New York Festivals® 2019 AME Awards® announces the competition’s inaugural Advisory Council, an international task force of creative and strategic leaders. They will provide the competition with knowledge of emerging trends and critical industry insights allowing AME to be more responsive to changes and demands within the advertising/marketing sphere.
Serving on the Advisory Council are:
- Alex Schill, global chief creative officer, Serviceplan Group, Germany
- Merlee Jayme, chairmom/chief creative officer, Dentsu Jayme Syfu, Philippines
- Tahaab Rais, regional head of strategy office & MENA director -Truth Central, FP7/MCCANN MENA & President, McCann Worldgroup MENA Strategic Community, UAE
- Mick Blore, chief creative officer South Africa & Sub-Saharan Africa, McCann Worldgroup, South Africa
- Dörte Spengler-Ahrens, chief creative officer, Jung von Matt/SAGA, Germany
- Zak Mroueh, chief creative officer & founder, Zulu Alpha Kilo, Canada
“I am honored to be the first South African to sit on the AME Advisory Council. To help steer and guide the process of awarding work that works; great creativity that meets and exceeds marketing goals and delivers tangible results, is a reward in itself,” said Blore.
Rais stated, “I’m also very excited to do justice to the awards (and to our industry) by suggesting ideas and categories that will drive the future of our industry. And hence, hopefully, work that helps our industry play a meaningful role in today’s constantly evolving world.”
Mroueh added, “As great as it feels for us creative people to win awards, our work is only being judged by other creatives. To maintain relevance as an industry and with our clients, we need to demonstrate the effectiveness of our work. After all, it’s why we’re here and is key to the future of our industry. That’s why I agreed to participate.”
Gayle Mandel, executive director, AME Awards, said, “In today’s ever-changing world of advertising and brand building it’s an amazing win to have visionary award-wining creatives of their reputation taking AME to the next level.”
Civil rights groups call on major corporations to stick with DEI programs
A broad group of civil rights organizations called on the CEOs and board members of major companies Thursday to maintain their commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that have come under attack online and in lawsuits.
An open letter signed by 19 organizations and directed at the leaders of Fortune 1000 companies said companies that abandon their DEI programs are shirking their fiduciary responsibility to employees, consumers and shareholders.
The civil rights groups included the NAACP, the National Organization for Women, the League of United Latin American Citizens, Asian Americans Advancing Justice and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
"Diversity, equity and inclusion programs, policies, and practices make business-sense and they're broadly popular among the public, consumers, and employees," their statement read. "But a small, well-funded, and extreme group of right-wing activists is attempting to pressure companies into abandoning their DEI programs."
Companies such as Ford, Lowes, John Deere, Molson Coors and Harley-Davidson recently announced they would pull back on their diversity, equity and inclusion policies after facing pressure from conservative activists who were emboldened by recent victories in the courtroom.
Many major corporations have been examining their diversity programs in the wake of a Supreme Court decision last year that declared race-based affirmative action programs in college admissions unconstitutional. Dozens of cases have been filed making similar arguments about employers. Critics of DEI programs say the initiatives provide benefits to people of one race or sexual orientation while excluding others.
In their letter, the civil rights organizations, which also included... Read More