THE A-LIST JURY
"It's a really exciting time for advertising. The real focus now is on entertainment, which opens the door for brand new ways of storytelling. That movement is also opening space for diversity when it comes to the type of talent and skills you'd encounter at an ad agency." Bianca Guimaraes, VP, Creative Director, BBDO, New York
"With the advances that technology has made in recent years, and the steps the industry has taken towards being more accessible and more representative of a diverse population, we’re seeing more high-quality work than ever before, along with more ways in which audiences consume it. It’s important we celebrate this work through events like The A-List Hollywood Awards, and recognise the people who make it for the ways in which they are able tell a story, move audiences, create empathy and call people to action. The scope for us to shape and influence the world around us is exciting and far reaching.” -Spencer Dodd, Managing Director & Executive Producer, Sweetshop, London
“I’ve always loved work that seamlessly blends advertising and entertainment together. What’s exciting is how many new ways we can create it.” Tyler Hampton, Creative Director, Venables Bell and Partners, San Francisco
"Today's generation is in constant need of entertainment. No generation in history has ever been so easily bored. They jump from Facebook to Instagram to Netflix to Snapchat to Tinder to YouTube in a matter of seconds. Advertising won't stand a chance unless is as engaging as all of the aforementioned. That's today's challenge. More than ever, we need to encourage, support and celebrate the kind of work that not only blurs but erases the line between advertising and entertainment." Federico García, Global Executive Creative Director, Huge, New York
Per Pedersen, Global Creative Chairman, Grey, New York
"Is it useful, entertaining, or beautiful? We’ve been trained to ask this question about everything we create. Yet, as we continue to embrace non-traditional advertising and ad-blind consumers, we must wonder if this is enough. To me, the answer is obvious. It’s not enough – it’s the bare minimum for entry. As the A List Hollywood Awards shows every year, work must transcend our traditional understanding of advertising in new and unexpected ways to truly captivate, challenge, and inspire." -Ronnie Caltabiano, Head of Production, Area 23, New York
"Advertising key criteria is to be entertaining. As we are trying to penetrate the consumers’ busy lifestyle, entertaining them is the basic good manners we can offer. The higher the entertainment, the easier wecan get our message accepted and remembered by the consumer." Awoo Lai, CCO, BBDO Shanghai
"From the days of the soap opera to the recent rise of branded content entertainment has always been in the DNA of good advertising. Today in times of constant distraction and a fierce battle for attention only useful or entertaining content stands a chance." Felix Fenz, Managing Director / Creative, Grabarz & Partner, Hamburg
"We’re starting to get it. Finally. I am excited to see a long-awaited paradigm shift happening. We’re moving from advertising a product or service towards telling a story around the benefits it comes with. The two worlds of advertising and entertainment meet in a sweet spot, in which we give relevance to a brand in an entertaining way. Today, In order to be relevant, a brand must have a place, a role, in the life and lifestyle of our customers. And only a good story can give a brand that role. And only if it’s entertaining, they will listen. If however, it is really entertaining, there won’t be a need to tell them, they will come look for it. And that is what we all should be aiming for." Max Schöngen, Global ECD at Serviceplan, Serviceplan, Hamburg
"Branded Entertainment is a rich territory of narratives that goes beyond a content that entertains the audience. It is about the powerful intersection between brands, entertainment and people. It refers to a new way for brands to connect people’s hearts amplifying brand values without interrupting their lives bringing relevant messages that create value and make sense to the audience. Where the hero and protagonist is the audience, because people simply seek, get involved and dedicate their time to what is interesting and meaningful to them and not because it belongs to a brand." Patrícia Weiss, Head of Branded Entertainment & Content strategy / EP, ASAS.br.com / Chairwoman BCMA South America
People don’t wake up in the morning wondering what the advertisers are going to do to make them have a good day. At the very beginning, advertising doesn’t interest anyone, no one is expecting us. To draw people’s attention, we need to reach their heart, we need to create a strong emotion, we need to leave something behind us. Today, no one is being passive in front of a commercial. Consumers can now skip us in one clic. We need to become smarter, to become more sensitive, more receptive if we want to keep the connection we’ve had with the consumers. Fortunately, to do so, the playing field is today bigger than ever. Technology paves the way to new entertaining stories. If the consumers remember a nice story, they surely will remember who told them. Olivier Desmettre, Executive Creative Director, Publicis Conseil, Paris
"In the middle of silence, the sing of a bird can catch up your attention and thrill you. In a world where everybody is shouting at the same time, producing content on social media platforms, showing that everyone can make creative storytelling, and manage their own audiences, the challenge for Entertainment Industries is huge. The only way to survive this scenario is to create new ways of combining entertainment and advertising. Our industry is about causing surprise. To make our messages standout we need to walk between the necessary and the unexpected." Martin Hazan, General Manager, Continuo & Founder, INTERACT
"People aren't stupid. They realize when a brand just blatantly tries to sell them something. And they also realize when you desperately try to appeal to them with a piece of branded entertainment that has nothing to do with your brand, your products, your beliefs. With idiotic sponsored-influencer-posts on one side and content graveyards on the other, agencies and their clients need three things more than ever: tact, sincerity and a healthy dose of common sense." Fabian Königer, Creative Director, thjnk
Join our email list for the latest updates and announcements.