Josep Jover’s Creative LIAisons Reflections: “It Marked a Before and After in My Career”
Since 2012, Campaign Brief has proudly partnered with the London International Awards to send some of the region’s brightest emerging creatives to Las Vegas as part of the LIA Creative LIAisons program. Over the years, dozens of talented individuals from Australia and New Zealand have taken part, many as a result of their agency winning CB Agency of the Year. Now, we’re catching up with these alumni to hear what the experience meant to them – what they learned, what stayed with them, and how it shaped their creative careers.
Last year, Josep Jover – senior art director at DDB Group Aotearoa, Campaign Brief’s 2023 NZ Agency of the Year – joined the onsite Creative LIAisons program in Las Vegas. For the first time, LIA introduced an additional layer to the experience: the ‘Create and Make’ workshop and challenge, spearheaded by Tara McKenty. The new initiative gave mentees less than a day to ideate, craft, and pitch a compelling campaign idea to an esteemed jury. Jover was part of the winning team, Team Doom Dolls. He has been with DDB since 2016, originally joining as an art director and stepping into his current senior role in early 2022.
My experience at Creatives LIAisons was incredible—it truly marked a before and after in my career. What made it so impactful was the opportunity to meet and hear from people not only in creative roles, but also in other key areas of an agency like strategy and client services. Concepts I had learned throughout my years in advertising—what works and what doesn’t, what it should or shouldn’t be—suddenly clicked in a deeper, more meaningful way. It wasn’t that I lacked the knowledge, but experiencing that 360-degree view and being exposed to so many perspectives from different countries and disciplines, at the same time, helped me connect the dots a bit better.
Attending LIA was a great reminder of the importance of strategy, understanding the audience, and staying aligned with the brand’s objectives—especially when you’re deep in the creative chaos, chasing that one big, attention-grabbing idea. It’s easy to get caught up in trying to come up with the wildest TVC that will get people talking. The craziest idea might still be the right solution, but it has to come from a strong insight—something real that connects the brand or product with its audience. Shouting will always get attention, but shouting in a stadium while cheering for the home team is what gets people to join in.
One example that really showed the importance of considering different parts of the business during the creative process came during a panel, when Emma de la Fosse mentioned the idea ‘The Move to -15º’ from DP World. It was a bold idea that could save millions of tons of carbon emissions simply by adjusting the temperature for shipping frozen food from -18º to -15º. It wasn’t a TV ad—it came from looking inward at what the brand was already doing. What if the next big idea for your client isn’t a campaign, but a change in their packaging? Or placing the product in a different section of the supermarket?
Overall, LIA gave me invaluable insights, direct access to over 150 amazing creatives from around the world in just five days, and a more holistic perspective on creative advertising and branding. I couldn’t be happier to have been part of the LIA 2024 program.