Cannes Jury Spotlights: VMLY&R's Mel Routhier

At Cannes Lions, the world’s premier festival celebrating creative excellence, thousands of entries pour in from countries worldwide. Behind the scenes, a carefully selected panel of judges reviews the work and determines which will ultimately take home a coveted Cannes Lion.

Little Black Book is spotlighting creatives across the VMLY&R network who are joining the ranks of the industry’s most recognised and respected creative professionals to judge top-tier work at this year’s Cannes Lions Festival. 

Mel Routhier is chief creative officer of VMLY&R Chicago and is representing the agency this year as jury president of the Health & Wellness Lions. 

A proven leader who tirelessly works to transform brands and make them famous, Mel’s work has received top honors at major industry shows, including awards from Cannes, the London International Awards, Clios, Effies, Lürzer’s Archive, Communication Arts, ADDYs, REGGIEs, and the Chicago Advertising Federation.

Q> How do you spot Cannes-winning work?

Mel> Cannes-winning work gives me the same feeling any incredibly brilliant piece of work does: a healthy dose of jealousy and envy. You instantly think, “Damn, I wish I’d thought of that.” It’s an idea that’s so simple and crisp and smart, it almost makes you wonder, “How has this not been done before?” And yet, you know it hasn’t. It’s as if the idea has been hiding in plain sight. And I have much respect for anyone who not only dreams up those ideas, but finds a way to make them and sell them and get them out into the world.  

Q> What makes you passionate about the category you are judging?

Mel> I love the Health & Wellness category because it embraces so many forms of creativity — we’re looking at all the mediums, and we’re looking at brands from all walks of life. Additionally, the entries are all in service of improving our health and well-being, really solving a problem or empowering people all in service of bettering our humanness within the world. 

Q> What do you hope to take away from judging at Cannes 2023?

Mel> I’m eager to bring together a collection of talented, diverse, and unique-perspectived humans (strangers to boot!), to debate and interrogate and ultimately reward brave, boundary-breaking, and, yes, jealousy-inducing work. And I want to show the continued elevation of great thinking that can come from the Health & Wellness category. And to ultimately inspire our entire community for what’s possible in this space. 

Q> What do you think will be the biggest themes at this year’s festival?  

Mel> I suspect one of the biggest themes will be mental health. The whole world, especially on the heels of emerging from the isolating years of the pandemic, will be looking to spotlight the importance of understanding, treating, aiding and supporting the health of the human mind. Oh, and AI. Should we place bets on how many AI ideas we’ll see …?

Q> What does creativity mean to you? OR what does the future of creativity look like?

Mel> I wish I knew the answer to that! The future of creativity looks different than it does now. We’re operating in an industry that is changing at warp speed. Speaking of AI … maybe we should just ask it that question.