Edelman Global Chief Creative Officer Judy John Named 2025 AICP Next Awards Judging Chair

AICP announced today that Judy John, global chief creative officer at global communications firm Edelman, has been named as the 2025 AICP Next Awards Judging Chair. In this role, Judy has assembled a roster of Jury Presidents who will, in turn, select judges for all AICP Next Awards categories. 

“I’m thrilled and honoured to be named AICP Next Awards Judging Chair,” Judy said about her appointment. “I’ve served as a Next jury president, and I know the calibre of work that’s entered and the level of talent judging that work. The Next Awards are special, as they recognise achievements through the lens of boundary-breaking innovations in marketing. Like great art, this work creates awe in the viewer, and reflects the times and culture in which it was created. The fact that the honoured work is preserved in The Museum of Modern Art’s Department of Film’s archives for future generations adds a whole other level of significance.”

“Judy’s career in many ways reflects the DNA of the Next Awards, in that she  is a globally-recognised expert in creating work using a wide range of techniques, media platforms and content formats,” said Matt Miller, president and CEO of AICP. “Her complete fluency in the current marketing communications landscape makes her an ideal Judging Chairperson. We’re delighted that she is serving in this role.”

The AICP Next Awards is much more than an Awards competition; it’s also a platform for examining work through thought leadership and analysis. The entry deadline for the AICP Next Awards, along with the AICP Show: The Art & Technique of the Commercial and the AICP Post Awards, is Wed., February 26, 2025. Details can be found here. 

Two new categories are joining the Next Awards this year, for Public Relations and Creative Commerce, bringing the total Next Awards disciplines to 13. Judy played a role in introducing these new categories to the Next competition. The Public Relations category will honour work in the area of earned media that has storytelling at its core and taps into current culture to enhance the reputation and business of a brand, while the Creative Commerce category recognises the creative approach (at any point) of the end-to-end customer journey that leads to increased consumer engagement and commercial success. “Awards shows need to constantly evolve to reflect culture,” Judy explained. “When I look at the industry, I see Public Relations and Creative Commerce as being ‘Next’ in terms of what is, and what will be, important to driving business.”

Judy is the first-ever global chief creative officer at Edelman, the world’s largest independent communications firm, where she leads the global creative community and sits on its Executive Leadership Team. Since 2019, she has transformed Edelman into a celebrated creative powerhouse, known for transformative ideas and work that not only earns attention but drives both business and culture.

Prior to joining Edelman, Judy was chief creative officer for North America, and CEO for Canada at Leo Burnett. She’s been the driving force behind many impactful campaigns including Always’ ground breaking #LikeAGirl, which won the Emmy for Outstanding Commercial, was named by CBS as one of the top three Super Bowl ads of all time and won a D&AD Black Pencil. Her personal accolades include being named on Gold House's A100 List of Most Influential Asians in Culture in 2019, Adweek's Women Trailblazers 2020 and Business Insider's 30 Most Creative People in Advertising. 

The 2025 AICP Next Awards jury presidents and curators at Large 

As judging chair, Judy was tasked with identifying a range of industry professionals to serve as jury presidents. As a veteran of numerous judging sessions at some of the industry’s most prestigious competitions, she knew what she was looking for. “Following the tradition of past chairs for the show, I was looking for the best in the business, and the best in craft,” she notes. “And the direction I’ll be giving them is to reward the most innovative ideas that push the category definitions to evolve.”

Acknowledging the importance of excellence in craft across all of the AICP Awards shows, she feels her jury president selections will know what they’re looking for, and respond accordingly. “I’ll quote Sir John Hegarty here, who we all know as a creative legend: ‘Great work is eighty percent idea, it’s also eighty percent execution.’ The extraordinary work -- what we’ll be looking for in our judging process -- has both in equal measure, but the craft not only makes the idea stand out, it makes the work withstand the test of time.”

The 2025 Next Awards Jury Presidents will each, in turn, select the judges for their respective categories. The full line up includes:

Tina Allan, global chief, data and intelligence, FCB (Creative Data)

Jason Campbell, chief creative officer, Translation (Purpose Driven)

Colleen DeCourcy, chief creative officer, Snap, (Real Time Engagement)

Lauren Greenfield, founder and director, Institute Pictures(Web Film)

Genie Gurnani, marketing executive, creative strategy, The Walt Disney Company (Influencer)

Melle Hock, chief strategy officer, Edelman (Public Relations)

Jason Kreher, partner, Maximum Effort (Integrated Campaign)

Rafael Rizuto, chief creative officer North America, Ogilvy (Innovation)

Mo Said, founder and CEO, Mojo Supermarket (Digital Experiences)

David “Shingy” Shing, digital prophet, Shingy (Social)

Leslie Sims, chief marketing and creative officer, Impossible Foods (Creative Commerce)

Jimmy Smith, chairman and CEO and CCO, Amusement Park Entertainment, (Branded Content & Entertainment)

Shannon Washington, global chief creative officer, Gotham (Experiential)

Joining the Jury Presidents are Curators at Large. They’ll work with the Jury Presidents to determine the final disposition of the AICP Next Awards, as well as select the Most Next (Best of Show) honour. This year’s Curators at Large includes:

Susan Credle, FCB global chair & IPG creative advisor, IPG

Scott Donaton, CMO and chief content officer, Versus

Gerry Graf, co-founder and CCO, SlapGlobal

Greg Hahn, co-founder chief creative officer, Mischief

Rei Inamoto, founder and chief creative officer, I&Co.

Margaret Johnson, founder and managing partner, Goodby Silverstein & Partners

Jeff Kling, founder and CCO, Das Favorite

Nick Law, creative chairperson, Accenture

Pum Lefebure, co-founder and chief creative cfficer, Design Army

Allen Mask, partner and managing partner, WestCap / CōLab

Jaime Robinson, co-founder and chief creative officer, JOAN

Tiffany Rolfe, global chair and global chief creative officer, R/GA

Several Curators at Large previously served as AICP Next Awards Judging Chairs; that list includes Credle, Donaton, Graf, Hahn, Johnson, Kling, Law, Robinson and Rolfe.

The call for entries for the AICP Next Awards is now open. To be eligible, work must have first aired or launched between March 12, 2024 and March 4, 2025. The results of each show will debut during AICP Week in New York, from June 3 to June 5, and be featured at a gala celebration at The Museum of Modern Art on June 5, 2024.

The work of the AICP Next Awards winners, along with that of the honourees of the AICP Show, becomes a part of the archives of The Department of Film at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, where it can be studied by future generations and is available for use or exhibition by the museum’s curators. All individual works, and each year’s shows in their entirety, can be viewed exclusively at www.aicpawards.com, the AICP Awards Archive website. The AICP Post Awards can be viewed at www.aicppostawards.com.