LAS VEGAS, USA – Gaming and virtual worlds has been an emerging creative industry that not a lot of brands have explored. Only a handful of brands have harnessed the power of this new world building tool. One of the leading creative voices in this new realm is MINOTAUR Philippines’ Chief Creative Officer and adobo Magazine’s contributor Rey Tiempo.
At the 2025 London International Awards, Rey served as a jury at the Evolution and Creative Use of Data jury and also a speaker at the Creative LIAsons program at Las Vegas. where he talked about channeling one’s competitive drive through gamification in advertising.
Historic.
Las Vegas hit differently for me this year. Having been at LIA in previous years covering the gaming categories for my Game On column, I once again found myself at the heart of one of the world’s most prestigious industry award shows – this time with a truly momentous experience.
2025 marks LIA’s 40th anniversary, and for the very first time, I had the honor of sitting on the jury, serving in the Evolution and Creative Use of Data categories. Deliberating and curating the best creative work alongside some of the most respected leaders from across the globe is an achievement I’ll always carry with pride. But as I quickly learned, this LIA trip would mean so much more.
This milestone year, I was invited to speak at the live onsite program of Creative LIAisons. 130 of the best and brightest future creative leaders of our industry gathered in one room, with sessions from some of the biggest names in the business, offering unprecedented access to knowledge, insider tips, and practical career advice. The air was charged with creativity, the kind of positive energy that can only come from a room full of inspired hopefuls.
And finally, this year, LIA opened its doors to deeper conversations on creative gaming – courtesy of yours truly. So I knew I had to make it special!
Background: just a few blocks away from the Wynn and Encore hotels, where LIA is held, stands the Las Vegas Convention Center – home to Evo (The Evolution Championship Series), the biggest fighting game event and tournament in the world, held every year. And yes, the coincidence of me judging in a category also called “Evolution” was not lost on me!
Evo represents the very pinnacle of video game competitiveness, especially in the world of fighting games, where stakes are high, emotions run deep, and pride is always on the line.
I knew I had a way in!
I focused on creative competitiveness – one of the main driving forces behind pushing us, as creatives, to do better work in this industry. It’s our natural instinct to improve, to push further, and to win. The London International Awards has long been a benchmark for that mindset, with the world’s toughest jury running concurrently. The parallel between winning consistently in both gaming and advertising felt undeniable, especially when I brought up the story of Daigo Umehara, “The Beast” himself – one of Evo’s biggest mainstays, a consistent winner, and an esports and pop culture icon.
In his book “The Will to Keep Winning”, Daigo lays down a golden rule for consistent success (one I still steal /share in my lectures and talks): “Do not concentrate on winning (in our case, at LIA, Cannes, or any other award shows). Focus all efforts on getting better and better. And eventually, you’ll find yourself winning.”
This philosophy echoed throughout my session, as I highlighted past award-winning gaming cases, recent gaming work we’ve been hatching, and the drive to keep raising the bar: the very motivation that’s carried me onto some of the world’s biggest creative stages.
And in an unprecedented move, I turned 130 emerging creative leaders from all over the world into 130 judges! Here’s how:
Ever since I started the column Game On, my goal has always been to involve more creative leaders in rallying behind the huge potential of creativity in gaming work. Tapping into our industry’s obsession with award shows, I created The In-Game Ads Awards: where I’ve been inviting top global creative leaders to judge fictional advertisements for fictional brands inside video game worlds.
Think of it as the LIA, where real-world creative leaders judge ads, only this time, the ads are for fictional brands! Many of these fictional in-game ads can be found scattered across open-world video games, where developers often mimic the real world surprisingly well.
Up to that point, all judging had been done offline.
For my session that afternoon, I brought along new, unjudged in-game ads I had recently collected from gameplay. And the Creative LIAisons understood the assignment right away! Especially since just the day before, they had been inside the jury rooms themselves, witnessing firsthand how the LIA jury deliberated on actual work – another unique feature of LIA judging that I’ve always applauded, as it puts transparency, learning, accessibility, and fairness first and foremost.
It was the first-ever live judging for The In-Game Ads Awards! I brought out a set of fictional ads – billboards, outdoor installations, and digital LED films for fictional in-game brands from the games Cyberpunk 2077, Split Fiction, Infamous, and GTA V. The Creative LIAisons enthusiastically voted metals for each piece of work!
Handling 130 jury members seemed like a mean feat, but turned out to be no challenge at all. We had clear Bronzes, some Silvers, and even Gold winners voted in! These future creative leaders clearly knew what they were doing, primed and sharpened by the week’s events. It was both serious and hilarious at the same time – and we wouldn’t have had it any other way! They were now part of In-Game Ads Awards history, just as I was part of Creative LIAisons history in Las Vegas.
Historic!
An undertaking like this could never have happened without the support of many key people. Thank you, forever, to the powerhouse LIA team: Barbara Levy, Laurissa Levy, Patricia Censoprano, Christina Shaw, Bee Lee, Terry Savage, and their hardworking crew, the force behind the massive, well-oiled, and fun machine, year in and year out, that is the London International Awards.
Thank you to Angel Guerrero and my adobo magazine family for Game On, for always letting me spread the word on creative gaming wherever my gamer heart takes me. And thank you, of course, to the Creative LIAisons and to everyone who reached out afterwards – we’re now forever connected, in gaming and in advertising.
Game On!
About The Author
Rey is a Chief Creative Officer and Creative Gaming Specialist from Manila, Philippines. He is the Founder and Creator of Game On, the industry’s first and only column and portal dedicated to Gaming x Marketing. A highly awarded industry leader, he was most recently recognized as a Global Creative Leader of the Year candidate by Creativepool. With over 20 years of experience in the largest global and local advertising networks, Rey has been ranked the number one Creative Director in the Philippines and consistently among the top creatives in Asia Pacific and beyond. A Gaming columnist, sought-after thought leader, mentor, and speaker on Creative Gaming, Rey leads conversations on Gaming and innovations in interactive media on the world’s most prestigious stages.
Check out Rey’s other works here:
