How Honesty, Grit, and Fearlessness Rebuilt One of Advertising’s Oldest Legacy Brands into a Modern Cultural Force
Nicole Purcell, CEO of The Clios, opens up on how she successfully reimagined the awards organization into a vibrant platform for fresh voices and bold creativity – and why celebrating great work requires authenticity
Nicole Purcell is the CEO of The Clios, a global awards platform celebrating bold creativity across advertising, entertainment, music, health, sports, and more. Known for her fearless leadership and instinct-driven approach, Nicole transformed The Clios from a legacy brand into a modern cultural force that amplifies fresh voices, social impact, and real creative risk-taking.
With a background in events and entertainment and a passion for elevating others in business, she leads with honesty, grit, and an unfiltered vision for what leadership and recognition should look like.
The Continuum sat down with Nicole to talk about awards shows, creativity, and the joy she gets from celebrating good work and talented people.
Awards shows are an interesting niche in the advertising industry. Can you tell us about the trajectory that got you to The Clios?
My father started a family business with his cousin. I was really inspired by the energy he brought to the business and by the fact that he had built something from scratch. He would talk to me and my brother about business every night at dinner, telling us about what was going well and what wasn’t. It gave me an appreciation for entrepreneurship. Thinking and acting like an entrepreneur is a thread that is woven through everything I’ve done.
I did work in my family’s business for a couple of years. I also had a brief stint in TV before quickly jumping over to experiential marketing. I was at a company called Intercollegiate Communications, and it was there that I learned how to take special moments and turn them into high-impact events.
After that, I co-owned a company that ran events for Fashion Weeks in Miami, New York, and Los Angeles. We partnered with Elle Magazine and held shows for people like Russell Simmons.
Can we stop you here for a second? You’ve been very honest about what happened with this partnership and the lessons you learned. Please tell us about that and why you’re so willing to talk about it.
I went into business with someone who, in hindsight, was absolutely the wrong partner. He was flashy, dropped a lot of names, seemed to be very successful, and made big promises. I was initially drawn to the excitement and the appearance of success, but unfortunately, he was not who he said he was. After ending what was a disastrous partnership, I had to start over.
I learned the importance of doing my homework on people, trusting my gut, and valuing substance over style. It taught me resilience, forced me to be humble, and made me appreciate how genuine, lasting success is built with the right partners and a clear-eyed sense of what truly matters.
I know some people wouldn’t volunteer this story years later. We’ve all been taught to share our successes and hide anything that can be seen as a failure, but I don’t like that. I prefer to be open and honest, and I’d like to think I can help others by sharing my mistakes and triumphs.
“We’ve all been taught to share our successes and hide anything that can be seen as a failure, but I don’t like that. I prefer to be open and honest, and I’d like to think I can help others by sharing my mistakes and triumphs.”
Okay, so back to your career path, how did you end up at The Clios?
I landed a job at Prometheus Global Media, which owned Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, and Adweek. They also owned The Clios. Here, I spent time developing events for all of these brands and enjoyed the variety in the work. At one point, my boss asked me which brand I wanted to focus on. I’m pretty sure he expected me to say Billboard or The Hollywood Reporter—the better-known/sexier brands—but I wanted The Clios.
The Clios had been an enormous deal years before when they were a televised black-tie event like the Oscars or Emmys. But they’d lost much of their influence and cultural relevance under their prior owner. Still, I was convinced that The Clios could be great again and much bigger than they had been. In my vision, it wasn’t just an awards show; it was a brand.
When I came in, I made it clear to all of our partners that I respected the industry and believed many of its people were true creative geniuses. I saw value there and wanted to work together to celebrate creativity.
You’ve been at The Clios for almost 15 years now. How has it changed since you took over?
Like I said, I always viewed The Clios as more than an awards show. Since I’ve been there, we’ve expanded significantly by launching Clio Health, Clio Sports, and Clio Entertainment in addition to expanding The Clio Awards. While advertising is at the heart of everything we do, each of these industries brings its own energy, audience, and creative standards, which is why they deserve their own dedicated awards and judging processes.
I think I really understood this when I was first figuring out the entertainment vertical. It used to be called the Key Art Awards and was run by Hollywood Reporter, but they couldn’t run it anymore after more than 30 years. When they first asked me for help, I assumed I could just pull these awards in under The Clios. After all, it’s all advertising. But as I started going out into the industry to understand it, I quickly realized that these folks spoke a different language.
This wasn’t the same as national campaigns. They were doing movie trailers, posters, and Frankensteining work for the studios. They wanted their own night and to be judged by their peers. That’s how it started, and then we added television and gaming, and The Clios Entertainment really took off.
As I said, we’ve since added verticals in health, music, and sports. We’re currently working on a new vertical for content creators and influencers.
Let’s talk about influencers for a minute. They are clearly significant in a lot of today’s advertising, but some people in the industry are still treating them like unwanted stepchildren. Are you getting any pushback about this new vertical?
We haven’t gotten any pushback yet, but I firmly believe we must stop looking at creators and influencers as a trend. They are central to business now, and I don’t see that changing. Brands are scaling up their partnerships with creators, holding companies are snapping up influencer agencies, and social media platforms are bringing influencers into the fold.
Many creators attended this year’s Cannes festival, and one of the things that struck me was that they were there as entrepreneurs, not plus-ones to brands or agencies. They’re community builders and cultural tastemakers, and they’re becoming increasingly important to brand identity.
It just makes sense that we start honoring them for what they are—advertising industry creatives. And what better way to do that than with their own panel of judges and their own Clio award?
Have you ever launched a vertical that didn’t work?
We have. Years ago, we launched a vertical celebrating work in fashion and beauty. We got to honor creative legends like Grace Coddington and David Hoey. It was exciting, but the fashion and beauty industries didn’t embrace our awards show model, and we didn’t have the right partners in place to help them understand it.
We also worked on launching a cannabis vertical a couple of years ago when that business was just starting. Ad agencies wanted in on it, and we thought it would be a good fit. That industry is complicated, though, because cannabis is still illegal under federal laws, and states have their own rules and regulations. It was too soon for large national campaigns, so we didn’t get enough entries, though I think this one might be back if the legal landscape changes.
As I said earlier, I think it’s important to be honest about what has worked out and what has flopped. Still, I don’t look at these as failures. I like to greenlight promising ideas and see what happens. Often they take off, but sometimes they don’t. As long as you learn from what didn’t work—and don’t become afraid to take chances—you did it right.
“As long as you learn from what didn’t work—and don’t become afraid to take chances—you did it right.”
The Clios exist to celebrate other people’s work, but it can only do that if people respect the brand. What do you do to reinforce your brand values?
Legitimacy and community. I look at The Clios as a way to build communities among creatives who want to lift each other up. At the same time, The Clios only work if they have legitimacy. When we took over the Key Art Awards, which later became The Clios Entertainment, there was a sense that the larger agencies and studios could decide who would win. Those decisions were sometimes based on size, budget, or perceived importance. If it really worked like that, though, it would be meaningless.
That’s why I’ve insisted on embracing a non-biased judging process at The Clios. When we bring together industry leaders to judge, everybody knows that if you worked on a piece being reviewed or even knew about it in advance, you must leave the room for that decision. Other judges can’t talk freely if they’re worried about offending a fellow creative.
I remember one judging session early on in my tenure, where we had a bunch of entertainment VIPs in the room. We were looking at an entry that came from our chair’s agency. He’d been at least peripherally involved in it, so we asked him to leave the room. The other judges had some questions about the work, and a few people tried to get me to bring him back in because he’d know the answers, but I refused. None of the other entrants had an in-person advocate. I said it wouldn’t be fair.
One of the judges snapped back by saying, “Oh, Nicole, life isn’t fair.” I shot back, “Life might not be fair, but our judging is.” I think that keeping this high standard for judging has helped build a good reputation for the organization and made the awards more meaningful.
“I think that keeping this high standard for judging has helped build a good reputation for the organization and made the awards more meaningful.”
The Clios are one way the industry celebrates creativity and innovation; Cannes Lions is obviously another. You were really busy at Cannes this year. Can you tell us about some of the things you did there and some of your takeaways?
We hosted and attended so many great events that explored global marketing and innovation. The Clio Sports Honorary Awards Dinner at Stagwell Sport Beach celebrated three iconic athletes who are as creative off the field as they are on. We co-hosted an event for the German market featuring a Q&A with Campaign Germany editor-in-chief Bärbel Egli-Unckrich. And we were part of The Female Quotient’s Equality Lounge Panel, where my colleague Emily Seal moderated a session called “How Men are Supporting the Women in Their Lives.” I also hosted The Clios advisory panel for a dinner which was a great way to all get together.
My favorite event was a salon-style dinner for women that I hosted with BarkleyOKRP’s Katy Hornaday. We gathered a room full of smart, fearless women for a night of incredible food, flowing wine, and honest conversation. Chef Noelle Faure made a delicious meal, and Viktorija Todorovska curated a lineup of wines from women-led vineyards. (People who know me know I love wines and that vineyards are my happy place.)
Our wide-ranging conversation celebrated different kinds of leadership and openly explored the challenges of living—and leading—in a time marked by such rapid change. The temptation to work all the time—and the risk of burnout—is very real. Somehow, though, we all understood that being happy and taking care of yourself isn’t a luxury, it’s essential.
What I love about Cannes is the combination of life and career. The people I see there are people I’ve known for decades, many of whom are dear friends at this point. The discussions throughout the week really are thought-provoking. The food and wine are amazing. And, of course, the setting is unreal.
My job—which I feel so lucky to have—is celebrating creativity and leaders in our industry. This is what everyone at Cannes Lions is doing in some form or another. I always come home joyful and inspired.
August 4, 2025
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