Tamás Ádám Interview(s)

PHNX was the first international award where I had the honour to serve as a judge. I would like to repay this trust by contributing my expertise to the work of the board for the third year running. I learnt a lot from my first time, as PHNX is a trendsetting award, and it was a really wonderful feeling to have a sneak peek at which works will be big in the annual festival season. Also, I think that even with the greatest minds on board, it's worth listening to the young people of the new generation and giving them a chance to have their say, as they will be the ones creating the ads of the future.

I think that with the rise of AI, a whole new approach needs to be adopted, both as a working creative and as a jury member. With AI, everything has become much more artificial—we are moving away from humanity and insight-based creativity, and although it is a useful tool, it is forcing us to reward the human touch and professional craft, and above all, the IDEA (yes, like this, in all caps), as this is what will stand out from the homogeneous mass we are increasingly tending towards at the moment. In a world kicked in the butt by polycrisis, it is important to reward initiatives and campaigns with a high social or environmental impact, but we must also stay on the Ogilvy path, which is to put our creativity at the service of our clients and brands at the end of the day. So there are a lot of aspects to take into account, but that's fine, because that's what makes our work exciting, isn't it?

In the last few years, the LATAM region has made amazingly spectacular progress. I have many friends from there and a lot of creatives whose work I follow because their vision, worldview, and creativity are incredible. And the work they put on the table at the end of the day… freakin’ awesomeness. But you can't ignore the fact that Eastern Europe and Asia are waking up—more and more of their work is of outstanding quality, more and more you see them on shortlists and award lists, and more and more you see them on stage with a shiny accolade in their hands. There are also an increasing number of professionals in these regions whose work you simply have to follow because they are pushing boundaries and raising the bar—hats off to them.

This year, we can still enjoy last year's spirit of work, which has not been affected much by the big changes in the mainstream, so there will probably be more empathy, humanity, impactfulness, and a socio-environmental perspective. There will certainly be reactions to the polycrisis, but there will also be more AI-related work (much more deservedly than the Metaverse a few years ago, which was doomed to failure from the start). However, I think making a big bang about AI is certainly not worthwhile today. There have been a lot of trend reports recently, some of which have come true, while others have remained prophetic, so it is difficult to make predictions. Nevertheless, I expect a very colorful and exciting field again this year.

Show us your coolest work. And when I say cool, I mean creative, unique, and with a punchy IDEA. Something we haven't seen before—or at least not like this. Something that has that spark, that Aha! experience, and makes us wish we'd come up with it, dammit. Something smart, beautiful, sophisticated. Something that brought beautiful numbers—but don't forget, it's not the numbers that matter, but how you've contributed to a better, more respectable, more lovable brand and a more beautiful, more pleasant, more livable, and, most importantly, a more human world.

Sir John Hegarty, who is a living legend, from whose two sentences you can learn more than from the work of many. John Mescall, my former mentor, has pinpoint insights about what the future brings. Laura Esteves, who dazzled me not only with her creative leadership skills but also with her teaching attitude. Bianca Guimarães, who showed me the power of the new generation. My former teacher István Bracsok, whose unique vision shaped my thinking; my good friend and guiding force André Bueno with his unique perspective and his willingness to always help; Karolina Galácz with her ability to spot the strongest ideas and her barrier-breaking attitude; my friend Marcell Puskás, whose ideas, creativity, and amazing speed never cease to amaze me; and last but not least, Eszter Urbanovics, my art director partner, with whom I really have the creative chemistry that every copy-art duo dreams of.