AME Grand Jury Spotlight Interview: Dominic Fernandes

The AME Awards, honoring the world’s best advertising & marketing effectiveness assembles its powerhouse jury from 5 regions around the world.

This is the third year that AME Awards Grand Jury member, Dominic Fernandes will serve on AME's Grand Jury ofinternational interdisciplinary creatives and review work from around the globe to select the world’s most effective advertising & marketing campaigns. As Vice president, head of business marketing for EMIRATES NBD, Dominic is responsible for developing and implementing Emirates NBD’s marketing strategy at large. He believes that communication should be disruptive to engage with the target audience and a 360 degree marketing framework is essential for a brand to influence consumers. Dominic has held many leadership roles at prominent agencies and has worked on such prestigious brands as HSBC, Singapore Airlines, Braun, Bajaj Auto Limited, HPCL, Lloyds Group, ACC Limited and Geoffrey Manners and more.

In the interview below, Dominic shares his creative insights with AME, including what he loves about judging the AME Awards, the hallmarks of a winning campaign his favorite ad, and more.

AME Awards: Why did you agree to judge this year’s AME Awards?

Dominic Fernandes: I have been on the AME judging panel for the last 2 years and what I love about judging the AME Awards is that you get to view and judge creativity from some of the world's best agencies. It is also an eye-opener - key insights that drives creativity. Judging these awards is also a source of inspiration for me and helps me push the creative boundaries in my line of business (Financial Products).

AME Awards: What are the hallmarks of an award-winning campaign?

Dominic Fernandes: The hallmarks of an award winning campaign are those that have a simple idea. A strong insight (digging through analytic and data) that helps produce clutter breaking creativity with a 360 degrees frame-work. And most important, the results have to fulfill the defined business objectives. 

AME Awards: How do the entries differ from country to country? And what countries and markets are producing exceptionally strong work and in which mediums?

Dominic Fernandes: There is a gap in the way entries are submitted (even though a standard format applies). In terms of creativity, each country has a unique style/treatment - what may appeal to consumers in one country may be different to other countries. In the last 2 years, I've judged entries from various regions/countries and i strongly believe that some of the European countries are producing cutting edge creativity. The mediums where a lot of experiments are being done are 'Integrated Marketing" & 'Social Media" 

AME Awards: What’s your favorite ad that you created?

Dominic Fernandes: I have a list of favorite ads that I’ve created (from the advertising agency and from the client's end) and each has a story to tell. However, the No.1 on my list is the 'Awesome Travelling Machine" AV we created that went viral - a lateral thought that made the film stand out. It brought a smile on one's face and met the set objectives.