"At the heart of provocative thinking" - Nicolas Courant
I chatted to the international jury presidents ahead of the upcoming Loeries Creative Week. Kicking off the series is creative problem solver Nicolas Courant, executive creative director at Ogilvy Singapore and this year's digital jury president.
8 Jun 2018
Nicolas Courant - ECD at Ogilvy Singapore and Loeries 2018 digital jury president.
Loeries Creative Week is once again taking place in Durban this August, with the four international jury presidents set to guide over 160 judges in selecting the best of brand communication from across Africa and the Middle East.
This year’s international jury presidents for the Loeries will head up key jury panels and are the first four of eight speakers to be announced for this year’s DStv Seminar of Creativity, an annual highlight of Loeries Creative Week.
Nicolas Courant, whose name gives away his French origins, is currently the executive creative director at Ogilvy Singapore. He’s said to have shared his creative talent globally, from Europe to the EMEA region and now Asia, having started his career as a copywriter in his native France before joining the global Ogilvy team.
His Ogilvy run has been impressive – Courant joined Memac Ogilvy as creative director to set up the agency in Tunis, founding OgilvyOne in 2009, OgilvyAction in 2010 and OgilvyPR in 2011. He then drove Memac Ogilvy Tunis to the top three most awarded MEA agencies and the top 10 EMEA agencies in 2012 and was appointed to head the newly created Memac Ogilvy MENA Regional Creative Council that year. His work has also featured on TED’s Ads Worth Spreading.
Currently based in Singapore, Courant has achieved recognition at every major international award show across the categories of Film, Digital, Mobile and Direct.
12thMan ends awards tour with Gold, Silver & 3 Bronze Clios+ Grand Clio Sports. Thanks Man, you won every single show http://t.co/jFDaW5JzhR
— Nicolas Courant (@nicolascourant) September 19, 2014
We have jury presidents who represent the creative diversity of three continents and four countries. Each is a leader in their fields and cover the range of film, radio, digital, out-of-home, print and design sub-sectors of the advertising and brand communication industry.Here, Courant lets us in on his judging expectations, his fond memories of winter outdoor film shoots in Cape Town and what he’s expecting from this year’s digital advertising entries…
Congratulations on being appointed as jury president for the Loeries! What does this mean to you personally?
Thank you. It’s such an honour to be appointed as a jury president! I’ve always kept an eye on the Loeries. So much great and inspiring work has come out of there. Lots of my creative heroes have been celebrated there, so being this year’s digital jury president means a lot.
Have you been to South Africa before? Let us in on your past experiences here.
Yes, I’ve been to Cape Town several times. I travelled there when I was a student. Later, I also got to fly there for work: When working in Paris, we would shoot lots of our commercials in South Africa.
I don’t know if it’s still the same, but at the time, if you had a winter outdoor film to shoot, you could be sure you would end up shooting it in Cape Town, which was always a fantastic experience!
What are you most looking forward to from the 2018 Loeries judging experience and Creative Week in August?
For me, Loeries has always been that place where you can feel the energy and culture of making things.
Whatever the production budgets, whatever the obstacles, when you look at the work, you can feel the persistence of the people involved, you can feel the desire to shake things up.Some of the work I like the most has been celebrated here. Most importantly, it’s a place where the thinking is always provocative, which I love. So I’m super excited to be at the heart of all of it!
You’ll also speak at the DStv Seminar of Creativity during Creative Week…
Yes, I’m still finalising the topic, but I hope to be as inspiring to the local industry as it is for me!
We’re sure you will be! What’s the biggest trend in digital advertising that you expect to see from this year’s entries?
I’ve noticed that platforms, brands and agencies are trying to turn digital tools into something interruptive and intrusive in order to get their message across.
99% of ideas that are produced are designed disregarding whether it matters or not to people. So I hope to see some of this remaining 1%: Cool stuff that’s actually meaningful in people’s lives, interesting things people care about.Wise words. Keep an eye on our Loeries special section for the latest updates and live coverage of the 40th annual Loerie Awards in Loeries Creative Week Durban, taking place from 16 to 19 August 2018.
About Leigh Andrews
Leigh Andrews AKA the #MilkshakeQueen, is former Editor-in-Chief: Marketing & Media at Bizcommunity.com, with a passion for issues of inclusion, belonging, and of course, gourmet food and drinks! Now follow her travel adventures on YouTube @MidlifeMeander.
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