Tiffany Rolfe, EVP and U.S. chief creative officer for R/GA, has been named as the 2020 AICP Next Awards judging chair, and as such will serve as master of ceremonies at the AICP Next Awards presentation this June during AICP Week in New York.
Rolfe has a long history with the Next Awards, having most recently served as the jury president for Innovation for the 2019 Next Awards. “Judging work that must live up to the idea of what’s ‘Next’ is always inspiring, so I was thrilled when asked to serve as judging chair for 2020,” she said. “Competitions that recognize where our industry is heading serve as important guideposts for both clients and agencies, and the Next Awards, by definition, has been playing such a role since its inception. I’m looking forward to discovering trends and innovations as the jury presidents and I identify the standout examples of work in each category.”
Matt Miller, AICP president and CEO, said of Rolfe, “Her career trajectory reflects what the Next Awards are all about: she’s been on the forefront of creating work that pushes boundaries and finds new ways to connect brand communications with consumers. She’s a creative leader whose influence, judgement and experience has benefited her clients and will benefit all who are involved with the Next Awards this year, from our juries to those who enter to those who attend our Next Awards presentations.”
Rolfe leads R/GA’s creative vision across the agency’s six U.S. offices. She oversees storytelling and systemic creatives that are charged with defining what’s next for brands across their entire customer experience and marketing. Rolfe brings over 20 years of design and creative experience to her position. Prior to R/GA she spent over six years at Co:Collective as partner and chief content officer. There she helped develop new brands such as the Puma/Jay-Z basketball partnership. She oversaw the re-branding and experience development for both MoMA and the ACLU. She also oversaw the global YouTube Stars campaign that catapulted YouTubers to fame. Before Co:Collective she spent a decade creating culture-changing work at CP+B where she was VP, executive creative director and led accounts such as MINI, Truth, VW, American Express OPEN, Burger King and Old Navy.
The 2020 AICP Next Awards are now accepting entries here. Entrants can utilize a single entry portal to enter the Next Awards, as well as AICP’s additional competitions that encompass the full spectrum of advertising and brand communication in the moving image: The AICP Show: The Art & Technique of the Commercial (which is now accepting entries globally, bringing it in line with the others shows), and the AICP Post Awards. The deadline for submitting entries is 11:59 pm PST on Friday, February 14, 2020.
New Categories
The Next Awards honors marketing communications in such categories as Branded Content & Entertainment, Brand Excellence, Creative Data, Digital Experiences, Extended Reality, Experiential, Influencer, Innovation, Integrated Campaign, Purpose Driven Advertising, Real Time Engagement, Social, Web Film (Over 15 Seconds) and Web Film (Under 15 Seconds).
The Brand Excellence, Creative Data, Extended Reality and Real Time Engagement categories are new for 2020. Brand Excellence will recognize a brand’s yearlong body of work utilizing platforms honored in the Next Awards’ categories. Creative Data recognizes brand-based messages where data or data-driven methods were a critical component of the creative execution and/or delivery, such as interactivity or personalization. Extended Reality is the new category heading for work that falls under the disciplines of AR, VR, MR and 360 video. And Real Time Engagement recognizes work utilizing a platform to participate in real time events in a way that inserts the brand voice into an ongoing current event, happening or dialogue.
The AICP Next Awards Jury Presidents & Curators at Large
As chair, Rolfe has selected a team of highly-regarded creative and marketing executives to serve as Jury Presidents for the AICP Next Awards categories. The Jury Presidents in turn select the judges for their respective disciplines. Serving as AICP Next Awards Jury Presidents for 2020 are:
- Branded Content & Entertainment: Scott Donaton, Head of Creative, Hulu
- Brand Excellence: Fernando Machado, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Burger King
- Creative Data: Marc Maleh, GVP, Emerging Experiences, Huge
- Digital Experiences: Erin Lynch, Group Executive Creative Director, R/GA
- Extended Reality: Mike Woods, Head of Immersive Content/Executive Creative Director, m ss ng p eces
- Experiential: James Robinson, Executive Creative Director, Momentum
- Influencer: Bekah Sirrine, Head of Global Brand Creative, Instagram
- Innovation: Allen Mask, Chief of Staff, VP of Product Marketing & Collaborations, Sonos
- Integrated Campaign: Lauren Connolly, Executive Creative Director, BBDO New York
- Purpose Driven Advertising: Bill Oberlander, Co-Founder/Executive Creative Director, Oberland
- Real Time Engagement: George Dewey, President, Maximum Effort Productions
- Social: Jeff Miller, Global Head of Business Marketing & Creative Strategy, Snap, Inc.
- Web Film, Over 15 Seconds: Henry-Alex Rubin, Director, SMUGGLER
- Web Film, Under 15 Seconds: Piper Hickman, Executive Creative Director/Partner, 360i
Serving as curators at large are past AICP Next Awards judging chairs: Jamie Robinson, co-founder/chief creative officer, JOAN Creative; Jeff Kling, chief creative officer, Lighting Orchard; and Rei Inamoto, founding partner, Inamoto & Co. Rounding out the curators at large is Vivian Rosenthal, co-founder, FREQUENCY. The AICP Next Awards jury presidents, along with its curators at large, will select a Most Next honor from among all the winners, which is the Best in Show. At the AICP Next Awards presentation, winners of the Integrated Campaign category will present case studies exploring the creative and strategic thinking behind each winning piece.
The AICP Next Awards is one of the tentpole events of AICP Week, which also includes the AICP Show: The Art & Technique of the Commercial, as well as AICP Week Base Camp. Base Camp , which runs throughout AICP Week, features thought provoking seminars and exhibitions and serves as the hub for AICP Week attendees.
The work of the AICP Next Awards winners, along with that of the honorees of the AICP Show, The Art & Technique of the Commercial, becomes a part of the archives of The Department of Film at The Museum of Modern Art in New York.
