Ahead of this year’s Festival of Media Latin America Awards, we caught up with one of our 2025 Gold winners, Alejandro Alva, Strategy Lead at Omnicom Media Group, to reflect on what winning at the awards meant to him and his team, and why he believes entering the Festival of Media Awards is so important.
At the 2025 Festival of Media Latin America Awards, the work he entered secured three Gold awards across two standout campaigns. Mentiras, La Serie: The Emotional Echo that Became a National Conversation was awarded Gold in both Best Engagement Strategy and Best Integrated Campaign, while Micro-Moments, Macro Impact: Amazon’s Culturally Intelligent Connection with Mexican Soccer took home Gold for Best Use of Sport.
In our interview, Alejandro shares his thoughts on the value of industry recognition, the power of collaboration, and why more companies should take the opportunity to showcase their best work through the Festival of Media Latin America Awards.
What did winning a Gold award at the Festival of Media Latin America Awards mean to you and your team?
Winning Gold at Festival of Media LATAM was incredibly rewarding because it recognized the collective effort behind some of the work we are most proud of.
The three Gold awards reflected very different challenges. For Amazon Prime Video, winning Best Engagement Strategy and Best Integrated Campaign validated our belief that the strongest campaigns are built when media, creativity, and audience insights work together from the start. For Amazon Retail, winning Best Use of Sport showed how powerful sponsorships can be when they move beyond visibility and become part of the consumer experience.
What makes these recognitions particularly meaningful is the number of teams involved. None of these campaigns would have been possible without the close partnership between Amazon, Omnicom Media Group, ISLA, media owners, data specialists, and measurement teams. From defining the strategic challenge to developing the creative idea, designing the media approach, and evaluating results, every stage required collaboration across disciplines.
As marketers, we often talk about integration, but these projects were a real example of what that looks like in practice. The strategy was not developed separately from the execution. Every media decision, every creative asset, and every channel selection was designed to support a clear business objective and create a better experience for consumers.
Operating in Mexico added another layer of complexity and opportunity. While Amazon is a global brand, some of the strongest results came from understanding local culture, local passions, and local behaviors, then translating those insights into ideas that felt relevant and authentic.
More than anything, these awards reinforced a simple belief: when teams are aligned around the customer and the business challenge, great work follows.
Why do you believe it is important for companies to enter the Festival of Media Latin America Awards?
I believe Festival of Media LATAM plays an important role because it gives our industry a chance to share what is working, learn from one another, and raise the standard of media excellence across the region.
The process of entering is valuable in itself. It forces teams to step back and tell the complete story behind a campaign: the challenge, the insight, the strategy, the execution, and the results. That reflection often generates as many learnings as the campaign itself.
It is also one of the few opportunities to showcase how media contributes to business growth. Behind every winning campaign there are hundreds of decisions involving data, consumer understanding, creativity, technology, partnerships, and measurement. Award programs help bring those stories to life and demonstrate the impact that great media can have when it is closely connected to business objectives.
Most importantly, these festivals inspire people. Throughout my career, many of the ideas that challenged my thinking came from studying award-winning work from other teams, brands, and markets. Sharing those experiences helps all of us evolve as marketers.
I would encourage more companies to participate, not only to compete, but to contribute to the industry’s collective knowledge. The more we share our successes, challenges, and learnings, the stronger our industry becomes.
