Future of Storytelling. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts.

In 2012, Khai led Ogilvy & Mather to victory at the Cannes Lions, bagging a Grand Prix, 83 Lions, and the coveted Network of the Year award for the first time in the agency’s history.

“It’s great to have Khai return to chair the TV/Cinema/Online Film Jury. Selecting him for Jury President was an easy decision for us. Khai is thorough, driven and passionate. With Khai in the judging room nothing will be overlooked and only the cream will rise to the top,” said Barbara Levy, President of LIA

“It’s a great honour to be chairing this year’s LIA TV/Cinema/Online Film Jury. LIA is one of the world’s preeminent award shows. So to win here is to win big. For this Jury, we will be looking for work that not only go for the jugular, but also go for the heart. They will need to have flawless execution, emotional punch, undiminished re-watchability and has to be fresh. Above all else great storytelling. For us in the communications business, storytelling is the Holy Grail. I’m really looking forward to the experience,” said Khai.

28th London International Awards judging takes place at the Encore Hotel in Las Vegas from 4th – 12th October 2013.

About LIA: Receiving over 15,000 entries from 76 countries in 2012 LIA has established itself as a revolutionary global leader celebrating creativity, the power of ideas, and new technology in all forms of Advertising and Design. Defining its 28-year history, Barbara Levy, Founder and President of LIA, continues her innovative leadership meeting the demands of our ever-changing industry. Launched in 1986 with the purpose to be different, LIA was the first truly international award, accepting entries in Television, Print and Radio media from around the world, and judging them equally. LIA now accepts entries into ten unique media types.

LIA Educational Initiative: In 2012, LIA announced the launch of its ‘Creative Conversations’ program targeted to Young Creatives from around the globe. As a way to give back to the very industry that has made LIA a trailblazer across the awards landscape, LIA coordinated a week of seminars, ‘conversations’, lunches and dinners that were both educational and stimulated discussions around the future of Advertising.

In 2013, ‘Creative Conversations’ will once again take place at Encore/Wynn Las Vegas during the week of the October 2013 LIA Judging Sessions. The entire initiative, including travel, meals and hotel expenses, is fully funded by LIA.

Only seventy attendees from around the globe will be invited to this intimate, invitation-only event. LIA has communicated word of the ‘Creative Conversations’ to various global agency networks, independent agencies, production companies, associations and media outlets. The managers of these companies and associations will chose individuals for the exclusive opportunity to experience LIA’s educational initiative.

The leaders of the ‘Creative Conversations’ in 2012 included: Ted Royer, Susan Credle, Israel Diaz, Sonal Dabral, Tony Calcao, Jeremy Craigen, Faris Yakob, Neil French, Phil Growick, Doerte Spengler-Ahrens, Bob Garfield, Jonathon Ker, Ralph van Dijk and Scott Elias.