The Art of “Envyspiration” – Meet LIA Legend Dörte Spengler-Ahrens

While many called her a legend in the creative industry anyway, the London International Awards (LIA) has made it official now. The LIA Legend Award winner 2025, Dörte Spengler-Ahrens, has not only been a creative lynchpin of the German advertising industry for decades, but she is also the non-executive chairwoman of independent creative agency Jung von Matt (JvM) and vice-president of the Art Directors Club (ADC), after leading it as the president for two years.

Somebody Give This Woman An Award!

She is only the third in the LIA Legend Award series to be honoured with the Legend title. Her predecessors are former global chief creative officer of Leo Burnett, Mark Tutssel, and former global chief creative officer of Ogilvy, Piyush Pandey.

Dörte was the first for many things. She was the first female president of the ADC and the first from Jung von Matt to get a home office installed during her pregnancy. In 2024, Dörte was appointed non-executive chairwoman of Jung von Matt Group, marking the first time in the agency's history. Now is another first: the first woman to win the LIA Legend Award.

With a truly remarkable success story in the creative industry, it comes as no surprise to anyone that Dörte got awarded the Legend title – to anyone, but Dörte herself.

When Barbara Levy, president of LIA, first contacted her about the award, she was startled. She asked Barbara if she was sure about it. All while the president couldn’t have been more confident with LIA’s choice. Dörte recalls: “She called me an outstanding talent and force in the industry, not only as a creative but also for my commitment to inclusion and for women. And I said, ‘Listen, if you want to give me the award, I will gladly accept it.’”

Humble Beginnings

The woman, the power, the LIA Legend, Dörte, once upon a time was a young creative with big hopes of making it in the creative industry in the early ‘90s. She just graduated from the Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences in Visual Communication because – to quote her mum – “art doesn’t make money, go into advertising.”

In her first semester, they showed her and the rest of her course the Cannes contenders of that year in a small cinema. “That is when I knew. That. That is what I wanted to do,” Dörte reflects now, thinking back to those times.

When you take a look at Dörte’s LinkedIn, you can track down a loyal and steep career path at the independent creative agency JvM over the last three decades. What is now a harmonious working relationship between the agency and the chairwoman started off as more of a love-hate relationship than you might think.

In the late ‘90s, the now chairwoman applied for a junior creative directing role at JvM. She says the person responsible for employing young talent back then didn’t even properly look at her portfolio and dismissively told her she wouldn’t be a good fit for the role. “I promised myself to never work for those…” You can insert any fitting word that comes to mind here.

The Call That Changed Everything

Fast forward a couple of years. Dörte is – let’s say – tired from a fun night out as her flatmate calls her on the phone. “There is a Jerome, or John, or whatever, for you,” she says. Lo and behold, it was “just” the co-founder of Jung von Matt, Jean-Remy von Matt himself, calling Dörte to get her on board. Totally casual.

“I had worked myself up and won the Golden Nail by the ADC for my Lucky Strike campaign recently. And Jean-Remy was short-staffed and needed a copywriter. He took the time to meet me in person and asked me to join the team, so I said ‘Yes.’”

Jean-Remy seems to have a good nose for talent, because within only three years, Dörte climbed up the ranks from copywriter to creative director.

Over the years, she has worked on some of the most celebrated advertising campaigns in the country. She has worked for the biggest clients of the group, including BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Sixt, Nivea, BVG, Zalando, and many more. Looking back, she is especially proud of her work with clothing retailer Zalando and BVG automotive. “I have worked with these clients for over a decade, and we have grown together. For some of my favourite works, I have not even won an award. But I personally loved the work.”

The creative has represented the German creative industry for over two decades. From LIA, over ADC to the most famous creativity festival, Cannes Lions, she has been there as a juror many times. “Being in a jury is the best boot camp ever. It’s like being in a creativity pressure cooker where you can soak everything up and discuss the current work with the best in the industry.”

“Be Good At What You Do”

Dörte, starting out as a woman in advertising in the ‘90s and ‘00s, dealt with a lot of contrarians. Over the years, she has perfected the art of growing a thick skin and putting down her head to sharpen her pen and “just be amazingly good at her job.” She adds: “Of course, nothing was given to me, but I always have to give my best.”

She says she has two things by which she lives. “Number one, do what you love. My job is my hobby and my job at the same time. That is why I feel truly fulfilled. And then, get fueled by ‘envyspiration.’ Envy and inspiration so you can use that as your gasoline.”

Dörte feels strongly about raising the next generation of creatives – something which she has demonstrated not least through her involvement as a speaker and coach in the Creative LIAisons programme. Her biggest career advice is: “Find out what you are passionate about. Research the best place to study or train, and go there. Then, when you go into the industry, get experience, find an environment where you feel supported and are surrounded by the best ones, where you can learn from good people and find a mentor, and then stay there.”

The non-executive chairwoman might be a legend already, but she is far from done with her career. “I am happy with where I am,” she says. “I still burn for what I do; that fire has not gone out yet. There is a big passion for creation and also creating change through leadership.” While she can imagine working less at some point, she says, “She is not there yet.”

Winning the LIA Legend Award is an absolute honour, she stresses. “I want to thank the LIA for making the courageous choice of picking me. It means the world to be shown appreciation in this way.”

The award gave her a good opportunity to look back at her career, which she doesn’t usually do. “I look back on my personal and family life often. I remember everything from my son’s first time he learned to swim to the way he learned to drive. But in my career, I just like moving forward.”