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Jenny AWASANO
VP Group Creative Director | DIGITASLBI
Jenny is VP Group Creative Director at DigitasLBi, where she conceives innovative campaigns for American Express, Izze Fusions, Ad Council, Whole Foods, Charity Water, and more. A 15-year industry veteran, Jenny has a track record of creating breakthrough campaigns across social, digital and beyond. She was part of the original crew that developed Small Business Saturday for American Express, which was named one of AdAge’s Top Campaigns of the 21st Century, sanctioned by Congress, and honored with two Cannes Lions Grand Prix awards. Her creative direction has also garnered Effies, Shortys, Webbys, OMMAs, LIAs, ADWEEK, and IAB Mixx. Jenny’s recent contribution to the Stoli Vodka website was selected as a Communication Arts Webpick of the Day. A fierce women’s right advocate and part-time animal rescuer, Jenny lives in Brooklyn with her husband and son.
questionnaire
What was your very first job?
In my eagerness to save enough cash to move to NYC from the suburbs of Seattle, I lied my way into a job at local dry cleaners when I was 14.
Please describe, in your own words, what your job is and what work it entails.
VP, Group Creative Director at DigitasLBi. I work with an amazingly talented team to come up with breakthrough campaigns that hook people in social/digital and beyond. And I’m usually the one who volunteers to corral the 2am Seamless order.
How did you discover that the creative world was right for you? Was there a time in your life that you credit to this discovery? What was there train of events that brought you to where you are today?
Unlike many of my colleagues who knew they wanted to be in this industry, I fell into it unwittingly. I was working at Oxford University Press as a textbook editor and was bored out of my mind. A headhunter suggested I might like advertising. At the time, I’d never even heard of copywriting. But within a few weeks I was doing it. And I was hooked. The creativity. The comradery. The craziness.
In your constantly growing and expanding industry, how do you find inspiration to keep your work fresh, innovative and relevant?
All the usual suspects. Art. Music. Film. Activism. Mark Gormley. Cats. Jeff Goldblum. And whatever weird stuff my 9-year-old son digs up on the Internet.
If you had to pick one piece of work or project that you are most proud of, more for the creative work and innovation it required, rather than its recognition or industry “success,” what would it be?
The project I’m most proud of happens to be my most widely recognized. Small Business Saturday. At last count, I think at least 7 out of 10 people in the US were aware of the day! My parents had a food truck before it was cool so I know how hard small business owners work and how important they are to local communities.
