Jung von Matt’s Dörte Spengler-Ahrens set to receive the 2025 LIA Legend Award in Las Vegas

LIA has announced that it will bestow the 2025 LIA Legend Award to Dörte Spengler-Ahrens, Non-Executive Chairwoman of Jung von Matt and former ADC Germany President. She’s the third creative giant and first woman to receive this prestigious award.

Spengler-Ahrens stands in good company with many great women from the past, who have made their mark in the industry. She has achieved many firsts in her incredible creative journey. Like Mathilde C. Weil, who founded the first female-run advertising agency in New York in 1880 and Helen Lansdowne Resor, the first female copywriter to be hired by J. Walter Thompson and inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame in 1967, Spengler-Ahrens founded her own agency called MARIA in 2002. MARIA was the first “Frauenagentur”, a special agency for female brands and target groups with only female creatives.

Throughout Germany, Europe and the world, Spengler-Ahrens is known as a champion of creative excellence and unexpected solutions. Spengler-Ahrens has not only won a substantial number of awards and Grand statues in both local and international shows, she has also been a juror and a Jury President for some of the top Award Shows.

Jung von Matt was honored twice as Independent Agency of the Year at LIA, Cannes and New York Festivals, where Spengler-Ahrens and her team played a significant role in winning these achievements. She has been credited as the creative force behind campaigns that reshaped the image of Jung von Matt as an agency. Spengler-Ahrens’ success led to her being named Germany’s Agency Person 2018 at the HORIZONT Awards and she has been given the title of ‘Braveheart’ at the Best Agency Award 2023.

While impressive creative wins and credentials are important, the LIA Legend Award goes far beyond that. It is given to a leader of the industry, past or present, who through their talent, vision and generosity have demonstrated outstanding leadership in both creativity and building up the industry. LIA seeks to honor creative greats, who have given themselves unreservedly. The hallmark of greatness is more than just a great body of work. It is the legacy that teaches and builds up the next generation to become giants.

Without a doubt, Spengler-Ahrens embodies these criteria. She is a champion of nurturing emerging talent, and a staunch advocate for promoting women in the industry. As a regular speaker at Creative LIAisons, she firmly believes in going the extra mile, which means leading by example. As she has said, “there’s always a better solution and it’s worth putting in the extra effort.”

During her tenure as President of the ADC Germany, she moved the ADC forward to embrace greater diversity, equity and inclusivity. In her words, it’s about “Changing the world with creativity.”

Says Barbara Levy, President of LIA: “This is our 40th year, a significant milestone – a chance to look back and look forward. As the only woman-founded awards show, we wanted this to be a special year to celebrate and honor a woman. Not just any woman, but one who has held her own in the industry and who has made a deep and lasting mark amongst her peers. Dörte stands tall in the industry. She is passionate about creativity; she is passionate about nurturing young talent; she is passionate about giving women in the industry a leg up. And she has done all these things in spades. As Erich Kastner, the German’s children’s author once said, ‘There’s nothing good, if you don’t do it.’ And she has been doing it with an unrivaled dedication that is only surpassed by her devotion to her family. We are very proud that she has graciously accepted this honor.”

As Jean-Remy von Matt, founder and supervisory board member of Jung von Matt, so aptly put it: “Bringing Dörte to Jung von Matt was certainly one of my best ideas. She shows what is possible when talent and will come together in one person.”

LIA seconds that. It’s LIA’s joy and privilege to bestow this honor on Spengler-Ahrens. A creative icon, who is both talented and dedicated. LIA warmly welcomes Spengler-Ahrens to its honor roll of LIA Legends.

Spengler-Ahrens will receive this award at LIA’s 40th annual judging and Creative LIAisons program on 27th September 2025 at Encore @ Wynn, Las Vegas. In attendance will be LIA’s jurors, over 125 emerging talents and speakers from the Creative LIAisons program, creative excellence managers and global trade press.

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