Dubai Lynx 2016: Anathea Ruys

Joe Lancaster talks to Branded Content & Entertainment president; Anathea Ruys.

What attracted you to the role of jury president for Dubai Lynx?

Two of my personal favourite pieces of work when I was judging the Branded Content & Entertainment category at Cannes Lions last year came from MENA so I’m really excited to see more of what the region has to share.

Why do you think regional festivals are important?

I love the idea of celebrating the nuances that make each region different. With content specifically, that nuance is really important to acknowledge. Look at the cutting-edge creativity so prevalent across Brazilian content, the way a small budget can unlock brilliance in a market like New Zealand, how strong UGC is in the Philippines and the complete dominance of Bollywood content in India. While they all are relevant on a global stage, it’s absolutely fitting to recognise the work that is being done regionally.

We also have to acknowledge that different regions are at different stages of development when it comes to using branded content as a way to connect with people. Out of the finalists and medallists at Cannes in 2015 there were only a handful from Asia and MENA. That means there is plenty of opportunity for growth on that global platform, but it’s important to recognise the fantastic work that is being done and how that is growing the category and communications in general.

What do you think makes a great piece of branded content?

It has to be something that when you engage with it you understand why and how the brand is part of it – that there is a genuine reason for the brand to have been part of it. It has to provide something of value – entertainment, information, experience, social currency – which means it has to be led by what people want to hear, not what brands want to say.

Do you have any pet hates regarding ad award shows?

Don’t enter a piece of work into several categories without editing the video and changing the written entry. There’s nothing more frustrating than watching a video in the Best Use of Branded Content in Print that launches with “We made a video.” And remember that everyone says “Best of all, we started a national conversation.” You probably didn’t! But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a great piece of branded content.

What will you be looking for in the work?

At heart I am a media girl so I want to see that something has worked. I love that creativity and innovation drives business results and I want to see that. I want to see well-crafted entries that don’t make me work too hard to find the gold. Consumers won’t jump through hoops to engage with our content and we need to be able to express ourselves clearly, concisely and in interesting ways. I want to be challenged, I want to feel uncomfortable and I want to feel jealous of the work people are doing. Mostly, I want to leave feeling proud of the work we have selected.

Less than half of the festival’s categories garnered a Grand Prix last year. Is it healthy for juries to withhold top honours? What will it take to win one in your category?

I can only speak for the jury I was part of last year, which was the Branded Content and Entertainment jury at Cannes. We wanted to award a Grand Prix. We worked very hard to do so. And we had some incredible pieces of work to consider. The jury agreed that if the not-for-profit entries were eligible there would probably have been a Grand Prix. But none of us felt there was a single piece of work that cut across the individual categories and stood out as the work that would define the category in 2015. I’m stealing David Lubars’ approach from last year in wanting this jury to walk away feeling proud we have seen and awarded the pinnacle of the category in this region.

Does coming from overseas make a judge more impartial?

It probably helps that I won’t necessarily have seen all the content we’re judging but I don’t know that ‘overseas’ really means much these days. I am an Australian, who lived in NZ for over a decade, who now lives in Singapore and works across varied Asian markets, who is fully connected with the work created by her global network with offices in over a hundred countries! I think we have to rely on personality and intent to keep judging impartial.