LONDON, UK — London International Awards (LIA) has revealed Della Sweetman, Chief Business Development Officer Executive Lead, Creative, Strategy, and Planning at FleishmanHillard Global, as the 2024 Creativity in PR Jury President.
Della is an energetic leader with a proven record of creating a high-performance culture centered on the work. She has led global clients, P&Ls, practice groups, and large-scale agency initiatives. Based in New York, today she leads FleishmanHillard’s global growth function and Creative, Strategy, and Planning, including the introduction of “Bend the World,” the agency’s unique point of view for earned-led creative.
“I’m delighted and honored to be invited back to serve as president on the LIA Creativity in PR Jury for a second time,” said Della. “We are well into the era where the power of earned creative and ideas is unrivaled. I’m especially keen to see more work emerge from Creatives in PR and Communications at a time when we know other disciplines continue to show very strongly in this category. And I’m looking forward to joining the other LIA jurors to celebrate some exceptional work!”
LIA introduced the Creativity in PR category to the Awards in 2022. The work entered in this category must have creative thinking at its core. Work that has driven and influenced opinion. Work that is culturally relevant and focuses on reputation management to increase positive reinforcement and goodwill for the brand across all sectors of the PR spectrum.
Some of the most inspiring creative work has come from PR. The sky’s the limit. In 2018, when SpaceX launched Falcon Heavy, its newest space rocket into space, it made the headlines. However, the PR hype for SpaceX and Falcon Heavy went into hyperdrive when Falcon Heavy shot a cherry red Tesla Roadster into orbit. Six years later, the orbiting Tesla is still an annual curiosity, with the media asking, “Where is it now in space?” A good PR campaign gets people talking, puts brands in the spotlight, and makes a lasting impression. It doesn’t just attract attention, it attracts stakeholders.
Barbara Levy, President of LIA, said, “Every PR campaign is a series of planned activities to give either the brand or the company publicity. Over the years, many brands have been inventive and have used original ideas in PR to bolster media relations and coverage, as well as to build credibility. Some have likened Creativity in PR to a breath of fresh air – it gives the public a chance to learn more about the brand or company through the lens of creativity without an overt call to purchase. Creativity in PR is increasingly vital. It is like what Oscar Wilde wrote, ‘There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.’ With our esteemed jury, we are confident that there will be a lot of buzz from the work honored this year.”
Meet LIA’s 2024 Creativity in PR Jury:
- Della Sweetman, Chief Business Development Officer Executive Lead, Creative, Strategy and Planning at FleishmanHillard Global – Jury President
- Deborah Abraham, Head of PR, Global at Forsman & Bodenfors, Singapore
- Tom Beckman, Global Chief Creative Officer at Weber Shandwick
- Sean Citrigno, Managing Director at Middle Child, Toronto
- Shereen Ladha, Creative Strategy Lead at Hill & Knowlton, Toronto
- Micaela Lagoria, VP of Latinoamérica at Talkability PR, Buenos Aires
- Marie Claire Maalouf, Chief Creative Officer at Edelman, Dubai
- Anthony O’Neill, EVP, Executive Creative Director at Golin, Chicago
- Chad Song, Campaign Director / Co-Founder at the.WATERMELON, Seoul
- Lourenço Thomaz, Chief Creative Officer – Spain + Portugal at Dentsu Creative Iberia
- Luke Walker, UK Head of Creative at Ketchum, London
Judging in Las Vegas commences on September 29 and will be completed on October 07. All rounds of judging are done onsite at the Encore @ Wynn Hotel. Every judge is required to see every piece of work in their respective categories. These panels decide on the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Statue Winners and the Finalists. At their discretion, each panel also decides whether a Grand LIA will be awarded.
As there is no off-site pre-judging, all judges are fully involved from the beginning to the end, so everyone is privy to the final results before publication.
LIA is one of five global shows included in the WARC Creative 100 Rankings.
