Written by Alice Archer, Global Chief of Staff, UM
As part of our Inside the Jury Room series, we spoke with, Alice Archer, Global Chief of Staff, UM to hear her perspective as a judge for this years M&M Global Awards.
In the interview, Alice shares her views on the biggest opportunities for media over the next 12 months, how media’s role in shaping consumer behaviour continues to evolve, and the ways brands are using AI to drive greater relevance and effectiveness. She also highlights the campaigns and brands setting new industry benchmarks, what excites her most about this year’s entries, and her advice for entrants looking to impress the jury.
Although the final deadline for the M&M Global Awards has passed you can contact our team now to request an extension for your entries. Enter now to benchmark your work against the industry’s best, gain global recognition, and secure your place among the world’s leading media campaigns.
Request an extension today: Fomawards@festivalofmedia.com
What do you see as the biggest opportunity for media over the next 12 months?
The biggest opportunity for our industry is to rediscover the value of distinction.
For years, we’ve become incredibly good at optimisation. We’ve built sophisticated systems that can target audiences with remarkable precision, automate workflows and drive efficiencies at scale. But as AI accelerates and those capabilities become increasingly accessible to everyone, efficiency alone is no longer a competitive advantage.
The opportunity now is to create media experiences that people genuinely notice, remember and talk about. And place value on effectiveness over efficiency.
That requires us to stand against bland – which is our mantra at UM. It means moving beyond category conventions, interrogating data more deeply, uncovering niche human truths and asking better questions to get the best insights. The brands that win won’t necessarily be those with the biggest budgets or the most advanced technology. They’ll be the ones that use insight and innovation to create something distinctive.
Like many others in our industry I’m sure, I’m particularly excited by the convergence of AI-powered intelligence and human ingenuity. AI can help us identify patterns and opportunities faster than ever before, but it still takes human curiosity, creativity and judgement to spot the unexpected connection that becomes a breakthrough media idea.
The next 12 months present an opportunity for our industry to be braver. To take calculated risks and test new formats, channels and partnerships. To move beyond optimisation and towards originality. Because in a world of infinite content, standing out has never been more valuable.
How has the role of media evolved in shaping consumer behaviour in recent years?
Media’s role has evolved from simply reaching audiences to actively shaping experiences.
Historically, media was often viewed as the vehicle that delivered a message. Today, media itself is increasingly the message. The channel, context, environment and experience can be just as influential as the creative asset.
Consumers now move fluidly across platforms, communities and cultures, and media has become central to how brands participate in those moments. The most effective campaigns aren’t interrupting people; they’re adding value, creating utility, entertainment, relevance or cultural resonance.
We’ve also seen a shift from broad demographic targeting towards a much richer understanding of human behaviour. The combination of data, technology and real-time signals allows us to understand not just who people are, but what they care about, what motivates them and how they engage with the world around them.
At the same time, audiences have become more discerning. They expect authenticity, transparency and relevance. This means media planning is no longer just about finding audiences. It’s about understanding people.
The industry’s challenge is ensuring that technology enhances human understanding rather than replacing it. The most impactful work still starts with a genuine human insight and uses media creatively to bring that insight to life.
How are brands leveraging AI in smarter ways to create more impactful campaigns?
The smartest brands aren’t using AI to replace creativity; they’re using it to amplify it.
Much of the early conversation around AI focused on automation and efficiency. While those benefits are real, the most exciting applications we’re now seeing involve AI helping brands uncover opportunities that may otherwise have been missed.
AI is enabling teams to analyse vast datasets, identify emerging cultural signals, predict audience behaviours and personalise experiences at a scale that would previously have been impossible. But the real value comes when those outputs are combined with human insight and strategic thinking.
The best examples use AI as a catalyst for better questions rather than simply faster answers.
We’re seeing brands use AI to identify underserved communities, discover niche passions, uncover unexpected audience connections and create more relevant experiences. In many cases, AI is helping planners and creatives spend less time processing information and more time generating ideas.
What’s becoming increasingly clear is that AI alone doesn’t create impact. Distinctive thinking does.
As AI tools become more widely available, the differentiator won’t be access to technology. It will be the quality of the human judgement guiding it. The brands creating the most impactful campaigns are those using AI to enhance creativity, not standardise it.
Which campaigns or brands do you think have set new benchmarks recently in the media industry?
The campaigns that stand out to me are not necessarily the ones with the most complex technology or the largest scale. They’re the ones that have used media in an unexpected way to solve a real business challenge.
We’ve seen a number of brands in recent years redefine what media can be by turning channels into experiences, creating utility instead of interruption and finding fresh ways to participate in culture.
What many of the strongest examples have in common is a willingness to challenge category norms. They start with a unique insight, then build a media idea around that insight rather than forcing the idea into a predefined channel plan.
Increasingly, the benchmark is not simply effectiveness or creativity in isolation. It’s the combination of strategic insight, creative ambition and measurable impact. The campaigns that resonate most with juries are often those that demonstrate how a distinctive media idea became a genuine driver of business growth.
What excites you most about this year’s M&M Global Awards entries?
Every year, I’m excited to see how the industry responds to change, and there is certainly no shortage of change right now.
What I’m hoping to see is work that embraces innovation while remaining rooted in human understanding. We’re entering an era where many brands have access to similar technologies, similar platforms and similar datasets. That makes originality even more important.
The entries that excite me most are often those that uncover an unexpected insight, solve a challenge in a fresh way or demonstrate genuine bravery in execution.
I’m particularly interested in seeing examples of brands using AI, data and technology not as the headline, but as enablers of a bigger idea. The strongest work tends to combine analytical rigour with creative ambition.
Ultimately, I want to see campaigns that couldn’t have been created by following the category playbook. Work that surprises us and that challenges assumptions. And as someone whose worked in this industry for over 16 years, I’d love to see work that demonstrates why media remains one of the most dynamic and innovative disciplines in marketing today!
What advice would you give to entrants of the M&M Global Awards who want to impress the jury this year?
Focus on what makes your work distinctive.
Judges review a significant volume of entries, many of which deliver strong results and demonstrate excellent execution. What separates the very best entries is often not the scale of the campaign but the originality of the thinking behind it.
Be clear about the challenge you faced. Articulate the insight that unlocked the opportunity and explain why your approach was different and why it mattered.
Don’t assume that innovation speaks for itself. Show us how technology, data or AI contributed to solving a real problem. The most compelling entries demonstrate how these tools enabled human ingenuity rather than replacing it.
Most importantly, be honest. Great juries can spot exaggerated claims very quickly. Authenticity builds credibility.
The entries that tend to stand out are those that show courage: a team that asked a different question, challenged convention, uncovered a niche insight or took a calculated risk that paid off.
In a marketplace where consumers are exposed to more content than ever before, the brands that succeed are those willing to stand against bland. The same principle applies to award entries. Distinctive thinking, backed by real impact, will always capture a jury’s attention.
