40 Under 40 2023: Final entry deadline extended

Due to a last-minute surge in nominations, we have extended the deadline for Campaign Asia-Pacific's 2023 edition of 40 Under 40 until Wednesday, 20 September. The cut-off time is 6 pm HKT (UTC/GMT+8). 

Given the publishing schedule, this will be the final extension for our annual flagship list that celebrates the best young talents who are helping to drive the Asian marcomms industry forward and are developing truly effective work for their companies. 

For any queries about the nomination process, please contact [email protected] and refer to the the FAQs below. 

What we're looking for

We are looking for entries that showcase the incredible work of some of Asia's most important, innovative, and fascinating minds under the age of 40 for our prestigious annual list that showcases and hand-picks the industry's finest and brightest.

This year Campaign Asia-Pacific's 40 Under 40 turns 11. For this milestone year, we want to know about the marcomms community members creating waves, breaking barriers, and displaying levels of raw drive and success that place them way above the expectations of their age group, whether they work as a marketer, creative, communicator, strategist, or manager.

People with inspiring stories are what we're looking for. Those who can justly shout about their undeniable professional accomplishments. People who are passionate about advancing the industry—not just in terms of business success but also in terms of the welfare of those working in it, making it welcoming to those who are currently excluded from it, and improving their communities and the world. Successful nominations will have demonstrated success over the previous 12 months, a promising career trajectory, the capacity to motivate and inspire others, and the ability to lead people to perform.

Does that describe you or someone you know? We invite you to nominate up to two others in addition to yourself.

Process

Nominations will be submitted using the nomination form links below.

The deadlines are as follows:

• Early-bird deadline: Friday, 18 August 2023
• Standard entry deadline: Thursday, 31 August 2023
• Final entry deadline now extended to Wednesday, 20 September. Cut-off time is 6 pm HKT (UTC/GMT+8). 

The entry fee—HK$3,450 for early birds, HK$3,900 up until the standard deadline, and HK$4,050 for final entries—includes a one-year membership with Campaign Asia-Pacific, which can be assigned to the nominee, the nominator or another person. You can find more details about the benefits of membership here and direct any questions about membership here.

Judging process

Please note, the judging process has changed. It now consists of two rounds: the first round via our secured online platform, and the final round will be completed via a voting platform to confirm the winners. 

During the first round, judges shall evaluate and score all entries independently and during the final round, Campaign Asia-Pacific’s senior editorial team comprising of editorial director Robert Sawatzky and associate editor Matthew Keegan will be actively involved in confirming the final 40 winners. Read all about the jury members here.

The jury's decision on the winners will be final, and no correspondence will be entered regarding the results. Those selected as the most exceptional rising stars will be honored with in-depth profiles featured in Campaign Asia-Pacific and shared across all our social channels.

Judges reserve the right to raise queries regarding the information provided and penalise any entry if there is evidence of inaccurate and misleading claims, which will lead to entry disqualification.

Once again, the entry fee is non-refundable.

Detailed judging criteria can be accessed via the entry pack.

Eligibility details

To be considered, nominees:

• Must be based in Asia Pacific.
• Must be holding a job in an industry directly related to advertising and marketing. This means that in addition to a brand or agency, the nominee can work for a media company, a technology firm, a startup, an event company—so long as their role relates to marketing, advertising and/or communications.
• Must have been aged 39 or under through Thursday, 14 September 2023 (inclusive). This translates to a birth date of 15 September 1983, or later.

Important notes

• You may nominate up to two people from your company or agency per market that your company operates in. To be clear, this means that if you are with a company that has multiple brands/agencies, you can nominate up to two people per brand/agency per market.
• While we will consider candidates who have appeared in 40 Under 40 before, or in other Campaign Asia-Pacific listings, such as Women to Watch and the Asia-Pacific Power List, we do ask that candidates wait until 2023 if they have already been featured in any of these lists within the last 12 months. If, however, the candidate will no longer meet the age requirements in a year’s time, we will consider the nomination this year. 

Nomination details

The nomination form will ask you to provide: 

• Basic details about yourself (entrant) and the nominee.
• The nominee's backstory: (250-300 words max)
• The three criteria about the nominee. (300 words max each)
• Testimonials: Any comments/endorsements from supervisors/clients? This is not obligatory but may strengthen the submission. (300 words)
• Upload nominee’s brief CV in pdf format. 
• Two recent high-resolution photo of the nominee (at least 1200x800 pixels at 72 dpi).
• Endorser’s contact details.
• Payment of the entry fee, which is HK$3,450 for each candidate during the early-bird period (through 18 August), HK$3,900 for the standard deadline period (from 19 August through to 31 August 2023) and HK$4,050 for final entries (from 1 September through to 14 September).
• Address and contact details for the person who will receive the Campaign Asia-Pacific membership.

Also note

Entries are to be submitted online via our entry platform; you can enter via the ‘ENTER NOW’ button at 40 Under 40 website. We highly recommend you prepare your answers in advance before going to fill out the nomination form or you can save your work as draft in the nomination form before you confirm your submission. Please refer to this entry platform guide to help you prepare the nomination.

Following completion of the nomination, our membership manager will follow up with you to arrange the Campaign Asia-Pacific membership.

What makes a good entry? 

• The entry will show us that the person nominated is clearly indispensable to the company they work for. We will understand specifically what they have done to make them a crucial player in their team and/or the wider business. Metrics and business results you can provide as evidence are important here. 
• The entry will make it clear that the candidate goes above and beyond the demands of their job description, both in terms of their own company's business and in the wider sense of helping to take the industry forward in a positive way. We will take into consideration a candidate's background and the effort and perseverance required to reach their goals. 
• The entry will show us that the nominee is an inspiring person to work with, however this manifests itself. We should get the strong feeling that we'd want to work with these people if we could.
• Testimonials from colleagues, and especially from third parties, from all stages of the nominee's career, will be looked upon favourably. We appreciate entries that are well-written and concise, with clearly laid-out information and specific, concrete examples of achievements by the nominee.

Confidential information

You may flag confidential information in your nomination by putting it into [square brackets]. We ask that you only flag the specific information that must be kept confidential, rather than the whole entry or large parts of it, since we will rely on this information to compile a meaningful profile of any nominee that makes the list.