January 5, 2018
MediaCom CCO, Americas and co-head judge for the World Media Awards Jon Gittings on what makes a great cross-border, content-driven ad campaign.
Based in New York, Jon Gittings is Chief Strategy Officer, Americas at MediaCom where he oversees strategic product and output for existing and prospective clients across North and Latin America. He is also a Co-Head Judge for the World Media Awards which are now open for entries until 25th January 2018. You can enter here. Here are his thoughts and advice to potential entrants on what makes for great cross-border, content-driven advertising campaigns and a little bit of insight into what makes him tick.
About content:
LBB> Why should agencies/advertisers enter the World Media Awards?
JG> Because it’s a great platform to recognise the impact of global culture/subcultures; because it represents social connectivity and influence across the world; these in turn drive the increasing ability of local trends to go global. All of which means that ‘internationalism’ in communications is alive and well and deserves to be celebrated.
LBB> What are you hoping for most when you judge the awards?
JG> Delivering effective global or multi-market work isn’t easy. People will always push back with “that won’t work in my market” or behave in a “not invented here” manner. The risk is that in an effort to appease stakeholders, global and multi-market work becomes bland or watered down. So above all, I’m looking for work that has survived this process and remains distinctive, imaginative and excitingly effective.
On top of that, I’d like to see the usual suspect boxes ticked: is it culturally impactful, is it a frictionless consumer experience, is it a smart use of data et cetera?