Dive into AME's exclusive interview series, where we spotlight the creative and strategic brilliance of the AME Awards Grand Jury. These award-winning strategic leaders, equipped with extensive experience and insightful perspectives, bring a wealth of expertise to the judges' table. Their discerning evaluation will play a crucial role in determining this year's most creative and effective works submitted to the 2024 AME Awards. Join us as we explore the perspectives that shape the excellence celebrated by the AME Awards.

2024 Grand Jury member Rob Campbell is Head of Strategy/Chief Strategy Officer, ColensoBBDO New Zealand brings years of leadership experience and strategic prowess to the Grand Jury panel. Rob has led strategy at agencies that include Wieden+Kennedy (Shanghai/Tokyo), Deutsch (USA) and R/GA (Europe) and is now at Colenso (NZ) – where in the last 2 years, he has seen his gang of talented strategic misfits win the WARC/Cannes Effectiveness Grand Prix, the ‘Best of the Best’ Global Effie, creators of the World’s most effective creative campaign (WARC) and been named Agency of the Year title by NZ Effies, Campaign Asia and AXIS.

Rob is from Nottingham, England. According to Rob he supports a team that’s a football embarrassment, wears footwear that's a fashion embarrassment and was a session guitarist for an 80s/90s popstar embarrassment. Despite this, he is recognised as one of the industry's most astute and experienced global strategists ... driven by three decades across the world, developing strategy for some of the biggest and most creatively demanding brands and businesses in the World … including NIKE, Converse, IKEA, Spotify, Disney, Meta, Beats, Gentle Monster, Rockstar Games/GTA and Metallica. Rob believes passionately in culture, creativity and chaos and is proud to have been called an “asshole” by Lars Ulrich, Richard Branson and Dan Wieden.

In the interview below Rob shares his perspective on how emerging technologies and interactive content are shaping the advertising landscape, what he's looking for in award-winning creative/effective work, and what brands are engaging people in their own lanes of interest.

AME Awards: As a creative strategist, what stand-out attributes do you recognize in award-winning creative effective advertising?

Rob Campbell: Obviously the key element is their ability to clearly demonstrate creativity was the driving force behind the effectiveness that they report.

Sounds obvious, but it’s amazing how often papers associate good results with creativity, when there were so many other factors that influenced the outcome.

But for me, it’s something even more than that … it’s the best winners have tended to use creativity to fundamentally change how to approach a problem.

I say that because – for me – there’s a major difference between using creativity to amplify a solution and creativity that is the solution … but in both cases, some of the key attributes that helped drive their success is their understanding of who their audience actually is and the real tensions they’re facing in life, as well as a brand that actually knows what it stands for and lives up to it.

AME Awards: How are emerging technologies such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and interactive content shaping the landscape of advertising effectiveness?

Rob Campbell: I am fascinated with how emerging tech can drive advertising effectiveness. I think the impact it can make is incredible and we’re only at the start of this journey.

That said, a lot of what I’m seeing and hearing is quite functional – where the focus/celebration has been driving efficiency or scale for the ultimate benefit of business.

That does have value, but surely the bigger opportunity with this technology is to go beyond ‘get more stuff, faster’ and be about helping customers on a much deeper and more personal level.

AME Awards: How has media marketing changed the way brands engage with consumers? Are there standout brands who are excelling at skillfully reaching consumers in their own personal lane of interest? 

Rob Campbell: Without wanting to sound a smartarse, the fact so many in the industry still call people ‘consumers’ is part of the problem. It assumes people are waiting to spend their time and money with you – and that’s the opposite of reality. My old Nike client, Simon Pestridge, used to have a good view on this. In essence he said the first thing to do is ‘play where our audience are playing’. Of course, there’s a lot more to it than that but it’s a fundamental start. I think Liquid Death are doing great things. Too many people like to suggest all they do are  random PR stunts, but it’s so much more than that.

Like all the best brands, it starts with knowing who their audience really are and who they really are … and then believe it is better to do stuff that means everything to someone rather than try to be something to everyone.