MAD STARS has announced the international industry leaders who will preside over its final judging rounds and ultimately decide this year’s Grand Prix of the Year winners.

Alejandro Di Trolio, European creative chairman, Cheil; Alex Abrantes, chief creative officer, North America, Iris Worldwide; Ashish Chakravarty, executive director & India head of creative, McCann; and Tawana Murphy Burnett, head of top accounts & agencies, Meta; represent diverse regions and creative disciplines. Each will add their expertise and experience to the judging process, ensuring fairness that enhances the value of winning MAD STARS awards.

Alejandro Di Trolio is a multi-awarded creative focused on digital creativity and innovation with industry experience across Latin America and Europe. He has led multidisciplinary creative teams to find new disruptive ways to connect with audiences in a career spanning nearly two decades in independent and global network agencies, such as Leo Burnett, BBDO, MIG, Nucorpa, and Tc. Before Cheil, he was ECD at Good Rebels, leading global creative teams in 5 cities (London, Madrid, Mexico, Colombia, and Barcelona), developing projects based on creative data and social content. Now he leads the European Creative Council of Cheil, overseeing innovation across more than ten countries in the network.

Alex Abrantes has recently been appointed chief creative officer North America at Iris Worldwide, following his role as executive creative director at FCB New York, where he led award-winning work for Michelob ULTRA, Spotify, and Hyundai. Abrantes’ creative experience was developed at Publicis Brasil, Publicis New York, and Africa Creative. He was ranked as the world’s #1 executive creative director in both The Drum’s Global Creative Rankings (2024) and The One Club’s Global Creative Rankings (2023 and 2024).

Abrantes played a crucial role in fuelling organic growth for FCB New York’s AB InBev business, leading “Dreamcaster”, the Cannes Lions 2023 Grand Prix winner in Entertainment for Sports; Michelob ULTRA’s “McEnroe vs. McEnroe”, led AB InBev to its first-ever Innovation Lion and Spotify’s “A Song for Every CMO”, which became the first-ever Gold Lion winner in the B2B category. His work has won two Emmy Awards and more than 30 Cannes Lions over the past five years – and he played a key role in helping FCB earn the title of North America Network of the Year at Cannes for seven consecutive years.

Ashish Chakravarty has worked on some of the biggest global brands and won more than 400 awards across categories in the industry’s most prestigious shows such as Cannes Lions, One Show, Clio, D&AD, LIA, ANDYs, Spikes Asia, AdFest and MAD STARS. He has been recognised as one of the top 10 creative directors in India by Economic Times, the leading business daily in India, three years in a row, and was also ranked among the most awarded creative directors in the world. Chakravarty’s recent work for Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, Buckaroo, and ESAF Bank has been awarded at both global creative and effectiveness shows.

Tawana Murphy Burnett has been a key figure in teams for some of the largest and most influential global brands and advertising agencies across the US, EMEA, LATAM, and, most recently, in APAC. At Meta, she leads the team that advises CMOs, business leaders, and agency partners on how best to use digital and emerging marketing solutions. Prior to Meta, Tawana led multi-million-dollar and award-winning product teams at Intuit, LeapFrog, Johnson & Johnson, and Pfizer. In 2019, she was featured in Adweek’s Women Trailblazers for her active mentorship, her investment in over 15 women-founded companies, and her participation in the groundbreaking #biascorrect campaign aimed to correct bias and elevate the discussion of women in leadership positions. She was inducted into the Ad Age Global Leading Women Class of 2023, Adweek’s “The List” in 2024, and was selected as a juror for Spikes Asia and MAD STARS 2024.

The four executive jurors will lead the MAD STARS 2025 final jury of 34 industry experts from 20 countries. They are:

Film, Diverse Insights, Branded Entertainment, Game, Music, Sports, PIVOT (Special Category)

• Alex Abrantes, Chief Creative Officer, North America, Iris Worldwide(Executive Jury)
• Andrea Ogunbadejo, President, Eva Nosidam – VaynerX
• Erik Reiff, Chief Creative Officer / Founding Partner, Black Cat White Cat Music
• Herbert Hernandez, Creative Partner, GIGIL
• Hyejin Kwon, Group Creative Director, HSAD
• Leonard Wiguna, Group Chief Creative Officer, Future Creative Network
• Nino Gupana, Global Creative Specialist, Our LEGO Agency of The LEGO Group
• Ricardo Adolfo, Executive Creative Director, TBWA\ Media Arts Lab Tokyo
• Tres Colacion, Executive Creative Director, Droga5

Print, Radio & Audio, Design, Direct, Strategy, SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals)

• Ashish Chakravarty, Executive Director & India Head of Creative, McCANN (Executive Jury)
• Jiho Park, Executive Creative Director, Daehong Communications
• Livio Grossi, Group Executive Creative Director, Dentsu Creative / Dentsu Redder
• Minseok Seo, Executive Creative Director, TBWA KOREA
• Neo Dikgafela Segola, Chief Creative Officer, Lumis
• Pablo Maldonado, Executive Creative Director, C2
• Pannarai Juanroong, Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy Thailand
• Rita-Maria Spielvogel, Creative Director & Member of the Board, DDB Wien / Board Member, ADC*E

Interactive, Mobile, Data Insight, Social & Influencer, Integrated, Innovation

• Alejandro Di Trolio, European Creative Chairman, Cheil (Executive Jury)
• Carlos Camacho, Chief Creative Officer ASIA, GUT
• Hajime Yakushiji, Creative Director / Strategic Planner, Dentsu Inc.
• Jin Yang, Creative Partner, Leo Burnett Taiwan
• Joseph Lau, Global Head of Creative and Design, OPPO
• Mateusz Mroszczak, Chief Creative Officer, VML Singapore
• Pancho Gonzalez, Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Inbrax
• Samer Lahoud, Head of Creative Strategy, MENA, Snap Inc

Outdoor, PR, Brand Experience & Activation, Media, Place Brand, Commerce

• Tawana Murphy Burnett, Head of Top Accounts & Agencies, Meta (Executive Jury)
• Chatchai Butsabakorn, Executive Creative Director, VML Thailand
• Geumbyul / Very Bae, Executive Creative Director, INNOCEAN
• Jamie Cordwell, Global Executive Creative Director (Interim CCO), Edelman
• Kimberley Ragan, Group Creative Director, Colenso BBDO
• Martin Cedergren, Executive Creative Director, Xnet
• Sandipan Bhattacharyya, Chief Creative Officer, MONKS
• Sohyun Lee, Creative Director, Cheil Worldwide
• Yoshitaka Kitagawa, Strategic Creative Director, HAKUHODO

Following the completion of the online preliminary judging, the finalists have been announced. The final judging consists of three stages, beginning with an online round. The second and final rounds will be held in person in Busan on August 25, where the executive jury will convene to determine the winners. The results will be officially revealed at the MAD STARS Awards Show on August 29.

Find more information on MAD STARS website.