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AME-AWARDS

Grand Jury Perspective with Shmulik Kitainik

Strategy VP, J. Walter Thompson, Israel

New York, NY | November 25, 2017

The AME Awards International Grand Jury represents some of the world’s most creative and strategic minds in advertising, marketing, and communications. AME recruits these award-winning industry execs who are known globally for their creative chops and tasks them with the job of selecting the World’s Best Advertising & Marketing Effectiveness.

With Juries representing 5 regions, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, Middle East & Africa, and North America, all AME’s entries are judged on cultural relevance. Following regional judging, all Gold-winning work from all regions goes through an additional round of judging with all entries reviewed by the full international Grand Jury to determine a Platinum Award for each of the five regions.

This week ‘s Grand Jury Perspective features 2018 AME jury member, Shmulik Kitainik, VP Strategy at J Walter Thompson Israel. Shmulik brings more than 17 years of experience to the AME judges table. With vast experience in advertising and marketing, he has worked at a number of prominent agencies including: Grey, Publicist, Euro RSCG and has applied his strategic creative skills working on campaigns for many of the world’s biggest brands such as Nestle, Lexus, Skoda, Seat, Ford, Yamaha, Kawasaki, HSBC, Bayer, The Coca-Cola company and Unilever to name a few.

His talents were singled out in 2017 when he was selected by JWT to take part in the prestigious HIP program reserved for a few of the agencies talents from all over the world. A great believer in human insights, Schmulik’s multi-cultured view originates from the fact that he was born in Israel but spent 14 years in South America before returning to Tel Aviv.

The AME Awards interviewed Shmulik and asked him to share his creative insights on a variety of topics. In the interview below he shares his thoughts on judging creative work, how cultural/social change influence regional work, what inspires him about the industry and much more.

AME Awards: Does judging the year’s creative work within your industry influence your creative process?

Shmulik Kitainik:  Judging at the AME awards of this year will definitely influence my creative process, this is a great opportunity to see case studies from all over the world and see how the creative ideas have influenced the consumers and created commercial success. It is very inspiring to see different ways of thinking from all over the world and learn about the solution they gave to similar challenges that I see in my local markets.

AME Awards: In your opinion how does cultural/social change influence regional work?

Shmulik Kitainik: Definitely yes, as marketers and advertising professionals we are not only part of the society we are also a mirror of that society through our work. When your culture change, trends change, insights change, we also have to change with them.

AME Awards: What inspires you about the industry?

Shmulik Kitainik I truly believe that this industry has the biggest concentration of funny, fun, creative and intelligent people of all. And in the last few: years I see that we also understood that we are not here only to sell products, we have a great deal of responsibility. We have great power in our hands, we are responsible for thousands of messages in mass media every day, addressing millions of people, and we have the power to change things. When I see ads that are changing the way we treat women, that puts new and positive role models, when I see an ad that will influence the way my 7-year old daughter will be treated equally as a boy and hopefully making this world better for her when she becomes a woman. That inspires me.  

AME Awards: If you could change anything about the industry what would it be?

Shmulik Kitainik:  The Mad Man stigma, I would like to change the way people perceive our industry and the people that work in it.

AME Awards: What philosophy drives your career?

Shmulik Kitainik: Always tell the truth, to your clients, to your consumers, and to your colleges.