ROTHCO’s Emer Fitzgerald Selected for Media Lions Jury

For the 66th Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Emer Fitzgerald, head of media connections at ROTHCO, part of Accenture Interactive, will join the Media Lions jury for 2019.

Following a new structure put in place in 2018, there are nine Awards Tracks at this year’s festival. Participating jury members will have the responsibility of curating a body of work that will represent 2018 and set the tone for the creative year ahead.

Since joining ROTHCO from Google in 2014, Emer quickly rose through the ranks to become head of media connections - a strategic discipline that uses data and media insight to get closer to audiences and spark creative thinking. 

Determined to break down the barriers between media and creativity, Emer passionately incorporates digital and media thinking into the creative planning process while continuing to lead strategies for the agency’s biggest brands such as Aer Lingus, Facebook and Orchard Thieves to name a few. 

The digital strategist behind Heineken’s most successful launch ever, Orchard Thieves Cider and the Cannes-winning Irish Defence Forces Female Recruitment Campaign, Emer is an award winning strategic and creative thinker who continues to pioneer and evolve the connections discipline globally. 

Driven by her love for creativity, Emer is also a regular industry speaker and panellist. She co-created and delivered a creativity workshop at Cannes in 2017 - You Are Dumber Than You Think. Emer also co-authored ‘The Future is Human’, a ROTHCO report which was published in 2016.

Emer comments: “I’m honoured to have been selected for this year’s Media Lions jury. Despite fluctuating industry trends, Cannes remains one of the biggest events in the creative calendar and attracts the best work from around the world. Having started my career in Google, media and creative has always been one to me and continues to present a powerful synergy I hope to repeatedly unleash for brands. I can’t wait to have the opportunity to delve into and debate the best applications of this in the world.”

This year’s Media Lions jury president is Karen Blackett OBE, WPP UK country manager and MediaCom chairwoman UK and Ireland, WPP, UK. The juries will convene in Cannes, France where the winning work will be awarded each evening from 17-21 June.