The stage is set. LIA 2026 Judging will kick off at Encore @ Wynn, Las Vegas from 25th September through 3rd October, 2026. This is the second year that LIA is running the Creativity in Media competition. Leading the jury for Creativity in Media is Dino Myers-Lamptey, Founder of The Barber Shop, London.
The Barber Shop, London is a strategy-led creative company that solves complex business problems through data, distribution and disruptive ideas. The company works with brands that are purpose-driven and culturally ambitious, with clients including Sky, Triumph, BFI and ExpressVPN.
Alongside his agency work, Dino supports founders and scale-ups through marketing advisory and education, helping early-stage businesses apply media thinking that drives sustainable growth.
In 2025 Dino was recognised as a Campaign Top 10 Media Planner for the eighth time and was added to Campaign’s A-list.
On taking on the role as Jury President, Dino Myers-Lamptey said: “The LIA is like a filter of the best and most creative work from around the world, and being a judge is like getting a fast-track pass to the very best ideas and inspiration that has risen through the year. Seeing the work and being intellectually challenged by the room full of creative leaders makes the LIA’s something special and so important”.
The media landscape has evolved and is still evolving. This puts a premium on creativity. A recent study shows that companies prioritizing creative strategies experienced revenue growth of more than 10% annually. This indicates that creativity is not just about interesting content or narratives, but that media creativity is an important component to drives success.
Take for example the whole shuttle take over by The New York Times – the S Shuttle train that runs between Times Square and Grand Central Station in New York City was transformed, both inside and out. Each car represented an individual product in the Times subscription. It advertised everything from Games to News. It even recreated the New York Giants locker room for The Athletic car.
“A good media strategy is not just about efficient reach, it is about creating a framework to communicate in all relevant ways for that brand advantage. We have on our jury, very respected people in the industry who have been responsible for highly successful campaigns. We look to them to set the gold standard for Creativity in Media for the next year,”said Christina Shaw, VP – Awards Director, LIA.
Every year, LIA gets the top creative people together in their judging rooms. These judges are made up of industry professionals from network and independent agencies, production houses, music and audio studios, post-production houses and brand creative people and strategists. Every juror must see every piece of work in their respective media as all judging is done on-site in Las Vegas. There is no pre-judging or pre-shortlisting.
