Icaro Doria on Judging “Creativity You Can Hold in Your Hands”

Icaro Doria is the president and chief creative officer at the Brazilian full-service agency DM9, which he relaunched in 2022. A founding partner and chief creative officer of Wieden+Kennedy São Paulo, and a Bronze Young Lion winner, this year, he’s adding president of the Cannes Lions Print & Publishing jury to his list of accomplishments.

Overseen by Icaro, the jury will debate on work that shows, in the words of the festival, “ingenuity and outstanding craftsmanship in published media including books, magazines, covers and digital publications for public distribution.” Speaking with LBB’s Abi Lightfoot, Icaro shares his admiration for the tangible and democratising nature of the category, the importance of a strong idea as the starting point for any campaign, and his excitement for judging in what has been “the year of beer.”

LBB> The Print & Publishing Lions celebrate creativity in circulation. What does this mean to you and how does this relate to the kind of work you’re looking for? 

Icaro> Print & Publishing, to me, is even more than creativity in circulation. It’s creativity you can hold in your hands. You can touch. You can look up close. All with no time crunch or pressure to move, to scroll, or to skip.

It’s also incredibly democratic, because you can have something beautiful, insightful, or funny without massive production budgets involved. It allows people from all around the globe to stand out based on their thinking, and not on the money involved in the making. This inspires me very much.

LBB> How are you preparing yourself and your jury for the jury room this year?

Icaro> I am an absolute ad nerd. So, I look at every possible place where I can be aware of great ideas from all parts of the world. I look at winners of local shows and dig into what has been produced in print and publishing over the past year to make sure I am aware of great ideas and can make sure that if they were entered, they will be judged fairly and with attention. The group judging Print & Publishing this year is awesome and from various parts of the world, which makes for good learning for all of us. I can’t wait to be in the room with them all.

LBB> What are the current big debates within the category – or more generally across the industry – that you expect to see coming through in the judging?

Icaro> AI is definitely a topic. Not a new topic, but a topic that has been on our minds for the past year – how it impacts everything we do, and how it will increasingly impact everything we do. With that said, I don’t see it playing a big role in the work entered in Print & Publishing this year, but it will. Fast. 

LBB> Yourself and your fellow jury members are looking for ideas that leap off the page, and show ingenuity and outstanding craftsmanship in published media. How will you strike a balance between evaluating the strength of the idea alongside the strength of the craftsmanship?

Icaro> Idea first. The idea has to be good. The thought has to be the most important thing to be judged. Yes, craft is incredibly important. Bad craft can kill a great idea. But that’s how I would like to look at the work: idea first and foremost, craft as the enhancement to the idea.

LBB> Coming into the jury room, what trends in Print & Publishing have you encountered this year and expect to come across in the work you judge?

Icaro> It’s the year of beer! There’s lots and lots of great, iconic beer ads. Very exciting.

LBB> Last year’s Grand Prix was taken home by Ogilvy New York’s ‘Recycle Me’ campaign for Coca-Cola. It was celebrated for its simplicity, boldness and elegance in publishing - are these similar themes that you’re looking to uncover this year, or are you hoping there’s another approach that catches your eye?

Icaro> Every show can only award what is there to be judged. In theory, I would love to have great headlines and great copy be represented. But we will see if there are entries that fall into those category traits. But overall, I go with an absolutely open mind to celebrate what is in front of us. 

 Above, last year's Print & Publishing Grand Prix winner, 'Recycle Me'

LBB> How do you anticipate Print & Publishing will evolve within the current media and advertising landscape?

Icaro> Print & Publishing has an amazing advantage over every other medium: it doesn’t bother anyone! It’s not noisy. It’s not invasive. You don’t have to wait to skip it. It’s not addictive. For a print ad to be good and efficient, it must be thoughtful, iconic, and insightful. I do believe people will be looking for more moments that involve holding a good magazine, newspaper or publication, and less time with the pressures of a connected world.

LBB> You were a Young Lions winner! How did winning Young Lions shape your career path?

Icaro> It was a Bronze. Our friends from Sweden won Gold, but nonetheless, it completely changed my life. Being there for the competition and winning got me noticed by the amazing Tony Granger, who hired me to move from Brazil to New York and restart my career in the US, where I spent 16 years. I owe a lot to Cannes Lions, and I owe even more to Tony. I can’t really think of how my life would have gone without this sequence of events.

LBB> If you were writing a new Young Lions brief, what challenge would you put in front of today’s competitors?

How do you get people to put their phones down and pick up a magazine?