We had the joy of interviewing Sarah Butler, Associate Director, Content and Innovation at EssenceMediacom one of our fantastic members of the jury for our Festival of Media North America Awards 2025.
We asked Sarah to share her favourite campaign of the year, what makes a campaign truly award-winning, advice for entrants, the changes she would like to see in the industry, and the trends she thinks are shaping media right now.
What is your favourite media campaign of the last 12 months and why?
My favorite media campaign of the past 12 months has to be the comprehensive work from Gap. Gap has consistently demonstrated a clear understanding of their consumer through the talent, innovative channel strategies, and resonant cultural moments they have capitalized on.
Their campaigns have been a blend of strategic curation and authentic cultural integration and are reinvigorating this heritage brand. They have become a part of the cultural conversation again and are driving brand affinity and tangible commercial outcomes with new and past customers.
What, in your opinion, separates a good campaign from an award-winning campaign?
A good campaign delivers on its objectives; an award-winning campaign exceeds them. What truly distinguishes an award-winner is its cultural resonance and transformative impact. It’s not just about cutting through the noise but about shaping the conversation itself.
These campaigns possess an inherent ability to tap into, and sometimes define, cultural currents, creating indelible impressions and setting new benchmarks for creativity, strategy, and effectiveness within the industry. They don’t just reflect culture; they actively contribute.
What advice would you give to agencies or brands submitting campaigns into The Festival of Media North America Awards programmes?
My advice would be threefold: Embrace innovation, foster collaboration, and demonstrate measurable impact. Firstly, don’t shy away from exploring uncharted territories and leveraging new platforms or technologies in novel ways.
Secondly, highlight how your campaign broke down traditional silos, showcasing the power of integrated marketing teams and cross-functional synergy. Finally, articulate not just what you did, but why it mattered, emphasizing the strategic foresight and the tangible, quantifiable results that underscore its impact.
What one thing would you like to see change in the industry over the next 12 months?
Over the next 12 months, I’d like to see our industry fully embrace the power of AI while doubling down on human-centric insights as the foundation of all media strategy. Too often, AI is framed as a replacement for human creativity and empathy, when in reality, its greatest value is as an amplifier.
At WPP Media, we believe the future of strategy is “human intuition, supercharged by AI.” That means AI accelerates discovery, synthesizes complex signals, and surfaces opportunities at scale, while our team (humans) apply judgment, cultural fluency, and empathy to ensure decisions are authentic and people-first. The change I’d like to see is not choosing between human or machine, but an industry-wide shift toward designing systems where AI enhances human ingenuity — creating media strategies that are faster, sharper, and deeply resonant with real people.
What emerging trends or innovations have you observed in media campaigns this year?
This year, I’ve observed several compelling trends that speak to a more sophisticated and integrated approach to media:
- Fusing Emotion and Utility: Campaigns are increasingly adept at not just evoking feeling, but also providing immediate value and ease of access, making the consumer journey frictionless and rewarding.
- Elevated Engagement: We’re seeing truly unique and immersive activations that extend narratives and deepen interaction, transforming passive viewing into active participation.
- Cultural Moment Amplification Across Platforms: Brands are demonstrating exceptional agility in identifying and then organically weaving cultural moments from one platform (i.e. linear) into broader, multi-channel (TikTok, Instagram, etc.) campaigns, creating a powerful ripple effect.
