What prompted your return in 2017 and what are your expectations for this year’s event?

The Loeries 2013 left a strong impression on me. The quality of work, the quality of discussions during judging, and, most interestingly, those ideas that are only possible in (South) Africa.

The Loeries, to me, have a very special “non-European“ flair to them which I can’t describe.

I also remember the endless hours in the hotel room trying to finish my keynote. The reaction of the audience to this particular keynote was worth all the effort, and the club sandwiches from the room service. 

Because of this, and all the cool people I met during the week, I wrote Andrew [Human, Loeries CEO] the second I landed back in Germany: “Count me in whenever you want me to come again: I’ll do it without hesitation”. So, I was very happy when he asked me this year to join again.

Since 2013, have you kept your eye on the advertising coming out of Africa and the Middle East? What have you seen that has piqued your interest?

Yes, I did. I like any solution made with a lot of creativity, not with a lot of money. As a very actual example, scores to Ogilvy & Mather with the wonderful Cadbury Pre-Joy idea. Simple, cheap, mind-blowing creative. 

In 2013, asked how you keep inspiring creative thinking in others, you replied “I try to inflame them with my passion for an even better solution. It only takes one additional finger to change a ‘F*** You’ into ‘Victory’.” Is that still your approach, and do you believe there is any sustenance to the stereotype that millennials are difficult to manage?

I still think passion is a universal key to motivate people, for lifting work from good to sensational. As far as the millennials are concerned: We founded our own JvM-Academy, where we educate and filter our own new talents; 17 out of 200 candidates every year. So we make sure we get the best and most motivated of them.

Do you think the recent emphasis on digital tools has seen the industry take its eye off the ball when it comes to creativity? Is it creativity that separates the advertising industry from all others?

Well, for me, learning something out of data and using it in an intelligent way to reach the right people at the right moment is a good and exciting thing. And yes, this solves a problem. But, that’s not creativity!

Because it’s enough to have a good insight. As soon as these tools will be a part of every media strategy (meaning: weapons equality), the most important thing is still how you speak to the consumer. Here, creativity is as precious as it ever was. Creativity is the only thing agencies are really good at and it’s not growing in in-house agencies or other customised client solutions, nor Facebook or Google.

If you had the power to change how the industry functions, what three things would you do that you believe would benefit both the industry and the clients? 

I only have two:

1. Surprise yourself every day. Therefore:

2. Embrace chaos!

For more information, visit www.loeries.com.

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For fellow 2017 Loeries® Jury President, Markus Maczey, Africa’s vitality makes its creative content the furthest from staid. Read more in our article, Loeries® 2017: Africa is young, which means not boring.