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Susan Gillmeister, SVP, Planner, Havas Village X, Canada
Jury-Interviews

2022 AME Grand Jury Perspective: Susan Gillmeister, SVP, Planner, Havas Village X, Canada

2022 Grand Jury member Susan Gillmeister is SVP, Planner for Havas Village X, Canada. She spent over 20 years in agency account services, at Cossette, Saatchi & Saatchi, McCann, BBDO, Ammirati & Puris, and FCB, working across a wide variety of consumer categories.

New York, NY | February 02, 2022

The AME Awards honors campaigns that hit the bullseye for brands, triumphing in both creativity and effectiveness. AME's esteemed Grand Jury members bring years of experience to the jury panel and are known globally as repected industry pro's who have the ability to deliver distinctive and effective results for global brands. As award-winners themselves and experts in effectiveness their ability to recognize ground-breaking results-driven work truly sets the bar.

2022 Grand Jury member Susan Gillmeister is SVP, Planner for Havas Village X, Canada. She spent over 20 years in agency account services, at Cossette, Saatchi & Saatchi, McCann, BBDO, Ammirati & Puris and FCB, working across a wide variety of consumer categories. Her commitment to storytelling and human understanding led her to 14 years of insight work in the healthcare sector, her passion for insight-driven creative brought her back to the agency world.

In the interview below Susan shares her perspective on evolution of brand positioning and tone of voice, emerging technological trends,  recognizable attributes of award-winning work and much more.

AME Awards: What stand-out attributes do you recognize in award-winning creative effective advertising?

I love that you used the phrase “creative effective advertising”. For too long, there has been a divide in award shows: the ones that award great creative advertising and the ones that award effective advertising. I’ve always thought it can only be considered great creative if it’s effective advertising. That raises the bar on what should be expected for all advertising.  It needs to be insight-driven, which should ensure that it is provocative and resonates emotionally. Ultimately that is what should drive results. But it also needs a powerful and well-executed creative idea, because if it doesn’t stand out, depth of insight becomes irrelevant. No one heard it. And to be effective, advertising must be noticed.

AME Awards: Why are effectiveness competitions like the AME Awards important?  

Effectiveness competitions build credibility for the industry and the industry philosophy behind creating effective advertising. It provides the evidence that advertising is persuasive: great advertising increases awareness, inspires action and justifies the cost of production and placement. It reminds clients of the true power of marketing communications.

AME Awards: Speak to the evolution of brand positioning, values, and tone of voice during the past few years.  

While the shift from product-centered to target centered started more than a few years ago, I think that the industry commitment to that has increased in the last few years. Agencies are more likely to push for top-down positioning that starts with the unmet needs of the target, rather than the more traditional bottom-up approach where the product and its features are the driver of strategy. This target-focused approach shifts both the values and tone of voice of the communication; it is both more empathetic and respectful. It is a conversation with the customer, not a sales pitch. The customer arrives at the intended conclusion rather than simply being told what to think.

AME Awards: What new technological trends have emerged and how have they helped deliver creative and effective results?  

The massive amounts of data generated on interaction with products, sites, and advertising allows not just greater targeting, but greater measurement of the response to that targeting. Technology will allow much more meaningful data on campaign effectiveness. In the not-so-distant past, we relied on sales increases to “prove” advertising effectiveness, recognizing that some of those gains may have been a product of pricing, distribution or competitor issues. With today’s data, we can more definitively connect advertising campaigns and consumer response. We will know what inspired the change in attitude and behavior.

AME Awards: Why did you agree to participate on this year’s AME Grand Jury and What do you hope to learn by viewing entries into this competition?

I have always found that “judging” advertising, whether it’s formally for awards consideration or for a client competitive review, or informally, as professional curiosity, is one of the best ways to challenge my own thinking and grow as a strategist. Judging on a panel adds the dimension of also learning from colleagues and benefiting from their perspective and assessment. Selfishly, it makes me better. But on a broader scale, rewarding effective creative makes us all better.