AME Awards Grand Jury Spotlight Interview: Björn Neugebauer


In this Spotlight Interview, AME spent a few minutes with Björn Neugebauer, Creative Director for Kolle Rebbe GmbH Germany Over the last 20 years Björn has been creating award-winning ideas for Germany’s finest agencies such as Serviceplan, Jung von Matt, Kempertrautmann and BBDO Interone. As a creative director he made six BMWs drift the driftmob, a rotatable billboard turn into a Travel-Compass and Lufthansa’s frequent-flying mums and dads become digital bedtime-storytellers. Currently Björn works for Hamburg-based agency Kolle Rebbe, travels the world in a rusty camper-van and waits for someone to invent a reliable weather app.

Keep reading to find out more about Björn including his favorite most effective and creative ad, the source of his inspiration, and the defining moment in his career, and why he’s lending his creative eye to this year’s AME Awards judging sessions.

AME: In your opinion, what is your favorite ad that embodies both creativity and effectiveness?

Björn Neugebauer: Last year it definitely was outdoor retailer’s award winning #OptOutside campaign. Creative because they dared to do something nobody else ever did on Black Friday. And effective because it did not only perfectly match the mindset of their core target group, it even kicked off a whole new public dialogue about the sell-out of public holidays. So, in a battlefield where every brand’s strategy was "louder, faster, cheaper" REI literally opted outside, gained all the attention and became the lionhearted winner in the fight for customer’s attention. For me, #OptOutside is the most inspiring proof for the best thing in advertising: You can dare to do anything – but make sure you’re the first to do so.

AME: What inspires you?

Björn Neugebauer: Working with great people. Traveling different cultures and places. Rejecting any standstill. And never forget getting a good amount of sleep.

AME: What was a defining moment in your career? 

Björn Neugebauer: If you work in the creative industry, every day can bring a new defining moment: whether it’s a defining campaign for your client’s sales, a defining idea for your personal career or just the defining moment that simply makes your day. Creativity brings lots of opportunities – and that’s what makes it great!

AME: Why did you agree to judge this year’s AME Awards?

Björn Neugebauer: Judging for international award shows is a perfect training for your creativity: you see tons of great work, you can radically fade out all the itches of the development process and just focus on the result, which is the creative answer to a given task. I am honored to judge for the AME Awards because they have a globally renowned reputation. Also, at the AME Awards, everything is super well organized. And as you know, we Germans love well-organized things….

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