We’re in the midst of a perfect storm.  The recent global recession, coupled with rapid advancements in technology, has forced our industry into hyperdrive.  We’ve seen more change in the past year than in the last ten. As a result, we’ve been forced to change how we’re structured and how we work. 

Digital technology has opened up a realm of creative possibility, especially in emerging areas, such as social, gaming, retail, and, perhaps most importantly, mobile.  Advertising is no longer just about communicating brand messages.  We now have the opportunity to provide real value to people’s lives through the creation of useful platforms and applications.

Despite all of this change, some things should stay the same.  Great design is one of them. 

A hotbed for ethnic diversity, culture, and innovation, Asia has become an epicenter for great design. From Japan to Vietnam, from Thailand to India, from China to Singapore, the work emerging from this region is influencing and inspiring the rest of us.

Personally, my admiration and respect for the craft has impacted every area of my life and has changed the way I view the world. For these reasons and more, I am honoured to lead Spike Asia’s second annual Design jury, and look forward to seeing this year’s stellar work.

Bob Greenberg has been a pioneer in the advertising and communications industry for over three decades. He leads the vision for R/GA, an agency that serves as the digital partner for Fortune 500 companies and world-renowned brands, including Barnes & Noble, Johnson & Johnson, L’Oréal Paris, MasterCard, Hewlett-Packard, Nike, Nokia, Taco Bell, and Walmart.
 
R/GA is one of the world’s most influential advertising agencies, emphasising the importance of integrated strategies, creative excellence, and innovative technology. The agency has offices in New York, San Francisco, and London, with plans to open in Singapore and São Paulo in early 2010.
Bob and his brother, Richard, founded R/Greenberg Associates (R/GA) in 1977 with the idea of creating a company that values design, while focusing on developing leading-edge motion graphics and live-action film and video production.  The company created groundbreaking visual effects for movies, including Alien, Predator, Seven, and Zelig. R/GA’s body of work spans 400 feature films and 4,000 television commercials.

In the mid 1990s, Bob successfully transitioned the company into a multiplatform advertising agency specialising in database-driven information and multichannel e-businesses. R/GA served as the lead digital partner for the world’s most recognised brands and embraced the importance of integrated strategies in a new media environment.

Now in its fourth business model, R/GA has become one of the most successful full-service digital agencies, creating integrated marketing campaigns and experiences for its clients. R/GA was recently recognized by Adweek as the ‘Digital Agency of the Decade’.  Adweek also named R/GA as 2009’s ‘Digital Agency of the Year’, an honour the agency has received five times in the last 10 years.  It has also been listed on Fast Company’s ‘Top 10 Most Innovative Advertising & Marketing Companies’, Advertising Age’s ‘Agencies of the Decade’ and Agency ‘A-List’ and named as Creativity’s ‘Interactive Agency of the Year’.  In addition, R/GA has received top honours at the industry’s most prestigious award shows, including a GRANDY at the International ANDY Awards, a Black Pencil at the D&AD, and a Cyber Grand Prix and Titanium Lion at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.

Bob serves on the boards of numerous schools and organisations focused on the importance of design, communications, technology, and the creative process. He is on the Board of Directors of the 4A’s and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Dean’s Council Advisory Board of Tisch School of the Arts, NYU ITP (Interactive Telecommunications Program), Parsons School, the Berlin School of Creative Leadership, and VCU Brandcentre.       

Bob has won almost every industry award for creativity, including the Academy Award, Clios, and Cannes Lions. Among his most notable awards are the 2007 BDA Lifetime Achievement Award, Clio Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award for Communications that honours the best in American design in 2003, and the Chrysler Award for Innovation in Design. He was also the 2004 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival Cyber Jury President and was a member of the 2005 Titanium Jury.