LIA Announces 2025 Juries for Data, Digital, Social Media and Influencer Categories

Gabriel Schmitt, global chief creative officer of Grey will head the Evolution and Creative Use of Data Jury and Samira Ansari, chief creative officer of Ogilvy NY will chair the Digital and Use of Social Media & Influencers Jury. Top creative minds will gather onsite in Las Vegas to judge all work submitted into the Evolution and Creative Use of Data and Digital and Use of Social Media & Influencers competitions. These juries will award the most breakthrough work within these categories. LIA judging will take place from 25th September through 3rd October at Encore @ Wynn Las Vegas. The winning work that emerges from the jury rooms after intense debates will be the standard that others will aspire to for innovative ideas and executions.

All jurors will be onsite through all rounds of judging. There is no offsite pre-judging, so every piece of work will come under the scrutiny of these carefully selected jurors.

Gabriel Schmitt Evolution and Creative Use of Data Jury President

Gabriel Schmitt, global chief creative officer of Grey, will serve as the 2025 jury president for Evolution and Creative Use of Data. Schmitt is a culture-shaping creative executive with 20 years of advertising agency leadership, who has led the teams under him to win awards, not only from all the top advertising awards shows, but also two Emmys, as well.

Gabriel said, “There are writer's writers, and for creatives, there are the LIAs. For that reason alone, it is an honour to chair any category there. Now, the opportunity to help shape the conversation around the most innovative work, on Evolution, and how Data informs and shapes amazing ideas in the Creative Use of Data category – is too good. I'm excited to jump in and help point out where our industry is headed."

Samira Ansari, chief creative officer of Ogilvy NY, who will preside over the Digital and Use of Social Media & Influencers Jury, is an international multi-award winning creative, who has worked across Fortune 500 brands globally. Last year, her creative leadership helped garner Ogilvy New York the 2024 LIA Global Agency of the Year award, which helped Ogilvy attain the LIA Global Network of the Year. Her countless awards also include an Emmy Sports Award in the Best Digital Innovation category.

Samira said, “Culture is social-first, creator-first – that’s the reality of our world, which also makes it the reality of our work. Every day, agencies and brands are reforging creativity through this incredible framing – pushing our Samira Ansari Digital and Use of Social Media & Influencers Jury president industry in real time, more than ever before. Needless to say, I am stoked to chair LIA’s Digital and Use of Social Media & Influencers Jury alongside global colleagues who are just as excited by the direction we’re headed.”

Both of these judging sessions run simultaneously with the LIA funded Creative LIAisons onsite program. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is for young creatives who have been flown in from around the globe to meet, connect and learn from these creative giants who are at the top of their professions.

“We are always excited to see the kind of winners that emerge from these categories,” said Barbara Levy, president of LIA. “The work from Evolution always pushes the envelope in a way that makes the industry a beacon of creativity. Over the years, we have seen data used in the most compelling and creative ways to change businesses. They are inspiring case studies that the industry can learn from. As for Digital, where users swipe faster than the speed of light, good creative isn’t enough. It has to be great to cut through the clutter and to impress the judges.”

2025 Evolution and Creative Use of Data Jury:

• Gabriel Schmitt, Global Chief Creative Officer, Grey - Jury President
• Cristino Battista, Creative Agency Lead, TikTok, Milan
• Jeff Cruz, EVP, Chief Creative Officer, MRM, Birmingham
• Debbie Ellison, EMEA CEO, Croud
• Ioana Filip, Founder / Chief Creative Officer, International Waters
• Sergio Gordilho, Partner / Co-CEO / Chief Creative Officer, Africa Creative, São Paulo
• Shinichi Kobayashi, Executive Creative Director / Digital Growth Officer, ADK, Tokyo
• Angelo Maia, Creative Director, Wieden+Kennedy, Portland​
• Kindra Meyer, Executive Creative Director, VERB, Los Angeles
• Carren O’Keefe, Chief Creative Officer, Digitas, London
• Rey Tiempo, Chief Creative Officer, Minotaur, Manila
• Emily Wengert, MD, Global Head of AI Strategy, Huge, Chicago

2025 Digital and Use of Social Media & Influencers Jury

• Samira Ansari, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy NY - Jury President
• Thomas Hong Tack Kim, Chief Creative Officer, Paulus, Seoul
• Fura Johannesdottir, Chief Creative Officer, Interbrand, London
• Dogura Kozonoe, Chief Creative Officer, MRM Brazil, São Paulo
• Tara McKenty, Executive Creative Director AU/NZ, AKQA, Sydney
• Burkhard Müller, Chief Digital Officer, Mutabor, Hamburg
• Elizabeth Nguyen Son, Head of Social Creative, Monks, Paris
• Katariina Ollari, Head of Social & Content, Bob the Robot / The North Alliance, Helsinki
• John Petty III, Co-Founder, 14th And Market, Philadelphia
• Ashley Rudder, Chief Creator Officer, Deutsch NY, New York
• Matt Watson, Chief Creative Officer, Sips&Bites at PepsiCo, London
• Anthony Yell, Chief Creative Officer, Razorfish, New York