Dubai Lynx 2016: PJ Pereira

Joe Lancaster talks to ;Direct/Promo & Activation/Interactive and Mobile president PJ Pereira.

Why do you think regional festivals are important?

There are some ideas that only do well in these smaller, local shows. Ideas that count too much on specific cultural traits. One of my favorite campaigns ever is for a milk brand in Brazil, but no one outside LatAm has ever heard of it. On the agency side, for those who understand award shows as a sign they’re doing something right (as it should be), local awards allow you to get that level of reassurance on the work that doesn’t have a global accent but is still really good.

In new media categories (e.g. Mobile), is there a danger for entrants to focus too much on the medium rather than the idea?

That is true of any new format. Meta-ideas that use the medium as part of the idea are a great way to get a point across, but eventually the formula gets tired. It happened with the web, for example, when ideas that played with roll overs, and cursors etc. finally got retired. But every now and then you see something brilliant that still uses a particular technique as the central idea, and if that still widens my mouth, that’s just fine.

The worst thing a jury can do is get in there with opinions so strong that they will prevent them from liking something that is different from that. We are there to be the eyes and the ears of the world, not the holders of the truth. To listen, learn and spot brilliance, not to make a point.

Pereira & O’Dell’s mantra is, ‘What if advertising were invented today?’ How does that fit in with the way award shows split work by the media used?

I bet if we were inventing advertising now, we wouldn’t worry so much about formats, just like it must have been at the start of this industry. I think one day every big show will reflect that perspective. Every top creative I’ve talked to seems to agree. But the reality is our business still works with these ‘divisions’ and having the categories allows us, or rather forces us, to look at the work from different angles so more great work can be recognised. If there is only one way of looking at something, no matter how great this way may be, it is still a limited look in an industry that should be all about variety and diversity.

Do you have any pet hates regarding ad award shows?

Not sure which one I dislike the most out of the following…

1) Judges who go there who are more interested in making a point than in learning from the work.

2) Work that spends more money and energy on the case study than the work itself.

3) Jargon-filled entries.

What will you be looking for in the work?

A feeling. That ‘Damn! I wish that was mine!’ or ‘I wish I was capable of doing that!’ kind of feeling. Anything else is inappropriate.

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 categories?

There is a lot of pressure to find a Grand Prix that unites all traces of greatness in a campaign. And that rarely happens. We can, as an industry, decide that only those expressions of the advertising gods will win a GP, or we can choose a simpler path: the best work wins. I subscribe to the second group. The best work – nothing more, nothing less – deserves the biggest of the awards. And there will always be one that stands out.

Even if it’s not as good as the previous year, that work deserves to be made big. Denying the category a Grand Prix is a decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly or give anyone pride. I hope it doesn’t happen with us.

Can people from overseas judge regional awards with the same insight as locals who might better understand the cultures of the markets concerned?

No. Foreigners bring outsiders’ eyes to help shine light over things that would really impress the rest of the world, but the regionalisms will never be spotted by one of us.

Does coming from overseas make a judge more impartial?

It helps. In other shows I’ve judged I’ve seen a single foreigner make a difference. Because this person doesn’t understand the local politics, it’s hard for other judges to defend points of view that aren’t strictly related to the work.