LONDON, UK – The Cresta Awards has announced Helen Pak, Senior Vice President of Creative for Marketing, Design, and Content at Disney as Jury Chair for its 2025 edition.
The appointment of Pak, a respected figure in both agency and brand spheres, signals a deepened focus on creative innovation with real world impact. Currently leading Disney’s in-house creative agency Yellow Shoes, Pak oversees work that spans the full spectrum of Disney’s universe from theme parks and resorts to cruise lines and strategic brand partnerships. Her leadership has helped shape campaigns that seamlessly marry storytelling with business strategy, resonating across diverse audiences and platforms.
“Helen’s a truly remarkable creative, combining a great depth of experience in advertising agency leadership, while also having acquired outstanding client-side experience, first at Meta and now at Disney,” commented Lewis Blackwell, CEO of Creative Standards International, the organisation behind the Cresta Awards.
Before joining Disney, she spent 25 years in the agency world, rising to CCO at Grey and holding roles at Ogilvy, JWT, Taxi, Havas and StrawberryFrog in Amsterdam. She also worked at Meta as a global creative strategist and launched brand advertising on Instagram.
Cresta’s Jury Chair does not vote or otherwise influence jurors during judging, but instead gives initial guidance and later reviews all winners to add special honours.
The Cresta Awards is one of the most prestigious advertising award competitions. Now in its fourth decade, it aims to be rigorously fair in its judging. It is known for a distinctive method of assessment involving c. 120 jurors working individually, with marks averaged and reviewed, an overall aim being to strongly avoid ‘groupthink’ or juror influencing. The organisation believes this gives all entrants a more equal chance of unbiased assessment.
The Cresta Awards is currently finalising its complete jury, whose remit in 2025 will include a special category for AI. It is currently closing its mid-season rates, deadline 6 June, and will then move into its final phase of entries, due to close 20 July.
