Kentaro Kimura
International Chief Creative Officer and Corporate Officer, Hakuhodo, Founder, Hakuhodo Kettle, Japan - Jury President
Kentaro is a hybrid, multi-tasking person. His career started as a strategic planner, broadened to creative director, and then as a CEO role for 13 years in a creative boutique, and is now in the CCO role in the mothership company, Hakuhodo.
He established Hakuhodo Kettle, a multiple award-winning creative boutique in 2006 with the mission of breaking through the boundaries of traditional advertising methods to provide innovative integrated solutions to clients such as Toyota, Sony, Google, Suntory, etc.
As International CCO of Hakuhodo, Kentaro leads creatives in international offices and is responsible for strengthening Hakuhodo as a network to better serve its clients.
He has won more than 150 awards including 10 Grand Prix prizes in several international award shows. He also leads popular seminars on creativity at international conferences around the world.
Kentaro enjoys playing tennis, golf, and the piano. As a youth he backpacked around the world and has currently visited more than 40 countries, and looks forward to traveling to more when the opportunity arises.
