This isn’t Rei Inamoto’s first time serving as the Cannes Lions jury president and he certainly knows a thing or two about the festival, digital crafts and innovation.

He joined AList to talk about what it’s like to be a judge of creativity and how to settle differences when it comes to making the important decision.

What were your thoughts when you were appointed jury president of the Digital Craft Lions

I was very honored. This is the second time that I’ve been asked to be a jury president at Cannes Lions. The first time was 2013. I left my previous agency at the end of 2015, and I started my own company in 2016. When I was at a big agency, I used to go to Cannes almost every year. But stopped going, because the focus that I started to move into wasn’t quite advertising. But now, everything is merging into the same territory. 

What did you learn from your first time as a Cannes Lions jury president? 

Last time when I was a jury president category. I saw work that I had not see ning as the Grand Prix of the category and something quite easy to miss. But at Cannes Lions, it was in the Mobile n and back then what ended up win- was something that I had not seen when you stopped and thought about it and when you debated about it with other jurors that it became a c standout when it came to award the top prize. To answer your questi direct way: I think it’s important to allow yourself to be surprised. 

How do you think your professional experience informs your ability to judge?

From early on in my career, I’ve always enjoyed coming up with ideas, and I’ve always enjoyed making ideas happen. I think [that] is definitely one aspect of judging that— it’s not just about coming up with ideas, but it’s about bringing ideas to life. You have to do it with ingenuity but also with mastery of whatever technique that you’re using. 

The parameters of the Digital Craft Lions are experience and execution, what else do you personally look for when judging? 

Conceptual depth or conceptual twist is important to make ideas work. Part of it is about the execution and then the craft, and part of it is about the idea itself. I’m judging a category that looks explicitly for craftsmanship. So, per- haps there’s a bit more emphasis on craftsmanship than other categories but on the flip side, just because you even have a good idea, if your execution is bad, then that’s not going to fly. 

There’s a lot of debating among the jury, how do you make sure that’s a positive experience? 

I was thinking about a similar topic the other day: What do I want to get out of being a jury president, and what do I want to get out of specifically this category? I want to be able to look back say three, five even 10 years or so and still say you know that piece of work that we chose was groundbreaking or industry-changing or mind-bending. The first time I came to Cannes was in 2005, and there are very few pieces that I can still remember, but those pieces [I do remember] had an impact on me or in the industry in general. 

It’s interesting that AR and VR are in this category because I wouldn’t say there is really a standard for how that is represented in media and advertising. Can you talk a little bit about how you’re approaching those awards? 

I was thinking about a similar topic the other day: What do I want to get out of being a jury president, and what do I want to get out of specifically this category? I want to be able to look back say three, five or even 10 years or so and still say, “you know, that piece of work we chose was groundbreaking or industry-changing or mind-bending. The first time I came to Cannes was in 2005, and there are very few pieces that I can still remember, but those pieces [I do remember] had an impact on me or in the industry in general.