SMARTIES Awards 2025: What really matters to the jury

Jury insights: Courage as the key to success

Courage is more than just a buzzword—it determines whether a campaign grabs attention, sparks discussion, and creates impact. In conversation with the two jury co-chairs of the SMARTIES DACH Awards, Giuseppe Fiordispina (CMO Cupra) and Iskra Velichkova (CMO PayPal), it becomes clear: only those willing to take risks, try new things, and take on social responsibility can truly stand out. The DMEXCO team asked them what courage in marketing means to them, which mechanisms they consider particularly effective—and what priorities they will set in their jury work for 2025.

Giuseppe, what does courage in marketing mean to you personally?

Giuseppe Fiordispina: For me, courage in marketing primarily means making bold and risk-taking decisions that quickly and successfully position a young, independent brand in the highly competitive automotive market. It’s about prioritizing speed over perfection, daring to drive innovation processes, and consistently staying true to the brand strategy.

Iskra, how can courage in marketing help create even greater impact?

Iskra Velichkova: For me, courage means being willing to break away from familiar ways of thinking and to approach topics in a new or simply unexpected way. When I joined PayPal in spring 2025, the company was preparing to launch its biggest campaign in Germany to date. And it was for a product that people had not previously associated with PayPal: offline, in-store payments. We took an unconventional path: weeks before the official campaign launch, posters appeared everywhere with slogans like “Cash is no longer King,” without PayPal being recognizable as the sender. This was a deliberate move to spark discussions about payment methods and to shift attention away from cash toward contactless payments. At the same time, we raised the creative bar: with global stars like Will Ferrell and Fleetwood Mac, we set a new benchmark. But for me, courage also means that marketing takes on social responsibility; a values-based brand strategy requires ensuring that the entire value chain—from sourcing to product to marketing—is designed to be socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable.

Giuseppe, what truly defines bold creativity in digital campaigns today?

Giuseppe Fiordispina: Innovation cannot exist without courage and excellent creativity. When you take new paths, you also have to be able to let go. We test new technologies such as AI or VR at an early stage and accept that not everything can be measured; it’s a calculated risk, but without this courage, there would be no innovation.

Iskra, based on your experience, which mechanisms work particularly well and why?

Iskra Velichkova: I consider three elements to be crucial:

1. Full-funnel campaigns: For our “Tap to Pay” launch, we combined traditional mass media with digital channels. Digital is very important to us, but to quickly build large reach, TV and Out-of-Home remain indispensable—so both continue to play a strong role in the media mix. The pre-launch with anonymous posters demonstrated how curiosity and awareness can be generated even before the product is actively promoted.
2. CO₂-optimized media planning & brand safety: In the digital space, we choose our publishers very carefully. We prefer to book directly with partners who have short supply chains; this not only increases brand safety but also reduces ad fraud and lowers CO₂ emissions in delivery. We avoid open bidding marketplaces because the share of bot traffic can be high there—I’d rather allocate more budget to achieve real reach.
3. Content with social relevance: A values-based brand strategy must be holistic and collaborative. Brands serve as role models and should take social, ecological, and economic aspects into account

Was there a moment in your career when you made an especially courageous decision?

Giuseppe Fiordispina: Stepping out of your comfort zone and embracing something new always requires a healthy dose of courage. My move away from the familiar automotive industry to a tech giant like SAMSUNG—a company in an industry and culture that were completely unfamiliar to me—was a very valuable experience and left a lasting impact on me.

Iskra Velichkova: Yes, time and again: the last campaign I was responsible for at Kleinanzeigen earlier this spring was a collaboration with the Netflix series “How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast)”—risky business by name alone for a household brand like Kleinanzeigen. But it worked out very well. Shortly afterward at PayPal, the decision to launch the “Tap to Pay” campaign with an anonymous poster phase was also risky. Many people were asking themselves what was behind slogans like “Cash is no longer King” or “You love cash. But has cash ever loved you back?”—and that was exactly what we wanted to achieve. There were countless Reddit posts on the topic. Of course, the buzz in the marketing bubble was huge as well. Only after this preparation phase did we reveal PayPal as the sender, and the high activation numbers showed that the risk was worth it.

Giuseppe, what makes a campaign “SMARTIES Award-worthy” for you?

Giuseppe Fiordispina: The SMARTIES Awards evaluate campaigns based on strategy, creativity, execution, and business results. For me, an award-worthy campaign is one that combines all four dimensions. At the same time, a campaign should demonstrate relevance. In short: a “SMARTIES Award-worthy” campaign is one that is bold and innovative while creating measurable value for both companies and consumers.

As jury chairs, what will you pay particular attention to in this year’s submissions?

Giuseppe Fiordispina: I will mainly be looking for campaigns that credibly combine innovation and impact. Marketing should be a “driver of innovation, inspiration, and speed.” A strong submission shows how it implemented a bold idea with a data-driven strategy and what concrete results it achieved—in other words, not just loud, but also sustainable.

Iskra Velichkova: I will be looking for submissions that show the courage to go beyond the ordinary, but also clearly demonstrate an impact on the brand or product they are promoting. I’d like to see cases that really took a risk—and succeeded. Extra credit goes to campaigns with social relevance that go beyond the immediate benefit of the product.

Don’t miss any important news from the world of digital marketing, both nationally and internationally! Subscribe to the new DMEXCO newsletter “Digital Digest” and receive the latest information directly in your mailbox every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.