As Jury President of the LIA 2026 Digital and Creators & Social Platforms Jury, Menno Kluin will lead nine other industry leaders to award the most ground-breaking creative work in Digital and Creators & Social Platforms.
Voted as U.S. Creative Person of the Year by Campaign Magazine in 2022, Menno Kluin, Global Chief Creative Officer of Iris Worldwide, has been credited with creating culture hitting activations for Oreo, 711 and many other brands.
Menno has extensive creative experience on integrated campaigns and progressive creative having spent time at 360i, DDB and Saatchi & Saatchi, New York.
Menno Kluin said: “This category is the largest and most impactful cultural impact tool available to any brand in the world. The best of the best that play in this category are undoubtedly successful companies. Don’t spend your way to growth, but earn your way.”
The rapid rise of social media has changed the marketing landscape. There is now a burgeoning growth of social media content creators who are building authentic connections between brands and consumers. This shift in marketing dynamics is very prevalent as we see brands collaborating with social media content creators to amplify their brand values and messages. Through these partnerships brands have resonated with consumers on a more personal level.
Any brand that understands their audience can be successful in this category. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a good example. Surprisingly, this British charity for birds managed to achieve 190% follower growth and young membership sign up by cleverly engaging meme culture and Gen Z humor in its educational content, asking viewers to suggest which birds to feature next in their 2024 “Bird of the Week” TikTok series.
“We are seeing more and more brands harnessing the power of social media and content creators to capture attention. There have been many creative and successful creative executions that have demonstrated how digital and social platforms have been used brilliantly. We know there will be very interesting points of view and discussions from the jury. But at the end of the day, we are confident the best work will emerge from the room,” commented Christina Shaw, VP – Awards Director, LIA.
Digital Sub-Categories
Creators & Social Platforms Sub-Categories
Tips from Menno when submitting to Digital and Creators & Social Platforms:
“I will be looking for simple and clear ideas that had the ability to drive impact across channels and platforms.”
All judging will take place from 25th September through 3rd October, 2026. To ensure the highest level of transparency and fairness in the judging rooms, there is no pre-judging or pre-shortlisting. Every juror sees every piece of work through all three rounds of judging. The jury rooms are also open to press, creative excellence managers and young Creative LIAisons attendees.
2026 Digital and Creators & Social Platforms Jury
Jury President
Menno Kluin
Global Chief Creative Officer
Iris Worldwide
Kika Douglas
Chief Creative Officer
LePub, Amsterdam
Julia Dovlatova
Executive Creative Director
VML Czechia, Prague
Federico Fanti
Regional CCO
FP7 McCann, Dubai
Chanel Lake
SVP, Influencer Marketing
WeberShandwick, Los Angeles
Brandon Lentino
Chief Creative Officer
Viral Nation, New York
Louise McQuat
Global ECD
Akcelo
Shayne Millington
Executive Creative Director,
Google Devices Marketing
Google, New York
Rodrigo Moran
Global Head of Creative,
Family of Apps
Meta, Menlo Park
Atsushi Nakahashi
Creative Director
CyberAgent, Tokyo
Carolina Ochoa
Head of Social
Founders, Mexico City
For more information on the juries, categories and/or requirements, visit our website: www.liaawards.com
