As a way to expose Western judges to the creative excellence of the APAC region and enhance its support for the global creative community, The One Club for Creativity has announced the launch of The One Show-ONE Asia Cross-Culture Jury Initiative.
Celebrating the best and boldest creative work from across APAC, the ONE Asia Creative Awards has quickly become recognized for utilizing the same rigorous judging process as The One Club’s prestigious global One Show and ADC Annual Awards, and assembling esteemed juries to provide prestige and honor to winning creatives, designers, and innovators.
As part of the nonprofit organization’s ongoing commitment to increase APAC support, representation, and performance in global jury rooms, the club’s new Cross-Culture Jury Initiative calls for a group of judges from outside of APAC to serve on the ONE Asia jury each year, and subsequently return to also judge at the following year’s global One Show. In addition, a select number of ONE Asia judges from APAC will serve on juries for the next year’s One Show and ADC Annual Awards.
The first group of creative leaders based outside of APAC who will serve on ONE Asia juries this October in Seoul are Noel Bunting, CCO at Publicis London, Ross Taylor, group ECD at Havas Play London,Paddy Treacy, creative director at Wieden+Kennedy New York.
In addition for ONE Asia 2025, Judy John, global CCO at Edelman and member of The One Club Board of Directors, will for the second consecutive year attend ONE Asia judging as a moderator and advisor in support of the APAC creative community. While serving as a non-voting attendee, her unique perspective as the agency’s first-ever global CCO allows her to spotlight and amplify APAC work on a global stage, reinforcing the importance of The One Club’s Cross-Cultural Jury Initiative.
The new initiative is intended to make judges based in the West more deeply aware of the creative excellence of the APAC region — its cultural context, nuance, and regional points of view — by immersing them in the year’s best work from the region, in a jury room led by APAC voices. They will emerge with a richer understanding of the work and its significance, and be more informed about work from APAC when they later participate in The One Show’s global judging process.
This is one of several efforts to ensure work from the APAC region is given the fairest possible consideration. The One Club remains committed to always putting forth globally diverse juries for all of its awards shows, and will continue to include a balanced number of APAC judges each year. This additional step is designed to further amplify APAC perspectives, bridge regional understanding, and celebrate creative excellence from every corner of the world.
“The One Club is uniquely positioned to lead programs that make global competitions more equitable,” said Adam Izen, director, The One Show, based in New York. “Through this One Show-ONE Asia Cross Culture Jury Initiative, we’re giving more judges a deeper understanding of the creative culture and industry in the APAC region. That insight helps ensure work from APAC is judged in the right context, and strengthens our mission to celebrate and support the global creative community.”
Season Zhou, APAC director, growth & partnerships for The One Club, based in Shanghai, added “Too often, work from Asia-Pacific is seen through a global lens that doesn’t reflect our realities, cultures, or creative codes. By bridging cultural understanding, we’re not just giving APAC work a fairer stage but helping the global creative conversation become more complete.”
Entries to the ONE Asia 2025 can be submitted now, with entry fees increasing after each deadline period. The extended deadline is August 25, 2025, and final deadline September 12, 2025. Finalists revealed in the Fall and winners announced in December 2025.
ONE Asia 2025 judging in Seoul
A hallmark of ONE Asia is its partnership with the creative community in a different APAC country each year. In-person ONE Asia 2025 judging will take place in Seoul in October, following similar gatherings the past two years in Manila and Shanghai.
By rotating the judging location each year, ONE Asia aims to showcase and appreciate the unique cultural contributions of each APAC country, highlight the exceptional work being done there, and strengthen the bonds within the local creative community.
New for ONE Asia 2025
Notable updates for ONE Asia 2025 include new disciplines for Creative Use of Artificial Intelligence, Media, and OOH, Print & Digital Craft, the return of the Cultural Impact discipline, and changes to existing disciplines including Creative Effectiveness, Gaming, and Use of Humor/Use of Drama.
This year also represents the launch of ONE Asia Marketer of the Year honors. This special award will celebrate a top marketing executive or a top marketing team whose leadership has powered exceptional creative work. Marketer of the Year is non-enterable, and will be awarded to the key marketer or marketing team behind the most awarded work in ONE Asia 2025.
As part of this year’s partnership with South Korea, branding for the ONE Asia 2025 was created by StudioK110 based in Seoul. Inspired by the bold and spicy world of Korean cuisine, the agency developed the “Can You Handle the Heat?” call for entries campaign.
