Defining great Direct work: John Koay reports from The One Show jury room
John Koay, Chief Creative Officer of Omnicom Advertising Hong Kong, is currently in the Dominican Republic for The One Show 2026 judging. Here he shares his day 2 dairy.
Hola!
Day 2. Still deep in the throes of jet lag but the energy here keeps pulling me back in… This morning marked the first time all the judges were finally in the same room, kicking off with an opening address from Adam Izen, Chief Awards Officer, followed by Kevin Swanepoel, CEO of The One Club for Creativity.
Both spoke passionately about the organisation’s not for profit roots and its unwavering commitment to putting creatives, and creativity, first. There was a genuine emphasis on accessibility too: fair concessions, broader support, and making sure great creative resources aren’t locked behind privilege. It set the right tone before we were ushered off into our respective rooms.
Our Direct Marketing jury president, Andre (CCO of David NYC), laid down the law early. Work worthy of metal, he said, had to genuinely be the best of direct marketing. No fluff. No shortcuts. Just sharp thinking that tackles real business problems and drives real action. For the next six hours, we lived inside that mantra – scrutinising every piece to decide what work earned a merit award. It was pretty damn hard and really opened my eyes to the fact that in this show, a merit is no small feat.
The deeper we went into the entries, the clearer the pattern emerged in defining the great from the good, and worthy of a merit: each one started with a genuine problem and landed with a strong, undeniable call to action. The kind of work that doesn’t just look good – it really does something.
Luckily, whilst everyone was super passionate, no fights erupted. Every entry was dissected thoughtfully and respectfully, with genuine care for the effort behind it. The mix of backgrounds around the table really mattered too – having people who could decode cultural nuances the rest of us might have missed made the discussions richer (and occasionally saved a piece from being misunderstood). It made me realise – jet lag is a small but necessary price for a room this diverse in perspective.
Tomorrow, we discuss the entries for bronze, silver and gold pencils. I expect things will heat up but I can’t wait to see which pieces of work rises above the rest. I will keep you all posted.
