Into the Jury Room: Socially Relevant Themes Bubble to the Top as the German Jury Longs for Better Branded Storytelling

A selection of Germany's top creatives and production leaders convened in Berlin last week for the country's round of Immortal Awards judging. 

Taking place on Wednesday, October 11th thanks to support from Zauberberg Productions, the jurors cast judgement on a shortlist of 21 projects, which had scored highest in the online round of judging prior to the in-person session.

Four projects were elevated and will represent Germany in the regional European round of judging, which takes place on Friday, October 20th. Check them out here.

The German jury was made up of: Chiara Chessa, creative director at Innocean Berlin; Till Diestel, chief creative officer at Serviceplan Germany; Leila El-Kayem, executive creative director at Anomaly Berlin; Fabian Frese, former chief creative officer at Accenture Song Germany; Myriam Fynecontry-Herke, executive creative director at Wunderman Thompson Germany; Frank Hahn, chief creative officer at BBDO Group Germany; Shai Hirschson, global executive creative director at MassiveMusic Berlin; Jens Schröder, executive creative director at Grey Germany; and Frank Siegl, managing partner and executive producer at Zauberberg Productions.

The four Finalists were notable for all being cause-based work. While each project was deemed worthy of being elevated to the next round, there was some disappointment among the jury that no core advertising - work made to truly sell products - was of a level high enough to represent Germany among its European counterparts. 

"Our mission in Germany needs to be to become better storytellers and filmmakers," said juror Frank Hahn, chief creative officer at BBDO Group Germany. "It doesn’t come as a surprise that socially relevant themes are always bubbling up to the top. And our industry has the obligation to point at those topics with creative solutions. But at the same time, I wish that we approach briefs with more positivity and optimism. Sometimes I wish to laugh more."

Leila El-Kayem, executive creative director at Anomaly Berlin, added, "We are living in abstract times. This becomes obvious in the type of work that is being submitted, reaching for new ways to bring awareness to social causes. However, it is even more important to be thinking about how to tell the world's stories. How can we take inspiration from our own lives and the lives of the unheard and unseen to tell more magical narratives? Every brand has a story to tell, it's our responsibility to write them."