D&AD jurors share how brands are innovating in digital spaces

It can be hard for brands to divert people's attention away from the headlines, so what does it take to make a brilliant brand experience in 2023?

For Raymond Otene McKay, Executive Creative Director of RUN, this means brands sharing equity with the audiences they're targeting — a sentiment echoed by Lauren Pleydell-Pearce, Executive Creative Director at PwC UK. In this digital brand experience Jury Insights panel Pleydell-Pearce cites the Bill It to Bezos campaign, which exploited a loophole to allow a small Canadian charity to receive donations from Jeff Bezos, as a perfect example of how radical the intersection of technology, law, innovation and creativity can be.

Jurors also discuss how the power of emotion and the importance of joy, best summarised by Malcolm Poynton, Global CCO at Cheil Worldwide and his axiom that "a generous brand will move you in some way. A selfish one is going to care about itself. Move me."

Similarly, the balance between humanity and tech has become an increasingly important tightrope for brands to learn to tread. A seamless interaction between the digital and real world is going to become more prominent in the coming years, argues Bukola Akingbade, founder and CEO of Kucheza Gaming, who references Michelob's McEnroe vs. McEnroe campaign as a successful example of this confluence.

Panellists: Raymond Otene McKay, Executive Creative Director, RUN; Lauren Pleydell-Pearce, ECD, PwC UK; Bukola Akingbade, Founder, CEO, Kucheza Gaming; Malcolm Poynton, Global CCO, Cheil Worldwide; Tara Ford, Group Chief Creative Officer, The Monkeys.

Watch D&AD jurors unpack more work that captured, provoked and entertained them here.