Our seventh Innovator 25 class in Asia-Pacific shines an invaluable spotlight on our industry’s future, showcasing those individuals who are reshaping influence and engagement at a time when the industry is profoundly reimagining the future of work, campaigns, live events and much more.

The people recognised here come from various corners of the industry — creative strategy, digital execution, influencer mapping, media storytelling, senior management — but together they represent a compelling picture of what marketing and communications looks like today, and where it is heading tomorrow.

You can read all of the Innovator 25 Profiles, and explore their inspiration, advice and career learnings, using the navigation menu on this page. We have also collected insights and trends among this year's Innovators in the infographic below, including the organizations they come from, the brands and people they admire, their collective take on the PR industry's strengths and weaknesses when it comes to innovation, and their own personal habits and tips. 

The highest proportion of our class are based in Singapore (24%), followed by Bangkok and Hong Kong (12%), Ho Chi Minh City and Mumbai. Indeed, this year sees considerable geographic breadth from our Innovator 25.

Most of this year’s class have been in their roles for four to eight years. The largest proportion (48%) hails from in-house/corporate, and more than three-quarters of all Innovators (77%) believe the pandemic has made the communications industry more innovative.

Encouragingly, only 14% describe the communications/PR industry’s level of innovation as less than other marketing disciplines, a sizeable turnaround compared to previous years. Content creation remains the industry’s greatest opportunity for leading innovation, according to 27% of our class, ahead of data/analytics and creative ideas (23% each).

When it comes to the companies that our Innovators look to for aspiration, some perennial favourites emerge, including Nike, Uber, Dove, Google, Samsung and Ikea, along with other names such as Zomato, Fortnite, Walmart and Arcteryx, and agencies including Alexander PR, MullenLowe, Ogilvy, On Purpose, WPP and Weber Shandwick.