Menno Kluin, Dentsu Creative USA on being an international juror...

Menno Kluin, CCO, Dentsu Creative USA talks about the role of international jurors in award functions with a few Behind The Scenes from when he first joined the industry.

The second day of Goafest 2022 saw many industry veterans share their expertise. Menno Kluin of Dentsu Creative USA had a brief knowledge seminar as well.

When asked whether he finds any major differences in the industry in the US and India, markets, he replied, "There wasn’t a huge disconnect between the people." Further, he explained that the single most valuable asset in this industry is simply ideas that are well executed. The core difference that both markets face, according to Menno, has to do with scale, budget, and pre-possessing. In the end, it all comes down to ideas and products.

"The only difference I can think of is that the US is still historically very TV heavy. The big winners are the big TV productions because it's still considered the highest form within the advertising industry there," he adds.

Also Read: Reach and frequency will always remain the core elements of media: Vishal Chinchankar 

Speaking about the contribution of tech companies in advertising and where India holds its stand, he stated that tech players tend to build out their own creative departments, which gets them more autonomy.

The brief discussion also saw questions diverging towards language barriers and the value that the international jury adds to award shows. He summarized that he found himself voting for the local specific brands higher because he didn’t have the full context and being an international jury member, asking questions to the local jurors was a great help.

Menno also reminisced the days and events that led him to join the advertising industry.

"There was a ‘hot club’ called Now & Wild. There was a design team called 75B. Every weekend there were new posters in the city and that’s what I wanted to do more than anything; to have my stuff up in the city where the people can see it. That’s when I joined it and started doing posters for my university and I built up from there," he shared,

Menno explained that he likes how the industry is always changing and always challenging. "The conversations we are having now are not going to be the same five years from now. I like how it never stops. Because we have to provide value to our clients where we have to be ahead of everything and that’s incredibly complex and interesting," he concludes.