LIONS announced on September 17 that Spikes Asia, the region’s leading creative advertising festival for nearly four decades, will be rebranded as LIONS Asia starting in 2027. The first LIONS Asia Festival of Creativity and the new Asia Lions Awards will take place in Singapore in September 2027, with the festival returning to its original September slot after recently running in March.
The rebrand brings APAC’s creative advertising platform under the same master brand as Cannes Lions, WARC, Effie and Contagious, placing the region more directly inside LIONS’ global portfolio. Beyond the annual festival and awards, the move expands the proposition into year-round learning, benchmarking, intelligence and networking services for marketers and agencies across Asia-Pacific.
Why Is Spikes Asia Becoming LIONS Asia?
Spikes Asia has operated as APAC’s standalone creative advertising festival since the late 1980s, running independently of the Cannes Lions brand despite covering similar award categories. Folding it into the LIONS master brand lets organisers cross-sell a single global network of properties to marketers and agencies, offering a more integrated calendar of events, benchmarking tools and case-study intelligence rather than treating Asia as a separate ecosystem from Cannes.
What Does This Mean for Indian Advertising and Marketing Agencies?
For Indian agencies, brand marketers and creative shops that submit entries to Spikes Asia, the rebrand signals a shift toward the same judging infrastructure, categories and prestige positioning used at Cannes Lions, potentially raising the profile of Indian creative work that wins recognition under the new LIONS Asia name. It also means Indian marketers may get access to the broader year-round LIONS ecosystem, including WARC’s effectiveness benchmarking and Effie’s marketing effectiveness data, rather than a standalone regional awards show, giving India-based CMOs a more direct line to global creative and effectiveness standards.
Industry Reaction and Expert Commentary
The move is part of a broader LIONS expansion strategy that includes Insight to Impact launching in Denver in October 2026 before moving to Nashville in 2027, and a planned LIONS Riyadh event in December 2027. Industry watchers see the Asia rebrand as recognition of the region’s growing share of global ad spend and creative output, positioning APAC agencies for greater visibility on the same stage as European and North American counterparts rather than in a regionally siloed event.
What Happens Next?
The current Spikes Asia name and format will continue through its final edition before the transition, with the inaugural LIONS Asia Festival of Creativity and Asia Lions Awards set for Singapore in September 2027. Watch for entry category announcements, judging panel details and pricing for the 2027 event to be released over the coming months as LIONS finalises the new format.
Frequently Asked Questions
When will Spikes Asia officially become LIONS Asia?
The rebrand takes effect from 2027, with the first LIONS Asia Festival of Creativity and Asia Lions Awards scheduled for September 2027 in Singapore.
Why is the festival moving back to September?
LIONS Asia is returning to its original September timing after Spikes Asia had recently been held in March, aligning its calendar more closely with other LIONS-branded events globally.
What other LIONS properties will Asia’s marketers now have access to?
Bringing Asia under the LIONS master brand connects the region to Cannes Lions, WARC, Effie and Contagious, expanding access to global benchmarking, effectiveness data and year-round industry intelligence.
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