Effie Asia Pacific has introduced Karl Cluck, Head of Global Agency for APAC at TikTok and May Ling Chan, Chief Marketing Officer of KFC Malaysia, as Heads of Jury for the APAC Effie Awards 2022. Both experienced Effie judges, they return as Heads of Jury this year to lead the judges in evaluating the entries and awarding only the best works that Asia Pacific has to offer.
Karl is the Head of Global Agency for APAC at TikTok, based in Singapore. He and his team work with creative and media agencies across Asia Pacific to deliver innovative, inspiring and effective communications on the world’s most exciting content platform.
Prior to joining TikTok, Karl was the Global Client Leader for Mindshare’s Facebook Team based in San Francisco. There, he managed Facebook’s global off-platform marketing investment in 30+ countries and across all of their business divisions including Facebook Blue App, Instagram, Whatsapp, Messenger and Oculus.
Before moving to the Bay Area, Karl spent over 14 years in Asia at Mindshare and GroupM. He served as Mindshare’s regional Chief Client Officer in Singapore, and before that, as the CEO for Japan, Korea and Taiwan. He started his career at Mindshare in China, where he spent ten years between Shanghai and Beijing in various leadership roles.
On his appointment, Karl said, “I am thrilled to be joining such a distinguished group of marketing and media professionals as Head of Jury for the APAC Effies. Effectiveness is the lifeblood of our industry, and the Effies continue to set the standard in recognising great work in this area across Asia Pacific and around the world. As we come out of the pandemic, these kind opportunities to learn from each other and celebrate our successes are more important than ever. It’s an honour to take part.”
May Ling is the Chief Marketing Officer of KFC Malaysia. A seasoned marketer with 24 years of experience, of which she spent 13 years in telecommunications and 10 years in senior leadership roles, she has taken a recent pivot to Quick Service Retail.
A driven marketing leader, May Ling has a proven track record of developing branding & marketing strategies, digital transformation, change management and innovative firsts across different markets. Her forte lies in leading cross-functional teams to build award-winning brand & marcomm campaigns, #1 digital products and creating the first digital telco payment whilst piloting new digital innovations in an emerging market.
May Ling has accumulated numerous accolades throughout her career, having been recognised as CMO of the Year 2021 (Best Marketer in Retail & Promotions Marketing) and Advertiser of the Year for KFC. While at her previous role, May Ling has also won Advertiser of the Year and set a Guinness World Record.
An active industry contributor, May Ling was elected Vice President of the Malaysian Advertisers Association for 2 terms (2014-2017). Besides acting as Organising Chairman for the 2015 Malaysian Effie Awards, she has also served as a jury member for several local and regional awards and spoken at industry conferences.
On her appointment, May Ling said, “I am humbled and honoured to be a Head of Jury this year. It is a privilege to be part of this esteemed marketing community and gather inspiration from some of the best work around the region. As we move towards an endemic, it would be insightful to see how brands have shifted their business strategies towards the new normal.”
Globally recognised as one of the industry’s most distinguished accolades for marketing effectiveness by clients and agencies alike, the APAC Effie Awards continues to uphold the gold standard by honouring only the most effective marketing communication efforts in the region.
The full jury line-up has been announced at www.apaceffie.com/competition/2022-jury.
