Philippines – MARKETECH APAC has officially announced the finalists for the NEXT Awards Asia-Pacific 2025, bringing together standout work and innovation across brands, agencies, teams, and martech companies in the region.
Now in its latest edition, the NEXT Awards continues its mission of spotlighting marketing excellence anchored in real-world outcomes, customer experience breakthroughs, and future-ready strategies that move the industry forward.
A regional recognition platform with a unique judging model
The NEXT Awards Asia-Pacific 2025 is built as a multi-country recognition programme that highlights the most effective marketing executions across Southeast Asia and the wider APAC region.
Its distinctiveness lies in its country-to-regional progression model, where winners from national programmes automatically advance to the Asia-Pacific level.
For 2025, winners from NEXT Awards Indonesia 2025, NEXT Awards Malaysia 2025, and NEXT Awards Philippines 2025 proceed to compete alongside entries from Singapore, Hong Kong, and the wider APAC regional category, forming a consolidated shortlist that reflects the region’s strongest marketing leaders.
Finalists overview across the region
This year’s edition drew robust participation from marketing organisations across the region, culminating in a total of 204 finalists.
Out of 29 brands and 23 agencies recognised at NEXT Awards Indonesia 2025, 27 brands and 21 agencies advanced to the NEXT Awards Asia-Pacific shortlist. Finalists include Volare Advertising Network, i-dac Indonesia, Starbucks Indonesia, and Danone Indonesia, the latter of which was recently named Grand Prix Brand of the Year.
From 30 Malaysian brands and 16 agencies awarded at NEXT Awards Malaysia 2025, 26 brands and 14 agencies secured spots as Asia-Pacific finalists. The roster features RHB Bank, Etika Sdn Bhd, and Grand Prix winners THE SHOUT GROUP and MR.DIY Malaysia.
Meanwhile, of the 36 brands and 33 agencies recognised at NEXT Awards Philippines 2025, a total of 29 brands and 27 agencies advanced to the Asia-Pacific finalists stage.
Combined with entries from Singapore, Hong Kong, and other APAC markets, this year’s regional list includes 111 brands, 76 agencies, and 17 martech companies.
Brands and agencies leading the nominations
Grab Indonesia leads this year’s brand nominations with 19, followed by MR.DIY Malaysia with 14. On the agency side, M&C Saatchi Performance Indonesia tops the list with 19 nominations, with Volare Advertising Network close behind at 18 and THE SHOUT GROUP at 16.
Top brands with most nominations
- Grab Indonesia (19 nominations)
- MR.DIY Malaysia (14 nominations)
- RHB Bank Malaysia (9 nominations)
- Spotify Singapore (8 nominations)
- PJ Lhuillier Inc. (7 nominations)
- Danone Specialized Nutrition Indonesia – Bebeclub (6 nominations)
- Standard Chartered Bank Hong Kong (6 nominations)
- Opella Healthcare (6 nominations)
- Prudential (6 nominations)
- GROW with Singlife (5 nominations)
Top agencies with most nominations
- M&C Saatchi Performance Indonesia (19 nominations)
- Volare Advertising Network (18 nominations)
- THE SHOUT GROUP / FCB SHOUT (16 nominations)
- i-dac Indonesia (7 nominations)
- OMD Philippines (7 nominations)
- Dentsu Hong Kong (6 nominations)
- Hungry Digital (6 nominations)
- Dentsu Creative Philippines (5 nominations)
- Kembang Api (4 nominations)
- Zenith (Publicis OneVibe) – Singapore (4 nominations)
- ToffeeDev (4 nominations)
- OMD Taiwan (4 nominations)
- STEB Group (4 nominations)
- M+C Saatchi Group Malaysia (4 nominations)
See full list of finalists HERE.
The judging process is led by top marketing decision-makers across high-growth industries, ensuring a balanced evaluation of strategy, creativity, execution, and measurable impact.
For the Marketing Campaigns tracks, the Heads of Jury are Farha Naz Zaman, Chief Marketing Officer at Grameenphone Ltd.; Chin Mei Lee, Chief Marketing Officer at McDonald’s Malaysia; Arpan Biswas, Chief Marketing Officer at AJIO.com; Sheila Paul, Chief Marketing Officer at Home Credit; and Bobby Suadi, VP Marketing at Prudential Indonesia.
Overseeing the Agencies, Individuals, and Teams categories is Philip Chau, Regional Director, Marketing Performance & Operations, Asia, at Sun Life.
See full list of jury HERE.
Joven Barceñas, founder and CEO of MARKETECH APAC, said, “From groundbreaking campaigns to technology-driven solutions, the NEXT Awards Asia-Pacific honors the work that truly moves the needle. Our finalists reflect the region’s vibrant marketing ecosystem, where creativity meets measurable impact and future-ready strategies.”
The NEXT Awards Asia-Pacific 2025 Gala Night will be held on November 27, 2025, at Shangri-La The Fort, Manila.
Brands, agencies, and martech companies interested in joining next year’s edition may reach out via [email protected].
