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 Grand Jury Member, Dong Jin Son, Founder CEO of KREMA Worldwide. Throughout Dong Jin’s extensive career he’s worked with such prominent clients as LG Electronics, Samsung Mobile, Disney Korea, Doosan, Lotte, Nuskin. As a Creative Director, he’s racked up numerous accolades from the top international award competitions taking home trophies from AME Awards, New York Festivals, The One Show, Epica. Montreux, Loeries, Cresta and Ad Stars. Dong Jin began his early career at Cheil Worldwide HQ in 2001, where he honed his creative chops for eight years before launching KREMA Worldwide in 2009.  

Keep reading to find out more about Dong Jin including insights on the hallmarks of an award-winning entry, his favorite ad that he created, the defining moment in his career, his personal philosophy, and more.

AME Awards: Why did you agree to judge this year’s AME Awards? 

Dong Jin Son: I’m  proud that I am on a jury of the world’s renowned awards.  
As far as I know, AME is focused not only on the creativity itself, but also

on the marketing effectiveness & efficiency, which is differentiated from other awards.

And it is the same philosophy of mine towards advertising that we should mind,

The creatives should influence the market status in practice of a certain product (or service).
That’s the reason the customers and clients call us a ‘marketing specialist’ or ‘Solution provider’
and that’s why they are trusting us and willing to invest in our talents.

AME Awards: What are the hallmarks of an award-winning campaign?

Dong Jin Son: First of all, the authenticity of the campaign is very important. The keyword is getting more and more crucial when fulfilling the marketing campaigns these days.
They say an ad mirrors the minds of society and it deals with ordinary people's feelings.
When it touches the moment of truth, audiences feel sympathetic towards the message,
and they are willing to share the experiences and advocate the brand. I think the successful campaign is all about the humanity. And respected campaigns always contain the humanity no matter what brands are.  

AME Awards: What was a defining moment in your career?

Dong Jin Son: I started my career as an account executive at a conglomerate in-house agency.
Communicating with clients, coordinating stakeholders and managing all the business matters
were my main job there for almost 8 years. But it was not enough for me to fully enjoy the job,
so, one day in 2009, I felt sick of it and made a definite decision. It was truly a milestone of my life. Currently, I am running my own creative agency and working with unbelievably nice people though it’s relatively small and every day is full of uncertainties. I think I am a really blessed man.

AME Awards: What’s your favorite ad that you created?

Dong Jin Son: The “Beaming Rocket (2013)” featuring Mini Beamer from LG Electronics is my favorite. We made an imaginary man, Juan, who is an inspired video artist who took his hobby to another level. He uses the mobility of the beamer to surprise and entertain people in the way they never expect. The video earned more than 6 million views within a month and made LG Mini Beam dominate the ‘mini-sized beamer’ market in a short time. We wanted to make everyday life more fun and exciting through the LG Mini Beam, and it was a story all about a human-inspired by technology.

AME Awards: What philosophy drives your career?

Dong Jin Son: I believe advertising is one of the inspiring jobs in the world and one is better off by enjoying work. It is bloody painful to carry out this job, and it often goes with extreme challenges such as generating ideas, observing trends, persuading clients, giving presentations, going through the pitch etc. But for us, they are all joyful occasions and it is full of surprises and excitement. Simply speaking, we can't-do it if we don’t enjoy it. Going through 17 years of my career, I never doubted this philosophy or looked away from my job.