CANNES, FRANCE – McDonald’s Philippines Managing Director Margot Torres had the privilege of serving on the Cannes Lions Creative Strategy jury at the 2025 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, where she and fellow experts reviewed numerous entries to determine the most outstanding campaigns.
In an exclusive interview with adobo Magazine, Margot shared how she and the other jurors selected the winning entries, reflected on some of her favorite works, and offered advice to future contenders.
About the jury experience and judging process
adobo Magazine: Congratulations on being part of the Cannes Lions jury! What was the experience like judging the Creative Strategy category this year?
Margot Torres: It was mentally challenging but in a good way. It sharpens one’s thinking.
adobo Magazine: What were the key criteria that guided your decision-making in selecting the most deserving entries?
Margot: Strategy for me is never a one-off idea that’s short term. The strategy should have legs to last beyond one campaign. I looked for entries that had a well-defined strategy to address a clearly defined business or brand problem.
adobo Magazine: How did the jury align or debate around strategy versus execution — was there ever tension between smart thinking and polished output?
Margot: There was definitely a lot of debate around strategies that may seem impressive but if you are familiar with the industry, the context or the culture, then it either becomes not strategic but something that’s done anyway or it rises to strategic brilliance.
adobo Magazine: How did the jury weigh originality versus effectiveness in the judging room? Were there entries that pushed boundaries strategically even if the results were unconventional?
Margot: There was about 20% weight on results but our category was not about creative effectiveness but creative strategy so there was more weight placed on the thinking and intent behind the work. Results were a validation of whether the strategy worked or not.
On the winning work
adobo Magazine: Which campaigns stood out most for you personally — and why?
Margot: Dove because of the brand’s commitment to the strategy, because of how the strategy has been embraced globally, refreshed in terms of creative ideas and execution and refreshed across the years.
Creative Strategy Lions GRAND PRIX en Cannes Lions 2025
Title: “Real Beauty”
Agency: Ogilvy UK
At the 2025 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Ogilvy and Dove’s “Real Beauty” campaign was awarded the Glass Lion for Change Grand Prix and the Grand Prix for Creative Strategy for Long-Term Brand Platform.
Another favorite is AI President by Anahar Newspaper showcasing use of AI for good and consistent with the brand’s active journalism creative platform.
Title: “The New President”
Agency: Impact BBDO
The Lebanese parliament had not elected a president for two years. So we built one. An AI President trained on more than 90 years and 30,000 editions of AnNahar’s unbiased, objective journalism. This is the first instance in the world of an AI head of state used actively in a government cabinet session.
I also liked “SATO 2531” and its use of data to highlight a problem.
Title: “SATO 2531”
Agency: Dentsu Inc, Japan.
Stop the future from becoming a nation where everyone is named Sato. Married couples in Japan are required to share a surname, predominantly affecting women and contributing to broader gender inequality. In partnership with Asuniwa, agender equality organization, and the University of Tohoku, Dentsu revealed an eye-opening statistic to make a compelling case for reform.
adobo Magazine: Was there a particular entry that redefined or expanded what “creative strategy” means in today’s world?
Margot: That would be Dove. It is a benchmark to show longevity of a strategy.
adobo Magazine: Did any of the awarded work demonstrate a strong cultural or local insight that resonated globally? It was not awarded and remained on the shortlist –
Margot: “Loconomy Burgers” of McDonald’s Korea. It was about the plight of local farmers losing income from discarded produce. McDonald’s Korea tapped their scale and developed menu items using local ingredients from different regions in Korea in 2020. The insight shows supporting locals is powerful. This case is not your typical marketing driven idea and shows an idea can also come from the supply chain. It also showed significant business results and impact.
Title: “Loconomy Burgers”
Agency: Leo South Korea
Insights for entrants and the industry
adobo Magazine: What advice would you give to creatives and marketers preparing to enter the Creative Strategy category next year?
Margot: They need to define the problem the brand or business wishes to solve and clearly connect how the strategy addresses this and how the strategy comes to life with the creative idea. Context is important.
adobo Magazine: What common pitfalls or missed opportunities did you notice in this year’s entries?
Margot: They submitted entries that were not well explained for creative strategy but more for other categories. Many entries as well appeared more like stunts and agile marketing.
adobo Magazine: How is the definition of “strategy” evolving in a world dominated by AI, real-time data, and agile marketing?
Margot: AI and real time data should enable strategy and strategy continues to address a brand or business problem. Agile marketing is a strategy in itself and if brands have this as part of their strategy, then it should be clear that they do this consistently vs reactively.
Final reflections
adobo Magazine: What does this year’s body of work tell us about the future direction of strategic thinking in advertising?
Margot: There were very few that truly embraced a strategy for the long term. There were many that struggled to showcase that the work had a strategy behind the idea.
adobo Magazine: Lastly, how has being part of the Cannes jury influenced the way you approach your own work and leadership?
Margot: I have always advocated for creative excellence in my team. I believe creative excellence drives the business and beyond that, the work can also have a positive impact. Being part of the jury has reinforced this commitment and belief that creative excellence can drive business, brand and solve real world problems. I am also a firm believer that ideas should not be limited to marketing and can impact all parts of the business.
About Margot Torres
Margot Torres is the Managing Director of McDonald’s Philippines, the largest market in Asia Business Unit and 10th largest market in McDonald’s world. She also serves on the Board of Directors of RMHC Philippines.
Her McDonald’s career began in Marketing in 2003 and became Managing Director in 2018. Her leadership is marked by being a champion of creative excellence, digital transformation, and sustainability.
Outside McDonald’s, she is a sought out thought leader. She has received recognition from the country’s top institutions – Agora Award for Marketing from Philippine Marketing Association, 1st CMO-of-the-Year Award from Tambuli, Campaign Asia’s Women Leading Change Award and CEO Excel Awards for Communication from the International Association for Business Communicators.
She served 2 terms as President of the Philippine Association of National Advertisers and Digital Marketing Association.
During the pandemic, she led the private sector communications for the public-private partnership initiatives in managing the country’s COVID-19 crisis and vaccination roll-out.
Currently, she sits on the board of Philippine Business for Education and Philippine Business for Social Progress as well as MMA APAC.
Margot is also a member of NextGen Organization of Women Corporate Directors and Filipina CEO Circle.
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