Out of the raft of advertising honors, the Gerety Awards is unique. The global award, founded by Epica Awards alumni Lucía Ongay and Joe Brooks, in its second year, is judged solely by female agency, brand and media professionals.
Named for Frances Gerety, the copywriter who coined the iconic slogan “A diamond is forever,” the 10 categories cover media, innovation, entertainment, communication, craft, experience, “Works for Good,” health, pharma and portfolios.
Last year’s winners included oft-awarded campaigns like “Viva La Vulva” by AMV BBDO for Libresse, LOLA MullenLowe for its #HiddenFlag stunt supporting LGBTQ rights during the 2018 World Cup in Russia, McCann New York for its adaptive controller work for Microsoft and VMLY&R Warsaw for “The Last Ever Issue,” where media and brands bought a popular Polish porn magazine with the express purpose of shutting it down.
This year, executive jury sessions, to determine shortlists, will take place in New York, London, Helsinki, Berlin, Johannesburg, Istanbul, Melbourne, Madrid, Buenos Aires and Bangkok.
The North America grand jury, which will choose the overall winners, includes:
Ioana Filip, svp and ecd at Energy BBDO
Lizette Williams, head of cultural engagement and experiences, U.S. marketing at McDonald’s
Ariana Stolarz, chief global strategy officer at MRM//McCann
Wimberley Meyer, partner and svp at Summerjax
Shelley Elkins, global CCO at Jack Morton
Liz Taylor, global CCO at Leo Burnett and CCO at Publicis Communications North America
Kelly Fredrickson, President at Mullen Lowe
Robin Fitzgerald, CCO at BBDO Atlanta
The executive jury for New York includes:
Alex Shulhafer, group creative director at McKinney
Mita Mallick, head of diversity and cross-cultural marketing at Unilever
Yvonne Cheng, evp of creative solutions at Wirewax
Smita Reddy, global relationship manager for Unilever at Edelman
Bridget Flynn, partner and COO at Graysons Mathews
Kai Deveraux Lawson, director of community engagement at WPP
Jacquelyn De Jesu, founder and CCO at Shhhowercap
Isabel Rafferty Zavala, CEO and founder at Canela Media
Misty Bell Stiers, creative director at Isobar
Nathalie Brown, VP and ecd at VMLY&R
Lizzie Wilson, associate creative director at McCann
Pam Kim, ecd at Havas
Susie Lee, creative director at Zulu Alpha Kilo
Lauren Croteau, associate creative director at The Via Agency
Jenn Tranbarger, associate creative director at BBDO New York
Entries for the Gerety Awards are open, with early pricing until Jan. 20.