Terry Savage, festival chairman, said, “Colleen is a highly experienced and forward thinking professional. Her understanding of the digital space and her obvious leadership skills make her an ideal president for 2008.”
“To be asked to be jury president is a terrific honour. Cannes continues to be the pre-eminent global showcase of creative advertising and I am looking forward to putting a stake in the ground for what constitutes great digital work,” commented DeCourcy on her appointment.
In 2006 DeCourcy sat on the Cannes Cyber Lions jury and was a member of the Titanium and Integrated Lions jury in 2007. Advertising Age and the Advertising Women of New York Association have also named her as one of the '25 Women to Watch' in the world of advertising, marketing and media.
Responsible for developing and implementing a global digital strategy throughout the TBWA and Tequila networks, DeCourcy has worked at the forefront of digital technology and entertainment for most of her career and her areas of expertise range from digital postproduction and motion graphics design, to creative campaign development and planning across digital platforms.
After kick-starting her career in London as chief creative officer for Spafax WPP, an international marketing communications firm, and then at ICE Integrated Communications & Entertainment in Toronto as director of creative strategy, DeCourcy moved to Organic where she took up the position of VP and chief creative officer, leading the agency's Experience Design group where she played a pivotal role in DaimlerChrylser being named Interactive Marketer of The Year by Advertising Age in 2005.
Moving to JWT, Colleen served as chief experience officer where she worked to strengthen and grow the integrated, multi-platform storytelling capabilities of the network. She also worked with the agency's executive creative directors on client business including, among others, Sunsilk, Kimberly-Clark, Cadbury Adams, Diamond Trading Commission and Ford. Additionally, she served as executive creative director (North America) on HSBC.
At TBWA, DeCourcy is a champion of developing innovative methods for online social networks, consumer-activated branded entertainment, and word of mouth marketing. Last year, Forrester Research cited DeCourcy's unique approach to understanding consumers as a digital industry best practice.
The Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival has been honouring the best of interactive advertising for 10 years. Launched in 1998, Cyber Lions is now the fourth largest category at the Festival.
