Ad Age Awards Judges
Each year Ad Age editors and agency reporters pore over hundreds of entries, discussing and debating which agency will earn a spot on the coveted A-List. In 2017 this tradition is being expanded with the newly announced Ad Age Creativity Awards, focusing on the three most creative aspects of the industry: the People, the Work, and the Companies. Alongside our editorial team, the prestigious group of industry experts shown here--representing every facet of the creative field--will judge the Creativity Awards. What will make the list of best innovations/products to watch? What will they deem as world-class work? What will they think of your work? Enter now and find out.
David Anson
David Anson
Vice President, Partnerships and Portfolio Products, NBCUniversal
Companies Jury
David Ansonn
Vice President, Partnerships and Portfolio Products, NBCUniversal
Companies Jury
David Anson has more than a decade of experience in business development in the emerging technology field. In his role as Vice President of Partnerships and Portfolio Products for NBCUniversal, Anson oversees the execution of the company’s multi-platform strategy to identify disruptive technology, develop scalable new businesses, and build and grow revenue-generating partnerships.
Prior to joining NBCUniversal, Anson served as Vice President of Strategic Partnerships for Placecast, Inc., an enterprise location data management platform. Over his career, Anson has held positions at other industry-leading companies, including AT&T, Google and The Rubicon Project.
Anson is also an active advisor and mentor in the venture community. He mentors start-up leadership at both Amplify.la and Entrepreneurs Round Table (ERA), and sits on the advisory boards of multiple emerging technology companies.
Anson holds a bachelor's degree in Telecommunications Management from the Park School of Communications at Ithaca College. He lives in Connecticut with his wife and daughter.
Ana Balarin
Ana Balarin
Executive Creative Director, Mother London
People Jury
Ana Balarin
Executive Creative Director, Mother London
People Jury
Ana started her advertising career in Brazil before packing her bags and moving to the UK where she landed a placement at Mother London in 2007. In the past nine years she rose through the agency's creative ranks being made, alongside her partner, Hermeti Balarin, Executive Creative Director in 2015. During her time at Mother Ana has created groundbreaking and award winning work for all of the agency's major accounts, including Stella Artois, IKEA and Coca-Cola.
Jonny Bauer
Jonny Bauer
Global Chief Strategy Officer, Droga5
People Jury
Jonny Bauer
Global Chief Strategy Officer, Droga5
People Jury
Jonny Bauer is Global Chief Strategy Officer at Droga5, a creative and strategic agency founded in 2006, with offices in New York and London. He is responsible for founding and developing the strategic function at Droga5, while also overseeing all brand, digital, media and IP-related thinking for the agency. Jonny has assembled one of the most respected teams in the industry, which continues to play a pivotal role in the creative and business successes of Droga5.
Over a career that has crossed four continents (and several questionable haircuts), Jonny has helped produce some of the most influential, effective and innovative marketing of the past decade. His past successes include campaigns for Chase, Under Armour, Dyson, Google, Clinton Foundation, Prudential, Toyota, Axe, LVMH Moët Hennessy, New Museum, NYC Department of Education, and Activision.
As a firm believer that brands should create marketing that people want, Jonny has led clients beyond traditional marketing and into content creation (programming, filmmaking, publishing), new product development and social causes, often for the first time. He is passionate about marketing’s ability to provide opportunities for emerging, non-traditional creative talent (artists, writers, filmmakers, technologists). This commitment is reflected in the Vision Labs program, which Bauer originally conceived of as a way to both support and integrate such talent into the agency.
Jonny is widely recognized for his work, consistently doing well at the major strategic, effectiveness and creative awards shows. In 2011, Jonny was inducted into the American Advertising Federation's Advertising Hall of Achievement. Under his leadership, Droga5 has been widely celebrated at the Jay Chiat and Effie Awards, as well as at the Cannes Festival of Creativity. In 2015, the Effie Awards named Droga5 its Most Effective Independent Marketing Agency.
Jonny lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Jill, two sons, Linus and Banks, and Marco the cat.
Sarita Bhatt
Sarita Bhatt
Global Head of Digital Brand Experience, Sonos Inc.
Companies Jury
Sarita Bhatt
Global Head of Digital Brand Experience, Sonos Inc.
Companies Jury
Sarita is an East Coast/NYC native who recently transplanted to California to join Sonos as the Global Head of Digital Brand Experience. At Sonos, she oversees every aspect of Sonos digital marketing - from strategy to activation - across platforms (.com, social, crm, search, etc.). Prior to her move to sunny Santa Barbara, she was an ad agency Man (wo)men. Sarita was on the executive leadership team at Havas Worldwide and the Global Director of Strategy, working with the network’s global clients on strategic and creative solutions to brand challenges. She also worked at Ogilvy, The New York Times and the U.S. Department of Commerce. Sarita is on the Board of Directors at the Brooklyn Community Pride Center and advises serval NGOs on building purpose-driven brands. She has a Master's degree in Communications, Culture and Technology from Georgetown University and a B.S. in Communications Sciences from New York University. She was named Crain’s 40 Under 40 in 2014.
Sim Blaustein
Sim Blaustein
Partner, Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments
Companies Jury
Sim Blaustein
Partner, Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments
Companies Jury
Pablo Cohan
Pablo Cohan
Senior Business Leader, U.S. Digital Payments, MasterCard
Companies Jury
Pablo Cohan
Senior Business Leader, U.S. Digital Payments, MasterCard
Companies Jury
Pablo Cohan is a senior business leader on the U.S. Digital Payments team at MasterCard. In this role, he oversees product development and the go-to-market strategy for MasterPass. Mr. Cohan has held this role since 2015. Previously, he oversaw media measurement for MasterCard Advisors.
Before joining MasterCard in 2013, Mr. Cohan held various positions at The New York Observer, Adobe, MediaMind, and AT&T AdWorks.
Mr. Cohan is a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina and studied software engineering at ITBA. He holds an MBA from New York University’s Stern Business School. In his free time, he enjoys Argentinian futbol, music and stamp collecting.
Pablo Cohan
Emma Cookson
Partner You & Mr Jones
Companies Jury
Emma Cookson
Partner You & Mr Jones
Companies Jury
Karen Costello
Karen Costello
Executive Vice President, Executive Creative Director, Deutsch
Work Jury
Karen Costello
Executive Vice President, Executive Creative Director, Deutsch
Work Jury
Karen is the Executive Creative Director leading Target, CMAB (Real California Milk) and Angel Soft at Deutsch.
In her 17+ years at Deutsch, Karen has worked on every big brand that has come through the agency’s doors. She created the iconic Happy Cow campaign for California Cheese, launched brands like Expedia and HTC from the ground up and worked on countless other iconic brands like Old Navy, Burger King, DirecTV, Mitsubishi, Saturn, GM and Toms.
Karen is passionate about sustainability and has actively spearheaded initiatives within the walls of Deutsch and beyond. Additionally she helped establish DeutschGood, the agency’s philanthropic arm, dedicated to using creativity to give back to the community and those in need. She is also an advocate for women in the workplace, especially the agency creative department.
Susan Credle
Susan Credle
Global Chief Creative Officer, FCB
Co-Chair, People Jury
Susan Credle
Global Chief Creative Officer, FCB
Co-Chair, People Jury
The creative brilliance responsible for making the iconic M&M’S “human” and for the legendary Allstate’s “Mayhem” campaign once dreamed of a life outside of a suburban neighborhood in the Carolinas after watching Ridley’s Scott’s “Share the Fantasy” spot for Chanel. Parallels are often drawn between the fictional Peggy Olson from Mad Men and Susan Credle, who started out as an intern at BBDO and moved up the ranks to become EVP, Executive Creative Director. In 2009, she moved to Leo Burnett USA, where she was credited with the shop’s creative resurgence.
As Global Chief Creative Officer at FCB, Susan furthers Carter Murray’s ambition to burnish the agency’s creative product and reputation. Susan is one of the industry’s leading creatives and an important voice representing women. She has received numerous industry accolades, including CAF’s Chicago Ad Woman of the Year in 2013, Advertising Age’s 100 Most Influential Women, Business Insider’s Most Creative Women in Advertising and induction into the AAF’s Hall of Achievement.
Colleen DeCourcy
Colleen DeCourcy
Global Chief Creative Officer, Wieden+Kennedy
Co-Chair, Work Jury
Colleen DeCourcy
Global Chief Creative Officer, Wieden+Kennedy
Co-Chair, Work Jury
As global executive creative director (and one of the few industry women at the very, very top), Colleen leads the eight-‐office global network of W+K alongside President Dave Luhr. For more than three decades, the fiercely independent shop has been telling beautiful, provocative stories and setting the bar for creativity. Colleen is leading the vision for the agency's future, where one avenue of evolution and growth will be defined by a deeper, more extensive set of creative chops. Colleen has been instrumental in establishing the first of many more proof-‐points that W+K is a culture for all kinds of creative people, including the rise of our creative technology group, The Lodge (which recently created this robot and an AI-‐driven Slack bot), and a content publishing group.
Colleen joined the agency in 2013, and became partner in 2014.
Before W+K, Colleen founded Socialistic, a social media content and design shop, where she served as chief creative officer and CEO. While at Socialistic, she won coveted accounts Red Bull and Fast Company, two of the leading content marketers in the world, and also led work for Showtime and General Electric.
Prior to founding Socialistic, Colleen was the first chief digital officer for TBWA Worldwide, setting the network’s global digital strategy and leading digital efforts for Adidas and Pepsi. Her career has also included the roles of chief experience officer at JWT New York and chief creative officer at Organic, where she led creative on Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge.
She is currently based in New York, and spends time throughout the year in all eight W+K offices.
David Droga
David Droga
Founder & Creative Chairman, Droga5
Co-Chair, Work Jury
David Droga
Founder & Creative Chairman, Droga5
Co-Chair, Work Jury
David Droga is Founder and Creative Chairman at Droga5, a creative and strategic agency headquartered in New York with an office in London. Founded in 2006, Droga5 has been named Agency of the Year 10 times, most recently at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for the second year in a row. It is the only agency to appear on the Advertising Age A-List over six consecutive years and one of the only agencies to be named one of Fast Company’s World's Most Innovative Companies.
Prior to founding Droga5, David was the first-ever Worldwide Chief Creative Officer of the Publicis Network. He was also Executive Creative Director of Saatchi & Saatchi London, Regional Creative Director of Saatchi & Saatchi Asia and Partner and Executive Creative Director of OMON Sydney.
To date, he is the most awarded creative at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity and the youngest person ever inducted into the New York Art Directors Club Hall of the Fame. He is also a laureate of the Asian Media and Marketing Hall of Fame, the AdNews Hall of Fame, the AWARD Hall of Fame and the American Advertising Federation Hall of Achievement. Most recently, Adweek named David one of the top 100 most influential leaders in marketing, media and technology for the second year in a row.
David sits on several boards, including the New Museum, William Morris Endeavor, The NY Public Theatre and the Facebook Creative Council. Beyond his family and advertising, David’s favorite topics are the arts, all sports, the environment and anything Australian.
Perry Fair
Perry Fair
Vice President, Brand Creative, Beats by Dr. Dre.
People Jury
Perry Fair
Vice President, Brand Creative, Beats by Dr. Dre.
People Jury
Perry Fair is currently Vice President, Brand Creative at Beats by Dr. Dre where he leads and oversees all creative for the brand, globally. Prior to assuming this global role, Perry was President and Chief Creative Officer of J. Walter Thompson Atlanta, Dallas and Houston. He was the first African American man to run a publicly traded advertising agency and the first for J. Walter Thompson Company Inc. Perry led J. Walter Thompson Atlanta to add accounts like Pennzoil, Quaker State, Shell Global, Armed Forced Insurance, Nokia, Build-A-Bear Workshop and USO to its portfolio. During his time at JWT, Perry created WALTER, a pop-up agency for start-ups. In its first 24 hours of operation, more than 200 start-ups applied and led the agency’s Pennzoil team, in partnership with Nintendo, to bring Mario Kart to life in Pennzoil Presents Mario Karting Reimagined. Perry also led and successfully defended the agency’s 67-year partnership with United States Marine Corps and launched Pennzoil’s high-octane car films, Airlift Drift and Joyride. During his time as President and CCO of J. Walter Thompson Atlanta, the agency garnered top awards at the CLIOs, London International Awards, One Show and One Screen Film Festival, leading the agency to have its most successful award year in its office’s history in 2016. Perry’s portfolio is packed with iconic campaigns for Google, Nike, DirecTV, Coca-Cola, Gatorade, Bacardi, Hess, E-Trade, NFL, Nissan, adidas, Ketel One, Infiniti and Don Julio. which he created while leading creative and digital departments at Mullen, Element 79, The True Agency, TBWA\Chiat\Day and Grey New York. His work has been celebrated by award shows including The Art Directors Club, D&AD, Cannes, The One Show, The FWA, MIXX Awards, Effie Awards, ANA, London International Awards, Communication Arts, The One Screen Film Festival and The CLIOs. He sits on the board of both The Creative Circus and The Marcus Graham Project, and offers leadership training through Atlanta’s creative schools and historically black colleges and universities. Perry created an annual scholarship, The Bill Sharp Award, for student excellence in marketing, advertising and media. He also volunteers his time with The One Club, helping mentor South African students in advertising. Perry Fair has also co-wrote and sold a full-length feature, “The Four Horsemen” to Intrepid Pictures and in his free time, he and his wife, Joy build houses in Guatemala for families in need in association with The Travis Manion Foundation.
Cindy Gallop
Cindy Gallop
Founder & CEO, MakeLoveNotPorn / IfWeRanTheWorld
People Jury
Cindy Gallop
Founder & CEO, MakeLoveNotPorn / IfWeRanTheWorld
People Jury
Cindy Gallop is a graduate of Somerville College, Oxford, whose background is brandbuilding, marketing and advertising - she started up the US office of ad agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty in New York in 1998 and in 2003 was named Advertising Woman of the Year. She is the founder and CEO of www.IfWeRanTheWorld.com, co-action software launched in beta at TED 2010 and subsequently written up and taught as a Harvard Business School case study; and of www.makelovenotporn.com, launched at TED 2009. She and cofounders Corey Innis (CTO) and Oonie Chase (User Experience) launched https://www.makelovenotporn.tv/ - ‘Pro-sex. Pro-porn. Pro-knowing the difference’ - in public beta in 2013. She acts as board advisor to a number of tech ventures, a personal brand/life/executive coach, and a consultant on brand and business innovation for companies around the world, describing her consultancy approach as 'I like to blow shit up. I am the Michael Bay of business.' BusinessInsider named her one of 15 Most Important Marketing Strategy Thinkers Today, alongside Malcolm Gladwell and Seth Godin, and cited her as number 33 on their list of 100 Most Influential Tech Women On Twitter, and number one on their list of Top 30 People In Advertising To Follow On Twitter. She has a reputation as a highly compelling and inspirational speaker at conferences and events around the world on a variety of topics: her talks on the future of advertising and marketing have been tweeted as: ‘The most brilliant speech on the future of advertising ever – not the usual buzzword-laden bullshit’; ‘Watching @cindygallop slice and dice the ad industry status quo like a ginsu knife. #purewin’; and ‘There must be a DeLorean parked outside, because Cindy Gallop is from the FUTURE!’ InfluencerCon NYC introduced her as ‘Cindy Gallop is the truth Jack Nicholson told Tom Cruise he couldn’t handle.’ Cindy is an outspoken advocate of diversity in advertising, tech and business - she was Jury President at CannesLions 2015 for the inaugural Glass Lion awards, proposed by Sheryl Sandberg to celebrate advertising that shatters gender stereotypes in advertising. Cindy published ‘Make Love Not Porn: Technology’s Hardcore Impact on Human Behavior’ as one of TED’s line of TEDBooks. You can follow her on Twitter @cindygallop.
Allison Goldberg
Allison Goldberg
Managing Director & Vice President, Time Warner Investments
Companies Jury
Allison Goldberg
Managing Director & Vice President, Time Warner Investments
Companies Jury
Allison is Managing Director & Vice President of Time Warner Investments, where she is focused on equity investments in companies that directly enhance Time Warner's ability to meet specific strategic goals, including the delivery of new services, enhancement of an existing product, entry or expansion into a key strategic market, completion of a strategic partnership, and critical research and development. Prior to joining Time Warner in July 2001, Allison was an Associate at Groupe Arnault, investing in and managing new media and technology equity investments for the private holding company of the Chairman of LVMH. Previously, she worked in the Global Media Group, Investment Banking at Morgan Stanley.
Allison serves as a director or active observer on the boards of several companies including Audience Science, Bustle, Discord, Dynamic Signal, Fuse, iStreamPlanet, Joyus, Mashable, Outpost Games, Trion Worlds, and YieldMo. Allison co-founded the NYPEN Women’s Forum and is a mentor for Techstars NYC and the Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator.
Allison graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where she received a Bachelor of Science in Economics.
Chloe Gottlieb
Chloe Gottlieb
Executive Vice President, Executive Creative Director U.S., R/GA
People Jury
Chloe Gottlieb
Executive Vice President, Executive Creative Director U.S., R/GA
People Jury
Chloe is a strategic creative leader skilled in creating connected experiences for global clients and their customers. As R/GA’s Executive Creative Director, US, she works alongside Taras Wayner to guide hundreds of multidisciplinary teams toward the creation of breakthrough products, services, and communications for global brands such as Nike and Samsung.
In her previous role at R/GA, Chloe built the largest Experience Design team at any global agency. Happiest when collaborating at the intersection of storytelling, design, and technology, she has been applying her unique skills as a mentor in the R/GA Accelerator program, where she helps emerging startups in the Internet of Things space develop their branding, customer experience, and communications.
Chloe was named one of the “Most Creative People in Advertising” by Business Insider in 2014 and 2015. Her work for Nike, Nokia, Verizon, Alvio, and the Ad Council has garnered the industry’s most esteemed awards at top competitions including the Cannes Lions, One Show Interactive, the CLIOs, the ADC Annual Awards, and the ANDYs. Chloe has been named a New York Times Digital Scholar and published an article on data-driven motivation in Business Week.
Prior to R/GA, Chloe expanded her expertise at Razorfish, where she engaged in deep ethnographic and insight-related engagements, working on diverse brands from Condé Nast (embracing social networks on Flip.com) to Mercedes-AMG (creating an immersive, user-driven experience on Mercedes-AMG.com).
Throughout her career, Chloe has served on juries for high-profile award shows including the Cannes Lions, the London International Awards, and One Show Interactive, and has spoken at events such as SXSW, IxDA, and Interaction South America. A graduate of The New School Media Studies graduate program, Chloe has also shared her expertise by teaching at Carnegie Mellon, SVA, and Miami Ad School.
Gerry Graf
Gerry Graf
Chief Creative Officer, Barton F. Graf
Work Jury
Gerry Graf
Chief Creative Officer, Barton F. Graf
Work Jury
In 1995, Gerry joined BBDO/NY and quickly rose to creative director. His Snickers work was named Campaign of the Year by Adweek and AdAge. In 1997, BBDO was named Agency of the Year at the Cannes International Advertising Festival.
In 1998, Gerry joined Goodby, Silverstein and Partners. AdAge named Goodby Agency of the Year in both 1999 and 2000.
Gerry was named one of the Most Influential People in the Internet Economy by Industry Standard Magazine.
In 2001, Gerry returned to BBDO as their youngest Executive Creative Director. AdAge’s Creativity magazine named BBDO/NY Agency of the Year in 2001.
In 2004, Lee Clow asked Gerry to run TBWA/Chiat/Day/NY.
In 2006, AdAge/Creativity named Gerry one of the 50 “biggest and best thinkers and doers from 20 years of advertising and consumer culture”. He has made their annual Creativity 50 list in 2008, 2009, 2013 and 2015.
In 2007, AdAge named TBWA/NY the Most Awarded Agency in the World and Gerry Most Awarded Creative Director.
In 2008, Gerry was named Chief Creative Officer of Saatchi & Saatchi NY. AdAge named Saatchi NY the 3rd Most Awarded Agency in the World and Gerry the 3rd Most Awarded Creative Director.
In 2010, Gerry launched his own agency, Barton F. Graf.
Barton was named Top Agency To Watch by AdAge in 2011 and made AdAge & Creativity's A-Lists in 2012, 2013, and 2014, 2015 and 2016.
In 2014, Barton was named Mid-Size Agency of the Year by the 4A’s.
Fast Company named Barton the 5th Most Innovative Advertising Agency and Gerry one of the “100 Most Creative People In Business”.
Forbes named Barton one of the 14 Most Influential Agencies in America. Business Insider named Gerry "The Most Creative Man In Advertising".
Gerry lives in Manhattan with his wife, three kids.
Nidal Haddad
Nidal Haddad
Chief of Markets, Deloitte Digital
Companies Jury
Nidal Haddad
Chief of Markets, Deloitte Digital
Companies Jury
Nidal is a principal at Deloitte Consulting LLP and serves as Deloitte Digital's Chief of Markets driving the digital go-to-market, solution development, alliances and eminence across industries. To be effective in this role, Nidal believes he needs to get his "hands dirty" by serving clients. He accomplishes this as the lead consulting partner for a group of high tech and communications clients and as an advisor across a number of multi-industry programs.
In his role as Chief of Markets, Nidal serves as a member of Deloitte Consulting LLP's Management Committee, focusing on digitally enabling Deloitte's consulting business and connecting the many incredible Deloitte capabilities to enhance the Deloitte Digital business. Nidal is thrilled and frankly having the time of his life working with his pal Andy Main.
Some of Nidal's previous Deloitte roles include serving as the Global Customer Relationship Management Leader, leader of the US CRM practice, leader of the Global Oracle practice and as a member of the Deloitte Consulting board of directors. Prior to Deloitte, Nidal worked at eLoyalty, AnswerThink Consulting and Comdisco, Inc. in marketing, sales and service roles where he had a knack for creating working concepts and turning them into products. This made him a natural for his unique role in Deloitte Digital.
Nidal lives with his family in Chicago, where he continues to improve his golf score (it's a journey) and stays on top of the latest and greatest technology. He maintains his geek cred by driving his Tesla and periodically one upping Mike Brinker (drone injuries aside). Nidal holds a Bachelor of Science degree in really old Computer Science from Loyola University of Chicago.
Greg Hahn
Greg Hahn
Chief Creative Officer, BBDO N.Y.
Work Jury
Greg Hahn
Chief Creative Officer, BBDO N.Y.
Work Jury
Greg joined BBDO as an ECD in 2005 and has been behind some of the industry’s most ground-breaking and award-winning work, including work for brands such as HBO, FedEx, AT&T and GE, among others.
Greg was a writer and Executive Creative Director on the award-winning “HBO Voyeur” which, along with winning multiple Grand Prix Lions at Cannes, was selected by the One Club as one of their “Best of the Digital Decade.” He also helmed the acclaimed “HBO Imagine” project, which went on to become one of the most awarded campaigns of 2010. Greg has been named one of the “100 Most Creative People in Business” by Fast Company Magazine.
Prior to joining BBDO, Greg worked at Fallon Minneapolis, where he created the “Live Richly” campaign for CitiBank, the Buddy Lee advertising for Lee Jeans and the Cannes Lion-winning print campaign for Sports Illustrated, “You may not get it, but our readers do.” Other award-winning work included the EMMY nominated “Cat Herders” spot for EDS and the famed BMW Film series.
Greg enjoys spending his free time with his wife Mandy and daughter Tuesday. Greg does not enjoy writing about himself in third person. But appreciates you reading this far.
September 2016
Rei Inamoto
Rei Inamoto
Founding Parnter, Inamoto & Co.
People Jury
Rei Inamoto
Founding Parnter, Inamoto & Co.
People Jury
Named in Creativity Magazine’s annual “Creativity 50” as well as one of “the Top 25 Most Creative People in Advertising” in Forbes Magazine, Rei Inamoto is one of the most influential individuals in the marketing and creative industry today.
With a broad international experience in Asia, Europe and the US as well as an unusual combination of background in advertising, design and technology, Rei brings a unique perspective to his work.
Until the fall of 2015, Rei served as Chief Creative Officer of AKQA worldwide, responsible for delivering creative solutions for the agency’s clients such as Audi, Nike, Xbox and many others. Since he arrived in 2004 at the agency, his presence has been instrumental in bringing AKQA the highest recognitions. In 2009, AKQA became the first agency in history to receive five Agency of the Year accolades from publications such as Adweek, Creative Review and Campaign. It was also selected as one of the Fast Company’s 50 Most Innovative Companies as well as Advertising Age recognizing AKQA as one of the top Ten Agencies of the Decade. In 2012, Rei was inducted into “The Hall of Achievement” by the American Advertising Federation, honoring the top young talent of the industry. In late 2015, Rei - along with Rem Reynolds, a former Managing Director of AKQA in New York - founded Inamoto & Co, a company that focuses on Business Invention for brands and consumers with Design, Data and Technology at its core.
Rei is a frequent speaker at numerous conferences such as Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, SXSW and Spikes Asia to name a few. His writing and opinions have been widely published in publications like Fast Company, Wired and Contagious Magazine, making him a thought leader and a prominent voice in the industry.
Originally from Tokyo, Rei spent his childhood and teenage years in Japan and Europe. He then moved to the US to complete his university studies with degrees in fine arts and computer science – all before people were broadcasting their feelings, talking in 140 characters or less, or becoming friends with people they didn’t know.
He currently resides in New York.
Nat Ives
Nat Ives
Executive Editor, Advertising Age
Co-Chair, Companies Jury
Nat Ives
Executive Editor, Advertising Age
Co-Chair, Companies Jury
Nat Ives is executive editor at Advertising Age. He first joined Ad Age in 2005 as a reporter on the publishing beat. He previously helped cover the media and ad industries as a news assistant at The New York Times and reported on commercial real estate for Institutional Investor newsletters. He graduated from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2001.
Laura Janness
Laura Janness
Chief Strategy Officer, Barton F. Graf
People Jury
Laura Janness
Chief Strategy Officer, Barton F. Graf
People Jury
Laura joined Barton from Google Creative Lab, where she was overseeing the launch of Chrome.
With over 15 years of experience under her belt as a Strategist, Laura joined Barton to build a fresh, new approach to brand building.
Laura’s team believes in strategic rigor. They’re getting back into the field, developing breakthrough methodologies and eliminating traditional silos.
She’s built a team of smart, hardworking, creative thinkers excited to partner with clients to tackle any and all brand challenges.
Laura was recently named to the Adweek 50 List of Vital Leaders in Tech, Media, and Marketing.
Jayanta Jenkins
Jayanta Jenkins
Global Group Creative Director, Twitter
Work Jury
Jayanta Jenkins
Global Group Creative Director, Twitter
Work Jury
Judy John
Judy John
CEO Canada & Chief Creative Officer North America, Leo Burnett Canada
Work Jury
Judy John
CEO Canada & Chief Creative Officer North America, Leo Burnett Canada
Work Jury
Judy began her career as a copywriter, honing her craft at agencies ranging from small independent shops to large multinationals to running her own company. She joined Leo Burnett Toronto in 1999, as Chief Creative Officer, in 2011 added the CEO title for Canada, and in 2016 added the CCO title for North America.
Under her direction, Leo Burnett Toronto has been recognized nationally and globally, winning at virtually every show. Highlights include: the first-ever Digital Black Pencil at D&AD in 2006 and the most awarded billboard campaign in the world in 2009. In 2015, she won a second Black Pencil at D&AD, Titanium, Grand Prix and Glass Lion at Cannes, the Emmy for Outstanding Commercial and Always #LikeaAGirl was named by CBS as one of the top three Super Bowl Commercials of all time. That year, the Gunn Report ranked Leo Burnett Toronto, the #1 Agency in Canada and #5 in the world.
In 2016, Judy was named Marketer of the Year by the Canadian Marketing Association, the first agency person to win the award. Judy ranked the #1 CCO in the world in Advertising Age's Awards Report 2015 and Business Insider ranked her #8 in their 30 Most Creative People in Advertising. She was also named to Advertising Age's Creativity50 2014: The Most Creative People of the Year.
Along the way, she’s judged top international awards shows including chairing juries at Cannes, The Clios and ADC and most recently was on Cannes 2016 Titanium & Integrated jury. In 2016, she joined the Board of Directors of The One Club and The Women's College Hospital Foundation.
Everything from Judy’s work ethic to her management style, she learned from years of waiting tables and packing take-out orders at her parents' restaurant.
Margaret Keene
Margaret Keene
Executive Creative Director, MullenLowe L.A.
Work Jury
Margaret Keene
Executive Creative Director, MullenLowe L.A.
Work Jury
Margaret leads the integrated creative team in MullenLowe’s LA office on Acura, Patrón, Knorr, TRESemmé and California Avocados. She and the team put Acura back in the Super Bowl this year with a Van Halen–fueled spot for the NSX supercar. They also created a safety spot called “The Test,” which the One Show named the “Best Automobile Television Advertising” in the world. On Knorr, Margaret and her MullenLowe LA comrades created “Love at First Taste,” the most-watched ad on YouTube in May, with 60 million views to date. Her teams created innovative and scrappy projects for the California Avocados, including a series of recipe videos that mixed Super Bowl–advertised products like Skittles and Budweiser with avocados in a project called #BigGameAdd. Prior to joining MullenLowe in 2014, Margaret was at Saatchi & Saatchi, where she led teams on all creative aspects of the Toyota brand, including enterprise, social, digital, mobile, film, content, search and experiential. Her work for Toyota included their “Let’s Go Places” tagline, Super Bowl campaigns, “100 Cars for Good,” the Camry “Thrill Ride” roller coaster, “Ideas for Good,” partnering with Google on the first social car configurator and leading the event in which a Toyota Tundra pulled the Space Shuttle Endeavour through Los Angeles, raising $500,000 for the California Science Center. Margaret began her career at TBWA\Chiat\Day, where she started as a switchboard operator and went on to become creative assistant to the legendary Lee Clow before moving into the creative group in her own right. She was part of the team on Apple’s “Think Different” campaign, launched Nissan’s “Innovation for All” campaign and created the first-ever iAd on iPhone, which introduced the Nissan Leaf. Steve Jobs unveiled the electric car and the platform at Macworld, and it remains one of Apple’s best and most innovative mobile ads to this day. One of Margaret’s proudest achievements was her work with Pedigree — she introduced their “Dogs Rule” campaign to the world and launched the Pedigree Adoption Drive, a global initiative that has raised millions of dollars for shelters in need. Margaret has been named an Adweek Creative 100 and one of Business Insider’s 30 Most Creative Women in Advertising. She’s won multiple Cannes Lions, Effies, CA Awards, D&AD Awards, One Show Pencils, OBIE Awards (twice Best of Show), Webby Awards, Best of Show from the Art Directors Club of New York, AICP Awards and the $100,000 Grand Kelly, which she donated to the Pedigree Adoption Foundation. Her favorite days are spent hanging with her awesome family in Hermosa Beach, California.
Mari Kim Novak
Mari Kim Novak
Chief Marketing Officer, Rubicon Project
Companies Jury
Mari Kim Novak
Chief Marketing Officer, Rubicon Project
Companies Jury
Mari Kim Novak is the global CMO of Rubicon Project, overseeing a global team that is charged with driving the adoption of a unified platform for advertising across all screens, devices and formats. Leveraging her relationships across the industry, Novak ensures that buyers and sellers alike realize the power of Rubicon Project’s automated platform to execute against all levels of the marketing funnel. Prior to her role as CMO, Novak was SVP of Global Advertising Solutions at Rubicon Project where she was responsible for new business initiatives and key strategic relationships with buyers on the Advertising Automation Cloud.
For over 18 years, Novak has worked for many participants in the advertiser and buyer community, including 9 years at Microsoft as their Global Head of Marketing for Microsoft Advertising based in NYC and responsible for Microsoft’s global marketing budget, industry outreach and sales enablement programs supporting brands including MSN, XBOX, SKYPE and Bing.
Novak holds positions within the industry as SVP Board of Director for The Advertising Club of New York; Advisory Council of Advertising Week; Executive Director - Advisor of Content for Creative Week 2013; Advisory Board Member of 2013 Internet Week; Judge of the AAF Hall of Fame inductees; Jury facilitator for International ANDY Awards; 2011-2014 Arts and Letters Committee Member for the YMCA's Y After School Initiatives. Novak was recently named Ad Age’s 2016 Women to Watch list, and was also a recipient of Advertising Women of New York’s Changing the Game Awards.
Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer
Chief Executive Officer, Palmer Advanced Media
Co-Chair, Companies Jury
Shelly Palmer
Chief Executive Officer, Palmer Advanced Media
Co-Chair, Companies Jury
Named one of LinkedIn’s Top 10 Voices in Technology, Shelly Palmer is CEO of Palmer Advanced Media, a strategic advisory and business development practice focused at the nexus of technology, media and marketing with a special emphasis on data science and data-driven decision making. He is Fox 5 New York's on-air tech and digital media expert and a regular commentator on CNBC and CNN. An Emmy-nominated television host, he is also the patented inventor "enhanced television" a technology used by ABC’s "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" and ESPN’s "Monday Night Football," and for response-based advertising systems. An award-winning composer, producer, writer, and director, Shelly has worked with hundreds of brands, agencies, broadcasters, publishers, and tech platforms on campaigns such as Meow Mix, Burger King, and The City of Las Vegas. He is a popular speaker and moderator at technology and media industry conferences and a guest lecturer at many top-tier colleges and universities. Shelly is a past president of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and the author of many industry-focused books, including, Television Disrupted: The transition from network to networked TV, Digital Wisdom: Thought Leadership for a Connected World and his upcoming work, Wisdom of Things.
Anselmo Ramos
Anselmo Ramos
Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer, DAVID
Work Jury
Anselmo Ramos
Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer, DAVID
Work Jury
Anselmo Ramos is the Co-Founder and CCO of DAVID. He is the creative leader behind Burger King's famous 'Proud Whopper' campaign, as well as successful brand campaigns including Heinz's 'Wiener Stampede’ and more.
He became CCO of Ogilvy Brazil in 2007, the agency responsible for Dove’s “Real Beauty Sketches,” which won the first Titanium Grand Prix Award at Cannes for Latin America. Ogilvy Brazil was also named Cannes Agency of The Year in 2013, the first Ogilvy office to ever win this award.
To date, Anselmo has won multiple prestigious awards from D&AD, Cannes Lions, The One Show and CLIOs.
Rob Reilly
Rob Reilly
Global Creative Chairman, McCann Worldgroup
Co-Chair, People Jury
Rob Reilly
Global Creative Chairman, McCann Worldgroup
Co-Chair, People Jury
As Global Creative Chairman for McCann Worldgroup, Rob is responsible for creative oversight of the McCann brand globally as well as developing multiplatform approaches by leveraging McCann Worldgroup’s broad capabilities and communications resources to help clients meet their creative challenges with precision and impact.
Rob joined McCann Worldgroup from Crispin Porter + Bogusky, where he served as Partner/Worldwide Chief Creative Officer. Rob joined CP+B in 2002, after spending a decade at a number of New York ad agencies. He began his CP+B career as a copywriter, creating some of the most talked-about campaigns in history. In his role as Worldwide Chief Creative Officer, he drove the creative vision for all of CP+B’s clients around the globe, including category-leading brands such as Microsoft, American Express, Burger King, Windows, Domino’s Pizza, MetLife, Best Buy, Paddy Power, Grey Poupon, Charles Schwab, KRAFT Macaroni & Cheese, JELL-O and Xbox.
A highly-awarded creative, Rob's work has been recognized at Cannes with multiple Titanium and Grand Prix Lions as well as three Interactive Agency of the Year awards. He has served on a number of industry awards juries, including as President of the Cannes Titanium and Integrated Jury. Rob is a member of the Cannes Chimera, The One Club Board, the Facebook Creative Council. He is also a member of the White House Entrepreneurship Task Force.
Jaime Robinson
Jaime Robinson
Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Joan
Work Jury
Jaime Robinson
Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Joan
Work Jury
Prior to Joan, Jaime served as co-Executive Creative Director of Wieden+Kennedy’s New York office, helping shape work for clients like Delta Air Lines, Brown-Forman’s Southern Comfort, Clinique, Equinox and Sprite.
Back in San Francisco, Robinson helped build Pereira & O’Dell, where she held the title of VP, Executive Creative Director. While at Pereira & O’Dell, Jaime led creative development for headlining campaigns, such as Intel/Toshiba’s “The Beauty Inside” (which won an entertainment Emmy for “Outstanding New Approach” along with three Cannes Lions Grand Prix in Film, Cyber and Branded Content), and helped create multi-award-winning work for LEGO, Skype, Mattel and Airbnb.
Jaime’s approach to creativity and marketing earned her a spot on Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business” and Ad Age’s “40 Under 40”. In 2014, she served as Jury President for Mobile at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
Cindy Gallop
Kate Shillo
Director, Galvanize Ventures
Company Jury
Kate Shillo
Director, Galvanize Ventures
Company Jury
Kate Shillo manages investments for Galvanize Ventures, an early stage fund investing in technologies across the country. Galvanize Ventures is the venture arm of Galvanize, Inc. a learning community for technology helping students become a web developers, data scientists, or entrepreneurs build their startups.
Prior to she helped establish, build, and manage three funds and over 200+ investments for Lerer Hippeau Ventures in New York City as Director of Operations for 4 years. Kate has been an Executive Assistant to Kenneth Lerer, Founder of Lerer Hippeau Ventures and The Huffington Post, and launched her career as an Executive Assistant to Martha Stewart at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. She is a graduate of Middlebury College with honors and a BA in English.
Press pieces:
- CNN Upstart30, the Funders
- Twenty Min VC Podcast Interview with Harry Stebbings 1.13.2016
- CNBC PowerPitch Video
- Risk & Reward Deirdre Bolton Fox (multiple times)
- Craig Connects, Craig Newmark, 5 Female Role Models
- Women Who Tech & General Assembly Live Stream
- Denver Startup Week, Denver Business Journal
- Airhelp Traveling Shoes Post
Garett Sloane
Garett Sloane
Reporter, Ad Age
Companies Jury
Garett Sloane
Reporter, Ad Age
Companies Jury
Garett Sloane
Michelle Zatlyn
Co-Founder & Head of User Experience, Cloudflare
Companies Jury
Michelle Zatlyn
Co-Founder & Head of User Experience, Cloudflare
Companies Jury