APAC Effie Appoints OMD's Charlotte Lee and GroupM’s Helen McRae as Heads of Jury

Effie APAC has announced the appointment of Charlotte Lee, CEO of OMD Asia Pacific and Helen McRae, president of growth and marketing of GroupM APAC and CEO of Mindshare APAC as heads of jury for this year’s award season.

As CEO for OMD APAC, Charlotte brings over 20 years of global experience driving impactful transformation in the marketing and media landscape. Based in Singapore, she has built her career leading teams across Canada, Hong Kong, and the Asia Pacific region, with a relentless focus on effectiveness, innovation, and client success.

As a passionate advocate for continuous improvement, Charlotte and her teams have been at the forefront of delivering transformative solutions that enable organisations to navigate complex challenges and achieve sustainable growth. She thrives on challenging the status quo, pushing boundaries, and fostering a culture of creativity.

Charlotte has served as a judge at both global and regional award shows, including the 2024 Global Best of the Best Effie Awards and the Creative Strategy category at the 2024 Cannes Lions.

On her appointment, Charlotte said, “Being selected as a Head of Jury for the APAC Effie Awards isn’t something I take lightly. In a landscape as dynamic and diverse as APAC, creativity and strategic impact go hand-in-hand, and I look forward to recognising and rewarding ideas that not only break through but drive real business results.”

Helen McRae’s role as president of growth and marketing of GroupM Asia Pacific and CEO of Mindshare in APAC has helped brands accelerate their growth across some of the world’s most dynamic and diverse regions. Starting at Mindshare in 2004 to lead the Unilever account in Europe, she has gone on to become CEO for Europe, Middle East and Africa and CEO at Mindshare UK. 

She has worked in every continent barring Antarctica, across a range of industries – from logistics to luxury to FMCG to startups. At the moment, her passion is showing how AI will reinforce Asia Pacific’s role in defining the future of marketing.

On her appointment, she said, “From LLMs to KOLs; from TV sponsorship to quick commerce, Asia will define the future of marketing and AI will bring that to life faster than we thought possible. Being part of the APAC Effies and seeing, learning and discussing how brands are creating new routes to growth is a thrilling opportunity.”

The APAC Effie Awards uplifts the most effective marketing campaigns in the region through its rigorous processes, making it recognised as one of the industry’s most prestigious accomplishments for marketing effectiveness.

The first group of jurors have been announced on the Effie website, to see the latest competition updates visit www.apaceffie.com.