“Winning is a mindset. It requires self-belief, grit and focus on progress. More than half of the competition will come down to framing the challenge and preparing for the unexpected,” said Laura Maness, global CEO of Grey. She’ll serve as the advisor to the winners of the digital category.
Digital honoree Jessica Nugent told ADWEEK before learning she’d won that winning “would put into perspective all the hard work that my partner and I poured into this industry over the last five years. It’s a testament to where we are with our careers in the digital space.”
Nugent’s winning entry created an A100 Social Night Market that partners with local Asian restaurants to turn the A100 list into a social menu of 100 meals featuring the honorees’ favorite dishes.
Nugent and her partner, Rachel Findlay, are both daughters of immigrant parents and viewed the brief as what representation means to them after they both grew up in a predominantly white state. They asked themselves what’s impactful to their culture, with Findlay, as a Filipino, viewing “food as social” and “it makes sense to [use food] to say who you are.”
Mentoring the next generation
NCM is giving Team USA a boost in Cannes providing mentorship, webinar content from brands and agencies, and more resources for young creatives. In Cannes, there will be a U.S. Lions Community welcome reception and celebration.
A team of advisors will support and mentor the winning groups as they advance onto the global competition. The mentors include:
- Digital: Laura Maness, global CEO, Grey
- Film: Jonathan Johnsongriffin, vp, global brand and creative, Google
- Media: Jaclyn Ruelle, vp, head of brand, Papa Johns
- PR: Chaucer Barnes, CMO, Translation
- Print: École Weinstein, global creative lead, Delivery, Uber
“I’ve always been most proud of being able to mentor and shape the next generation. As a lifelong learner, it’s important to me that we can lift up the future of our industry and find ways to elevate their craft and talent, getting them in front of the best agencies and brands in the world,” Jaclyn Ruelle, vp and head of brand at Papa Johns, told ADWEEK.