Benjamin Schwartz Interview(s)
What motivates you to be part of the PHNX Jury, and what do you hope to bring to the judging process?
Being invited to judge some of our industry's best work is a privilege, one that I take seriously and I hope to learn a lot in the process, by exchanging with fellow judges. I hope to bring the experience from WARC Global and Al Athar Festival, which I've had the chance to judge at in the recent years, as well as 15 years of work in the marketing & advertising industry.
PHNX has always been about celebrating creativity in all its forms. What new perspectives or disciplines do you think deserve more recognition in award shows today?
The use of data and AI are definitely trending topics. And while digital, especially content creation, remain at the heart of every day work, I'd love to see what these categories will be to the table this year. Finally, as budgets keep shrinking, perhaps having a low budget category would be interesting, rewarding the efforts of smaller teams.
Which countries or regions do you think are leading the creative field right now? And which emerging markets should we look out for?
North America and Europe have historically always been in the leaderboard, but I'm looking forward to see what the rest of the world will bring to the table. Particularly South America, where I've lived for a while, and the Middle East & Africa, which is where I work and reside. Saudi, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco and Egypt have been developing fast and I expect this to show in the work.
What trends or cultural shifts do you think will define the most impactful creative work this year?
Definitely the tensions from the political stage will have an impact on creativity (Gaza, Sudan, US elections, Ukraine, UK leaving the EU, etc.) but I'm a believer that strong work can come out of it. I'm also curious about the influencer of Gen Z (particularly through TikTok) on the shape of content.
If you could give one piece of advice to agencies and creatives submitting their work, what would it be?
To tell their story, not just the creative's, and to back it up with facts, insights and/or data.
Which creative minds are inspiring you the most right now?
My ex-colleague, Manuel Borde, is doing incredible things at VML. Other than that, I always find working with the younger people in our industry incredibly inspiring. Their fresh and raw perspective is always interesting.
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