For Planners & Strategists
Judging Panels
APG Creative Strategy Awards 2027
There will be two judging stages – a written paper and a face-to-face stage. The written stage will count for half the total marks. The second and final judging stage will consist of a 5 minute recap of the salient points of the paper by the author(s) followed by up to 15 minutes of questions and discussion with the judges. This second stage represents the other half of the total marks.
The Shortlisting Panel will mark every paper and those with the highest scores based on the quality of the written argument will go forward to the final judging stage where marks will be awarded as outlined below. The Grand Prix and the gold, silver and bronze Awards will be based on the total marks achieved over both judging stages.
The Chair of Final Judges and Chair of Shortlisters will work closely together to make sure that there is cohesion between the two stages. The Chair of Shortlisters will be on the final judging panel.
The Shortlist Jury
Matt Waksman
Chair of Shortlist Jury and Head of Strategy at Droga5
Emily Fairhead-Keen
Senior Communications Strategist at The LEGO Group
Rich Miles
CEO & Founder of Diversity Standards Collective
Ryan Thomson
Strategy Director at GOOD Agency
Sabina Usher
Executive Comms Strategy & Partner at Ace of Hearts
Will Grundy
Chief Strategy Officer at adam&eve\TBWA
Greg Newman
Strategic Consultant at Craft Media London
Kat Arnull
UK Group Chief Strategy Officer at Golin Ketchum
Simon Harwood
Global Effectiveness Director at Billion Dollar Boy
Rachel Porter
Head of Influence Strategy at Ogilvy UK
Ruairi Curran
Executive Strategy Director at Gravity Road
Saskia Jones
Deputy Chief Strategy Officer and Partner at BBH
Tom Sussman
Chief Strategy Officer at TBWA\Chiat\Day NY
The Final Judging Jury
David Wilding
Chair of Judges and Strategist at WPP Media
Matt Waksman
Chair of Shortlist Jury and Head of Strategy at Droga5
Jo Arden
APG Co-Chair and
CSO at AMV BBDO
Sarah Newman
APG Director