Vietnam Young Lions

2024
2023

FILM & INTEGRATED

PRELIM & FINAL ROUND

Trong finished Gone With The Wind at the age of 7, when most kids his age just started the alphabet. His passion for words, new ideas and story-telling brought him into advertising as a writer. He always wants to tell stories in his ads, and those stories can be seen in several campaigns for both international and local brands. After 5 years working at international agencies such as Lowe and Y&R Vietnam, Trong was the first Vietnamese advertiser to get a Fulbright scholarship and earn a Master’s degree in advertising at the Brandcenter, USA. Now he’s leading the creative team at Dinosaur Vietnam.

Nguyễn Huy Trọng

Creative Director

Dinosaur

Jury Chairman

Started his career as a copywriter at J. Walter Thompson Vietnam, Nguyen has shown his ability to understand insights and roles of creativity in business objectives. For that reason, he has become an outstanding copywriter who is in charge of important clients such as Pepsi Suntory, Vietnam Airlines and HSBC. He is now working at Dentsu One Vietnam as a Creative Director, leading young creative experts in providing creative - communication solutions for Sapporo, Tan Hiep Phat and Rohto. His experience with global competitions includes Cannes Lions 2011 and 2013 with a Bronze Lions Award in Print Category and being shortlisted in D&AD, The One Show 2011. Therefore, Nguyen will be surely a live example for young lions to learn and prepare for their upcoming competition at the most prestigious festival of creativity.

Lê Chí Nguyện

Creative Director

Dentsu One

Jury Member

Ngo Thanh Van (Veronica Ngo) is a Vietnamese actress, director and film producer. She first started her career as a model after winning a prestigious local beauty pageant as second runner-up. With the passion for movies, she then engaged herself further in acting, with many starring roles in films such as Rouge, The Rebel (Dòng Máu Anh Hùng), House In The Alley, Once Upon A Time in Vietnam (Lửa Phật), … She is also the Vietnam first international star, appeared in Star Wars: The Last Jedi; Bright; and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny. In 2016, she surprised the public by releasing her first directing movie - Tam Cam: The Untold Story (Tấm Cám: Chuyện chưa kể). With the success of Tam Cam: The Untold Story, she continued to prove her talent by playing the role of producer in The Tailor (Cô Ba Sài Gòn) and Song Lang which were highly praised by both critics and the public. She was listed among Top 50 Most Influential Women selected by Forbes Vietnam in 2017.

Ngô Thanh Vân

General Director

Studio68

Jury Member

Based in Tokyo, Marc Lefkowitz is the Head of YouTube’s Creator and Artist Development team in APAC. where he leads the team responsible for growing and supporting emerging and established creators across the region. Marc joined the team in April, 2018 after spending the previous five years overseeing YouTube’s Technology Services team in APAC, providing consultative technical services to top traditional media and enterprise partners in the region. Prior to settling in Tokyo, Marc started his Google career in Mountain View in 2010 where he managed technology implementations and partnerships on the Google Search and Display Networks, as well as other Google advertising technologies. A Boston native, Marc graduated magna cum laude with a BS in Computer Science from the Honors College at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He earned his MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.

Marc Lefkowitz

Head of YouTube Creator & Artist Development, APAC

Google

Jury Member

DIGITAL

PRELIM & FINAL ROUND

Nitin Gajria is the Country Director for Google Vietnam / Cambodia / Laos. He has been at Google for over 4 years, prior to which he spent 13 years in Brand Marketing at Procter & Gamble and Mead Johnson working across the Asia Pacific region. Nitin is keenly interested in technology start-ups and is always looking for interesting businesses as an investor. Nitin is a husband and a father. He hails from Mumbai, completed his education in Kolkata and has lived and worked in Singapore and Sydney over the last 17 years. He spends most weeks in Saigon or Hanoi meeting interesting people.

Nitin Gajria

Google Country Director - Vietnam/Cambodia/Laos

Google

Jury Chairman

Sajju Ambat crossed over to advertising after quitting a career in finance. He has been part of advertising & consulting for over 18 years now. He has worked as a planner/strategist across multiple countries in Asia, South East Asia, Middle East & North Africa managing large brands for Unilever, Nestle, Renault, General Mills, Sanofi, Perfetti, Etisalat, & J&J. He is been a regular on the Global & APAC EFFIE judging panel. Few of his outstanding campaigns from these regions has won all metals including Platinum, Gold, Silver & Bronze at award shows all across the world. His work under brand strategy & marketing effectiveness has been recognized at Jay Chiat Day, WARC & Asian Strategy Prize. He is a strategist by craft but an idea person by trade. He has won multiple Gold & Bronze Lions at Cannes & Silver at Spikes Asia. His work on mobile & digital platforms has been awarded at MMA, MOBEX, EPICA, MENA Cristal, SPIKES and Tambuli. Interestingly, in 2014 he is credited as a writer at One Show, NY Fest and featured in the Ad Week’s WORKS, which showcases the 17 best print ads from all over the world.

Sajju Ambat

Chief Strategy Officer

Mirum Vietnam

Jury Member

Originally from France, Etienne kick-off his agency career 15 years ago from consumer healthcare & retail consulting background. Since then we has moved from US to Asia (Singapore, Shanghai) to settle in Vietnam. For the last 6 years, he has been the head of digital and General Manager at Performics which he has grown from 4 to 40+ members servicing accounts across various scopes including digital media, programmatic, ad technology, data & analytics as well as integrated search (SEO/SEM). Etienne is currently the Digital Transformation lead at Publicis One in Vietnam. Etienne has experience across various industries (e.g. banking, e-commerce, technology/telecom, consumer goods, alcohol beverages, healthcare, etc.). His overall contribution has been rewarded with 13 MMA Smarties, 02 YouTube leader board, 02 Google Performance Marketing Gold Award.

Etienne Ricco

General Manager/Head of Digital

Publicis Media

Jury Member

MARKETERS

PRELIM & FINAL ROUND

Before joining agency life, Giang Nguyen had spent 8 years in brand management at Procter & Gamble, which granted her the best-in-class foundation in brand management, which laid the cornerstone of her career success in branding and marketing. Over the last 7 years as an agency leader, Giang has had the opportunity to further hone her marketing skills from interacting with top industry professionals and practicing on different business models. She has never ceased to learn or stay inspired, which can easily be seen when working with her. Giang also has a strong belief in leveraging the power of marketing to shift people's behaviors and shape the social landscape. It was exactly the reason for her founding of Brandmaker – the branding consultancy company in 2008 and co-founding of The Purpose Group – the purpose-driven branding and marketing entrepreneur in 2014. The strong experience, exposure, and belief in purpose-driven branding Giang has acquired over the years helps her to build top brands in Vietnam such as The Coffee House, Fami, Vinasoy, and successful global brands such as Budweiser and Downy. Giang’s contribution to Vietnam brand building and communication was recognized by her being featured on the Campaign Asia Top 40 Women to Watch in Asia 2018.

Nguyễn Thanh Giang

Managing Director

The Purpose Group

Jury Chairwoman

Sudarshan (Sud), is currently the Managing Director of Team Unilever at Mindshare Vietnam. He has over 19 years of cross functional experience across Brand Management, Marketing, Broadcasting and Media. Before moving to Vietnam, he has worked across 6 Countries and 8 cities: India (Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore), Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia & Indonesia. Besides advertising, Sud has worked as a brand marketer with a Financial Services brand, and in the FM Radio industry with a broadcaster shaping Content and Revenue strategy. Sud has a keen interest in Consumer Insights and works closely on all aspects of Communication strategy specializing in Media, which he has seen grow from TV and Print first in the early 2000 to the present-day “Mobile first” world of data-driven marketing.

Sudarshan Saha

Managing Director TUL

Mindshare Vietnam

Jury Member

Abhijit, has been engaging with disruptive c-suite thinkers for over 5 years in Vietnam. He believes we are going through the best time for growth in talent and new trajectories in business. In his experience, magic happens between the method and the madness, ear-to-the-ground and academic rigour, failure and success. Some of his exciting recent engagements were: A turnaround of Pampers Vietnam from 3 years of decline; by driving local cultural integration, digital conversation and e-commerce. [Bronze, Effective Social Strategy, 2018, WARC Global Awards, Best Viral Campaign, SABRE, 2018]. Building Vietnam’s First Auto Brand, VINFAST, in collaboration with The Boston Consulting Group. Branding of “GO!” retail chain for The Central Group, Vietnam. Growing consciousness and consensus towards the efforts of Endangered Asian Species Trust, UK Charity Group in Vietnam.

Abhijit Das

Chief Strategy Officer

Leo Burnett Vietnam

Jury Member

PR

PRELIM & FINAL ROUND

Thien Thanh has more 18 years of experience working for JWT & Publicis Group & now Edelman. Holding Leadership Position in reputable Agencies in the last 15 years, TT is known for her Strategic Leadership on corporate and brand building across all segments. Thien Thanh is a thorough market explorer with deep insights into consumer and stakeholder behavior. She is a big believer in authentic conversations and content, which when delivered in a creative and engaging way, will provoke and generate conversations across relevant touch-points and effect behavior change.

Nguyen Thi Thien Thanh

CEO/Managing Director

Edelman Vietnam

Jury Chairwoman

Cam is a professional and entrepreneur who is a critical hand in building up T&A-Ogilvy since 2002 from a small agency to one of the leading professional communication firms in Vietnam. Currently as the General Director, Cam focuses on developing and maintaining the relationship with the company’s clients, especially in strategic counseling and program development. She is also leading Ogilvy Consulting, the engine coordinating the efforts of Ogilvy Vietnam’s three service arms of Brand & Advertising, PR & Influence, and Customer Engagement & Commerce. Having over 15 years of experiences in Communication and Diplomacy, Cam has been working with almost all leading international and local brands engaging the agency’s services and gaining expanded experience in a wide spectrum of industries. She has deeply involved in communications strategy & planning through her keen insight on Vietnamese media, consumers and business context, as well as her extensive knowledge of communication practices Cam graduates from the Institute of International Relations with the major in diplomacy and holds an MBA degree from a 2-year course sponsored by the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Prior to coming to T&A-Ogilvy, Cam worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, first at the America Department and then at the Press Department with a supporting role at international conferences as AMM 34th and ARF 8th in Hanoi. Before that, Cam was an active coordinator for IOGT, a Swedish NGO dedicated to social work in Vietnam in 2 years. Cam lives with her family in Ho Chi Minh city.

Nguyễn Diệu Cầm

General Director

T&A Ogilvy

Jury Member

Luc is heading MSL Vietnam and acts as senior advisor for the agency’s clients. He is a French national, with a strong expertise in PR and digital. Luc started his career in the pharma industry, as a consultant for clinical researches. Then he moved to work in the media industry, launching newspapers, blogs and online tv channels. At the same time, he was involved in political campaigns for candidates and ministers. He joined ELAN agency (acquired by Edelman PR network) in 2008 to develop all the digital influence activities of the PR agency. Since 2013, Luc is working for MSL – the PR network of Publicis – in France then in South-East Asia, helping the clients of the agency in their reputation management, and developing the impact of their influence efforts. He has a strong background in crisis and issue management, in corporate and public affairs ; and with his innovative mindset he also drives the digital transformation into the communications strategies of brands and institutions. With one feet in PR and one feet in digital, he is the partner of C-Level clients to partner with them in the new era of influence.

Luc Mandret

General Manager

MSL Vietnam

Jury Member