BIMA 100 Awards 2026

Honoured to share that I’ve been invited and accepted as a Judge for the BIMA 100 Awards 2026.

Every year, the BIMA 100 celebrates the people shaping our industry right now — the leaders, pioneers, entrepreneurs and change‑makers who inspire progress and create real impact. This isn’t about projects or campaigns; it’s about people and the influence they have on the future of digital.

The BIMA 100 Ceremony is one of the standout moments in the industry calendar, bringing together the top 100 brightest digital stars, fellow judges and the wider digital community. I’m incredibly proud to be part of recognising the talent that continues to move our industry forward.

Looking forward to celebrating the innovators and rising stars in March.

The Human Advantage: Reflections from the LIONS CMO Accelerator, London

In December 2025, I had the privilege of speaking at the LIONS CMO Accelerator Series in London, joining a room of senior marketing leaders navigating one of the most consequential shifts our profession has faced.

Building on my two previous LIONS presentations at Cannes Lions in 2022 and 2024 my session focused on AI. Not as a technology update, but as a leadership challenge.

The temptation when discussing AI is to start with tools, platforms, and vendors. I chose a different entry point: judgment. Because AI does not replace the fundamentals of marketing. It exposes whether we have them.

From funnels to learning systems

One of the core ideas I explored was the need to move from marketing funnels to marketing learning systems. AI works best when organisations treat marketing as a continuous feedback loop rather than a sequence of campaigns.

That shift sounds technical. It is not. It is cultural.

Learning systems demand clarity of intent, data discipline, and the courage to say no. Without those, AI simply accelerates noise.

Strategy still means sacrifice

A recurring theme in the room was overload. Too many tools. Too many vendors. Too many experiments without ownership.

The essence of strategy has not changed. It is still about sacrifice.

In a landscape with more than 15,000 marketing technology vendors, the competitive advantage does not come from doing more. It comes from choosing deliberately: which platforms to commit to, which problems to solve, and which capabilities to build internally.

AI rewards focus. Indecision is expensive.

Agents, automation, and the next generation of teams

We also discussed AI agents and automation, not as abstractions, but as practical extensions of teams. We are likely the last generation of leaders who will manage human-only teams.

That reality raises new questions for CMOs: governance, training, data quality, and accountability. AI needs ownership. It needs rules. It needs leaders who understand both its power and its limits.

The human edge does not disappear

The most important part of the session came at the end.

I heard this first, I recall, from Mark Ritson. AI is not going to kill marketing. And it is not going to save it either.

The only thing truly threatened by AI is low-imagination work. When everyone has access to the same models, the only remaining competitive advantage is taste. Taste cannot be automated. It cannot be commoditised. It cannot be downloaded.

Technology accelerates. Feelings scale. But meaning still comes from us.

The next creative revolution will not be AI-driven. It will be human-AI hybrid craft, where imagination, judgment, and emotional intelligence are amplified rather than outsourced.

Speaking at the LIONS CMO Accelerator was a reminder that the future of marketing will not be decided by tools alone. It will be shaped by leaders willing to combine discipline with creativity, and efficiency with meaning.

That is where the real advantage lies.

Effie Awards Judging Panel

I’m honoured to share that I’ve been invited to join the judging panel for the Effie Awards UK 2025. The Effies are among the most prestigious accolades in the marketing and advertising industry—celebrating ideas that work, campaigns that drive measurable impact, and creative strategies that deliver real business results. It’s a privilege to contribute to recognising and rewarding effectiveness at the highest level.

This builds on my ongoing experience as a judge for the Oystercatchers Awards, where I’ve had the pleasure of serving on the panel for the past three years. Both judging experiences are a welcome opportunity to learn from the best in the industry, engage with bold ideas, and uphold the standards of marketing excellence we all strive for. I’m excited to play a part in spotlighting work that truly moves the needle.

Independent Agency Awards Judging

I’m delighted to have been invited to judge the Association of Independent Agencies (AIA) Awards—a celebration of the creativity, agility, and impact delivered by the UK’s leading independent agencies. The awards shine a spotlight on the bold thinking and entrepreneurial spirit that define the independent sector.

Round one judging is now complete, and I’m pleased to see the shortlist now live, reflecting the depth of talent and innovation across the industry. Judging these awards has been a rewarding opportunity to engage with inspiring work, and I look forward to seeing the winners revealed in due course.

Honoured to Judge the Oystercatchers Awards 2024 for the Third Year Running!

I’m honoured to serve on the judging panel for the Oystercatchers Awards 2024 for the third year running!

It’s inspiring to see the record-breaking number of entries and the incredible talent in our industry. I look forward to recognizing the agencies setting new standards to foster impactful client relationships.

Stay tuned for the shortlist reveal!

The Oystercatchers Awards 2024 are now open

It’s that time of the year when the best agencies submit their work for the Oystercatchers annual awards. These awards are highly anticipated and revered in the industry, offering a unique platform to recognize and celebrate the symbiotic relationships between brands and agencies. The Oystercatchers Awards stand out as the only awards dedicated to celebrating the excellence in brand and agency partnerships. They focus on honouring agencies for their campaigns, overall business impact, and ability to foster successful client relationships.

The Awards are open

The Oystercatchers Awards are now open for entry for 2024. You can review the categories and entry criteria for the Oystercatchers Awards 2024 here.

Why should you enter the Oystercatchers Awards? Entering the Oystercatchers Awards puts your work in front of a top-tier squad of judges. The panel features senior marketers from global brands, providing a rare opportunity to showcase your agency’s finest work to those who set the industry standards. This exposure can significantly enhance your agency’s reputation, opening doors to new opportunities and partnerships.

Winning an Oystercatchers Award establishes you amongst your peers and demonstrates your successes to the wider industry. It’s not just about the recognition; it’s about the validation of your agency’s hard work, creativity, and the impact you have made in the market. An award from Oystercatchers is a mark of excellence that can differentiate your agency in a highly competitive landscape.

A Unique Judging Experience

I’ve been involved in the judging panel for three years, and each year brings a fresh wave of inspiration. The showcase of leading agencies, brands, and people is nothing short of extraordinary. The judging process is rigorous, ensuring that only the best and most deserving campaigns are honoured. This thorough evaluation guarantees that winning an Oystercatchers Award is a prestigious accolade, recognized and respected across the industry.

Benefits of Winning

Winning an Oystercatchers Award can have numerous benefits for your agency. Here are a few:

1. Enhanced Credibility and Trust

Winning an award from such a respected institution boosts your credibility and helps in building trust with potential clients. It signals to the industry that your agency is capable of delivering exceptional results.

2. Increased Visibility

An award win can significantly increase your agency’s visibility in the market. It provides a platform to showcase your work to a wider audience, including potential clients and partners.

3. Attraction of Top Talent

Talented professionals are always on the lookout for agencies that are recognized for their excellence. Winning an award can make your agency more attractive to top talent, helping you to build a stronger, more capable team.

4. Boosted Morale

An award is a testament to the hard work and dedication of your team. It can boost morale and motivate your team to continue striving for excellence.

Categories and Criteria

The Oystercatchers Awards feature a variety of categories, each designed to highlight different aspects of agency performance and client collaboration. Whether your strength lies in creativity, strategic thinking, or client relationship management, there is a category that can showcase your unique capabilities. The detailed entry criteria ensure that every submission is evaluated fairly and comprehensively.

How to Enter

Entering the Oystercatchers Awards is a straightforward process. Visit the 2024 Oystercatchers Awards page to review the categories and entry criteria, and submit your entry. The submission process is designed to be user-friendly, allowing you to present your work in the best possible light.

Conclusion

The Oystercatchers Awards 2024 offers an unparalleled opportunity for agencies to gain recognition and showcase their work on a grand stage. By entering, you put your agency in the spotlight, gaining the chance to be acknowledged by industry leaders and peers alike. Don’t miss this opportunity to demonstrate your agency’s excellence and take your place among the best in the industry.

Visit the 2024 Oystercatchers Awards page and submit your entry today. For more insights and updates, see some of my posts from the 2023 Oystercatchers Awards night.

Day five: Cannes Lions 2022

Day five at Cannes Lions was the best day of the week.

I listened to Anne Krogh, the CMO of Ikea in Denmark, talk about how IKEA puts customers at the heart of its circularity strategy and how they approached the need to assemble a global circularity movement.

Think long-term. Rather than having old unwanted IKEA furniture go to the rubbish dump, IKEA bought back 155,000 items of furniture and repaired items where needed. They then offered second-hand items for sale, enabling customers to get what they wanted for less, avoiding the premature costs of destruction and the cost of needlessly producing new furniture.

You can multiply your efforts by the number of customers who engage by taking action. IKEA has more than one billion customers each year globally, giving them the opportunity for considerable change. In saying this, they acknowledge that as consumers, we want transparency - but we also want items tailored, delivered, and available 24 hours a day. There is massive complexity, and you must be flexible - and one of the solutions may be a new business model.

My favorite quote from this session was, "Creativity is the answer to every question. Creativity is formula resistant". Adam Kerj, Chief Creative Officer, Accenture Song.

I then moved into two sessions on short-form social video with a special session with TikTok and how to build audiences. The team from TikTok and LADBible showcased the different expectations of video content between YouTube, YouTube Shorts, TikTok, and Instagram. One of the big takeaways from this session was that "content created for TikTok works well in other places, but not the other way around".

My final session of the day and the week in Cannes was with one of my professional heroes Harjot Singh, Global Chief Strategy Officer of McCann. Harjot was, as usual, direct and personable. He walked through the simplicity of communicating for change, whether in advertising, marketing, or general communications.

We spoke through what it takes to produce the best work and the three simple elements it always contains. @Harjot, I think you would own Audacious as a first name. I will write a separate post on this session, and how it served to reinspire me in the work I need to do.

Side note: I included the image above, not perfect as it is, because the name of the cross-funciton Marketing and Communications Services function that I lead at ION, is Impact!

Impact was a word that was used repeatedly by many different speakers throughout the entire week at Cannes Lions - and it’s why I chose this name.

The effort we take and the work we produce must have an eduring impact. I am proud to lead Impact@ION.

My first Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity was an incredible experience full of different perspectives and the most brilliant people and their work. I was able to attend working sessionse with two of my professional hereos (Cindy Gallop and Harjot Singh), as well as being invited to two Global CMO Growth Council Sessions to discuss important issues facing our industry. To continue to take advantage of this event and to deepen my knowledge and deliver audacious and powerful results from my work I have subscribed to Cannes Lions Digital. I am already looking forward to Cannes Lions 2023.

Day four: Cannes Lions 2022

Thursday was a pivotal day at Cannes Lions for me. I was invited to participate in the Global CMO Growth Council sessions with industry leaders from the Marketing, Advertising and Creative industries. I attended both the 'Brand, Creativity and Media' and Talent working groups.

I was humbled to be in the room with the leaders of our industry. As a group of 24 leaders, we discussed the actions the CMO Growth Council are taking to resolve real problems facing our industry. We reviewed the steps taken to date and where there are still improvements we can make. This initiative has been four years in the making already, and I believe it will offer sustainable solutions for our industries.

Before those sessions, I was fortunate to hear David Droga from Accenture Song. David is the most-awarded creative at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity, and he's Australian!

David spoke about the importance of creative leadership and that it's essential not to be constrained by the rigour or process of your industry. You can't create new solutions or new art if you limit yourself in this way. Everything we do has to have an impact, and we should include all the 'thinkers, tinkers, makers, and shakers' and allow them to showcase their ideas across a bigger canvas.

He also said that we should embrace the things we're scared of, which for creatives are often things like technology and data. If we embrace these things and seek insight, we can solve problems we've never solved before.

“The only thing worse than not having a great idea is having one and not making it happen”

— David Droga, Lumiere Theatre, Cannes Lions 2022

I then attended a session on the 'Do'conomy. The founder, Mathias Wikstrom, opened with a statistic for context.

“Every year, 23 billion pairs of shoes are made. Our innovation has accelerated human consumption.”

— Mathias Wikstrom, The Forum, Cannes Lions 2022

Mathias, based on data from 5,000 brands and a billion transactions in 32 markets, argued about the need for sustainability and what brand owners can do to future-proof their brands.

“Impact is the new language”

— Mathias Wikstrom, The Forum, Cannes Lions 2022

One of the six big changes he proposed is to have carbon labels on products. In an example of the purchase of a pair of jeans (8.98 kpCO2e and 21.45 kgCO2e) consumer behaviour changed. 32% of eco-consious consumers reduced their footprint and 12% of non-eco conscious consumers did the same. This change was achieved through labelling. Mathias also showed that consumers are willing to pay up to 10% more for products from companies that provide greater supply transparency and data around environmental and social governance.

Removing environmental waste and friction is an improvement. As creatives, as designers, as decision makers we should work to be change-makers rather than change-takers.

Day three: Cannes Lions 2022

With day three now complete, I am over the halfway mark of my time in Cannes for the International Festival of Creativity. This morning the day kicked off with a sell-out session on story-telling with Ryan Reynolds.

Next generation storytelling

Ryan talked about his approach to story-telling and social media and the need to move fast to keep up with the speed of what people are talking about and culture. Ryan spoke about his approach to storytelling and not harm. We are all, like it or not, social media companies. We have an image of ourselves and an image that we project to the world. He said that advertising should be fun and lighten people's load, not add to it. Finally, Ryan mentioned how diversity and inclusion make the stories we tell better. The day three kick-off was the most popular session I've seen this week and was full of great ideas around storytelling.

The first secret speaker session of today was Lisa Merrick-Lawless from Purpose Disruptors, who spoke about our approach to the climate crisis as a "crisis of imagination". Lisa said that we are thinking small and tinkering around the edges, and this tied in with the second secret speaker session with Txai Surui, who points out that "it's not just climate change, it's the everything change". How can we change our approach to global heating and the climate crisis to drive successful change for all of us? This remains an important problem to be solved for the future of the planet.

Marketing experimentation as a superpower

Romain Mallard, a Senior Marketing leader from Coca-Cola, spoke about it being time for a quantum leap in testing and learning at scale. With marketing being a critical driver of organisational growth, we need to be nimble in our approach to marketing and campaign execution.

Romain spoke through the process Coca-Cola took with Bain & Co to change beliefs and internal culture and drive growth using marketing experimentation. Key challenges in implementing this change included the need for it to be at the core of the business strategy, not as a bolt-on or 'skunk-works' programme. They also faced cultural differences in how different cultures affected how some national teams reacted to outcomes that could be perceived as a failure, with many not wanting to report on these tests. Romain pointed out that if you only test safe bets, you're only confirming what you already know, which has minimal value to the business and positive change.

Finally, he argued that you could not teach change. Instead, it would help if you gave people the tools they need to support and deliver the change. Narrow down the field and then let the players on the field execute. Please don't give them change: provide them with a tool. This session was positive, with lots of ideas to test and measure in our approaches to our work.

Emotional intelligence at the heart of brand growth

My highlight session of day three was the 'Emotional intelligence at the heart of brand growth'. This was also the first holocast session of the day, with bestselling author Daniel Goleman Ph. D. joining on stage from New York as a hologram. This session was my first experience of a holocast and hologram in person, and it was faultless.

Make it stand out

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

The presenters discussed the importance of emotional intelligence to businesses and brands. In their 2022 update to their first Brand EQ report in the weeks leading up to the Covid pandemic in 2020, they have shown that emotionally intelligent brands grow more quickly.

"Previously, we calculated the gain in value to be +682% from 2010 to 2020, and extending this to late 2021 increased the gain to +910%, boosted by stellar performances by brands like Google, Netflix and McDonalds. Our original observation has actually been amplified between the two waves."

These measures are linked directly to growth, and the emotional intelligence people attach to a brand. The team also outline in their report that Brand EQ is most strongly related to young people. The young, who is an audience that is often targetted, tend to be early adopters and advocates for the brands and essential businesses of tomorrow. This power goes beyond their current spending power and will continue to strengthen and deepen the brand relationship over time. This was a great session from the team at Craft, and both their 2020 and 2022 brand EQ reports are available online.

While I was comfortable with a speaker appearing virtually, and I think I'd have been fine if all of the presenters were present via holocast, it does raise the question if more of the event could be digital and online?

Highlight of the day

One of the highlights today was a reinforcement of the Nike presenters on day one. A presenter from Craft echoed back to the audience the power of Nike obsessively listening to one audience - athletes. There is such power in this focus that it resonated with others and was presented back in a separate session. Day three was another brilliant day full of knowledge, opportunity and insight. I am well over halfway already and know that days four and five will pass very quickly.

Day two: Cannes Lions 2022

Day two at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity was the busiest plan of my week, with eight sessions across talent, change, ESG, and user experience.

LinkedIn and the fight for great talent

Ryan Roslansky, LinkedIn CEO, walked us through changes impacting the fight for great talent with a focus on the advertising industry. Based on LinkedIn's social graph knowledge from 830 million members and 57 million companies. Ryan said that Gen Z moves more frequently than other generations, followed by Millenials, Gen X, and Boomers. He also showed the change in roles within the Advertising industry now requiring tech skills, a 25% increase, and tech skills are becoming table stakes as part of the global arms race for tech talent.

He spoke about storytelling and the invention of the term horsepower by Scottish Engineer James Watt.

"Using a complicated mathematical equation, Watt deduced that a mill horse could push 32,572 pounds one foot in a minute, which he rounded to an even 33,000 pounds. 33,000 pounds pushed one foot in a minute. The power of one horse. One horsepower!" (The Chronicle of the Horse, https://www.chronofhorse.com/article/james-watt-and-revolution-horsepower)

Watt found a way to translate scientific measurements into a unit of measure that people could relate to - that of horsepower. Horsepower was a promise of what the steam engine could do. Ryan reinforced that we are in a promise-making business and must make promises, but promises we deliver. Apple did this with the 1,000 songs in your pocket slogan introduced by Steve Jobs 21 years ago in 2001.

Brand activism - Your power as marketers to make big change

A recent study of the top 50 brands approximated that they have 72 billion opportunities to influence consumers through the sales process for their products. This means that marketers have the opportunity to have a professional purpose with the chance of having a planetary impact.

In Diageo, at Guinness, they have adopted a three-pronged approach to sustainability around reinvention, restoration, and reduction.

• What can you do to reinvent how you operate?

• What can you do to restore the ecosystems in which you operate?

• What can you do to reduce the destructive impact across the supply chain?

How can we make a change to the way that we think and the decisions we make to fundamentally change how we approach and value the impact our actions have on the environment.

Leveraging machine learning and augmented reality for experiential digital commerce

Jeremi Gorman, Chief Business Officer at Snap Inc, showcased some of the most important features available in Snap that leverage machine learning and augmented reality for experiential digital commerce. Every day more than 250 million people engage with augmented reality in Snap. Snap view themselves as a camera company and they have used technology to extend the user experience. She said that 250 million people have already tried on 5 billion products digitally.

Robert Triefus from Gucci spoke about Gucci's deep belief in digital and he encourage everyone to lean into digital hard. Gucci have used digital to expand their community and to bring new kinds of experiences to their customers. Technology also enables Gucci to give their customers a unique experience across different channels, empowering their community to express creativity, and to provide insights to the business.

A camera is a catalyst to personal creation centering the world around the user authentically. This makes cameras and digital experience a part of the future of personal storytelling with the user an active participant in creating the future.

Break the standard leading business creation with unique experience

The design team from Minna Bank in Japan spoke about how they worked to change from business leading experience to experience leading business.

Taehan Yoo, Design Director, spoke about how many times we copy and paste a design, experience, or idea for safety. But once we have copied and pasted and made our expeirence the same as others the consumer then wants the cheapest experience and this takes us to a place we don't want to be.

At Minna, which means everyone in Japanese, they're focussed on delivering a new approach to digital banking, primarily for digital natives in the Generations Z, Y, and Millenials. Minna's users are 70% from these generations, vs traditional banks whose users are 70% from older generations. [There is a video showcasing Minna bank here](https://youtu.be/irKyj-EpTzQ).

The team of designers were very passionate about their approach to understanding their customers and delivering a frictionless experience. Many of the things they spoke about the experience of banking I could relate to from my own experiences with [N26 in Germany](https://youtu.be/IWwrfkkM4iI), and [Starling Bank](https://youtu.be/E7F7s7AOFNk) in the UK who both deliver a similar frictionless digital experience.

The most interesting thing I learned today was from Snap. When Snap added the weather feature to Snap to add the current weather in as the background to a photo people engage with it and activated the feature millions of times, but didn't save the photo. Snap discovered that people were using their camera as their weather app, and were inserting the weather to get the metrics. So Snap expanded the tool to include a multi-day forecast.

A full day with a lot of ideas around using creativity for growth, and for change.

#CannesLions2022 #IONatCannes