Minotaur Manila’s Rey Tiempo’s LIA Diary: A gamer in the jury room

Minotaur Manila’s Chief Creative Officer, Rey Tiempo (pictured front row, second from left) shares insights and creative highlights from his judging experience on the London International Awards Branded Content and Branded Entertainment jury.

1. How you found the overall judging experience.
It was not my first time to witness the LIA judging up close, as I’ve been here before to cover the event and observe the jury rooms in past years. It WAS, however, my first time this year to actually sit on the actual coaches, so to speak, and be part of the jury curating this year’s winners.

I was part of the Evolution and Creative Use of Data jury – categories perfectly aligned with the disciplines I represent. I loved how, whenever a gaming-related work came up for discussion, everyone would turn to me and ask, “What does the gamer think?” And that’s always been one of my goals: to bridge the knowledge gap between the advertising / marketing world and the authentic experience of gaming culture.

I also felt very blessed to represent not only the Philippines but the entire Asia region in this global show. Being one of the few voices from our side of the world comes with a tremendous sense of pressure and responsibility: to speak up, provide cultural context, and give deeper perspective when the work calls for it. Hopefully, I was able to live up to that task.

It was an expertly moderated jury room, led in large part by our excellent Jury President, Gabriel Schmitt. Barbara Levy, LIA President and Founder, and Terry Savage, LIA Chairperson, also played a huge role in keeping the rooms focused and energized. I especially loved the personal touch of having the actual President and Founder visit each and every jury room, checking on our progress and making everyone feel truly welcome.

The LIA jury experience remains one of the most relaxed, warm, inclusive, and above all, fun judging rooms I’ve ever been part of, while still upholding the stringent, world-class standards of a top global award show. Kudos to each and everyone in the LIA team for a excellent job, year in and year out. What an honor to be part of LIA’s 40th!

2. What you liked about the LIA judging system.
By now, every other jury has expressed admiration for it: LIA judging is one of the most unique and fine-tuned jury systems in the world.

There’s no online pre-judging, which means every jury member gets to see every single piece of work from start to finish. Golds are awarded first, so jurors know exactly and immediately which pieces stand out from the rest. There’s no limit, quota, or percentage that must be met when awarding metals, so theoretically, we could give every piece a Gold if we all felt they deserved it! Of course, that’s not ideal, but it shows the level of trust LIA places in the seniority and experience of its jury members: something both refreshing and reassuring.

Furthermore, metals judging is still done through the traditional “show of hands” method, which makes the decision-making very human (unlike other shows that rely on impersonal gadgets for digital voting). This way, you can see exactly how each jury member votes and thinks, and you know who to convince!

Curating award winners is inherently subjective, and the beauty lies in persuasion, in being open to others’ viewpoints and learning from what you might have missed. Changing minds is one of the most crucial and exciting parts of a fair, well-curated jury room. I just love it!

And lastly, LIA is the only award show in the world that welcomes press and the Creative LIAisons right into the same rooms as the juries deliberate. This creates one of the most open, inclusive, and transparent judging systems anywhere. Nothing to hide, all cards on the table (in keeping with the Las Vegas theme!) and, most importantly, an unfiltered, mind-blowing education for the young creatives in attendance.

Juries all. The jury members with the Creative LIAisons pose after a full day of deliberations. No other awards show gives this much unfiltered access to the often closed-door jury discussions.

In our jury room, after all judging was done, the Creative LIAisons were even allowed to ask questions and clarifications about some of the crucial decisions made right before their eyes. No other global award show comes close to being this open.

Education. I’ve always maintained that this is what our industry needs to move past its challenges.

No system is perfect, of course, but the LIA jury process – and the entire LIA week ecosystem – comes very, very close to the industry ideal. I’ve always been a strong believer in education; it’s the only way forward amid the many controversies our industry faces. And educating the next generation of creative leaders on fairness, transparency, and access to the world’s best minds is the most important foundation for a better creative industry in the future.

3. Your creative highlights — the standout campaigns that impressed you most from your judging.
I only have one, and fittingly, it’s a gaming work! I’m so happy it performed so well in the Evolution category: a Gold LIA for “GamePay” by Leo Burnett Sweden, Stockholm, for Elgiganten.

At first, I wasn’t entirely convinced it deserved a higher metal (maybe because, as someone who works closely with game developers, I tend to be a bit cynical about work that skips their actual participation.) But, as I mentioned earlier, that’s the beauty of a jury built on open discussion and the willingness to change minds.

As an Evolution entry, I was impressed by the potential for this idea to grow beyond Elgiganten’s retailers and current platforms, to expand across more gaming ecosystems and territories. So please, hurry up and make it happen! I’ve got tons of items in my game inventory collected over the years… and we happen to need a new washing machine!

Pictured top: The Evolution and Creative Use of Data Jury. Standing L-R: Shinichi Kobayashi, Executive Creative Director /Digital Growth Officer ADK, Tokyo; Cristino Battista, Creative Agency Lead TikTok, Milan; Kindra Meyer, Executive Creative Director VERB, Los Angeles; Jeff Cruz EVP, Chief Creative Officer MRM, Birmingham; Ioana Filip, Founder / Chief Creative Officer International Waters; Seated L-R: Sergio Gordilho, Partner / Co-CEO / Chief Creative Officer, Africa Creative, São Paulo; Rey Tiempo, Chief Creative Officer, Manila; Jury President Gabriel Schmitt, Global Chief Creative Officer Grey; Debbie Ellison, EMEA CEO Croud; Angelo Maia, Creative Director, Wieden+Kennedy, Portland.

I had the privilege of speaking to the Creative LIAisons in a session that celebrated creative competitiveness through brand gamification. Game On!

I was also a guest on the Gems from the Sea podcast, recorded exclusively during LIA Week and hosted by the great Simone Nobili. Can’t wait for the episode to air!