2025 LIA Legend Dörte Spengler-Ahrens on courage, creativity, and the making of a legend

LAS VEGAS, USA – On September 27, 2025, under the glittering lights of Las Vegas’ Encore Wynn Hotel, the London International Awards (LIA) carved history. For the first time in its four-decade legacy, the prestigious LIA Legend Award was bestowed upon a woman: Dörte Spengler-Ahrens, Chairwoman of Jung von Matt.

Barbara Levy, President & Founder of LIA, delivered the moment with warmth and conviction. “This year, I am proud and honored to present the LIA Legend Award to a creative leader who has impacted the industry, not just in Germany but around the world: Dörte Spengler-Ahrens. And it gives me great joy to present this award here in Las Vegas, a city that holds a special place in her heart: the city where she got married.”

For Dörte, the honor comes with both humility and responsibility. “When I got the news that I would receive this prestigious award, the first thing, typical of a woman, I thought was, ‘Do I deserve this?’ After Mark Tuttle and Piyush, such honorable and famous men with decades of work, I asked myself, is it really me? But then they told me, they wanted me to be the first woman to receive it. And I thought, in the name of women, I would love to take it.”

Defining moments and leadership

Her career has been shaped by moments of discovery. As a student, she recalls the day she and her classmates rented a bus to Zurich just to watch the Cannes reel. “At that time, it was only film, and that moment put me on fire. Since then, I had a goal to follow. I did everything I could to learn, to develop, and thank God I had mentors who let me do things,” Dörte told adobo magazine exclusively in Las Vegas.

But her leadership style wasn’t forged overnight. “I think I was a terrible creative director at first. I took the pressure on my shoulders and moved it onto my people. Terrible,” she admits. “The big turning point was when I became a mother. Suddenly, there was a load of empathy and emotion. It changed my leadership completely. I began supporting women, young creatives, everyone around me. That’s what I love to do until today.”

She is noted as saying, “I love my work; the only thing I love more is my husband Tobias Ahrens, my son Bela and the family dog Tyson.”

Her style became less about authority and more about advocacy. She empowered her teams to experiment, supported women navigating a male-heavy industry, and cultivated an environment where creativity thrived not out of fear, but from inspiration and safety.

Bold work at Jung von Matt

At Jung von Matt, the agency she has helped shape into one of Germany’s most iconic creative powerhouses, two mottos drive their work: strive for the unexpected and stay dissatisfied. “Only unexpected things will stick to people’s minds and hearts,” she says. “And we are never satisfied with what we are doing. It’s our attitude to always look for something fresh and new.”

That philosophy has consistently paid off. The agency has been twice named “Independent Agency of the Year” in Cannes, with Spengler-Ahrens and her teams playing a decisive role. At the LIA, the New York Festivals, and beyond, their campaigns have stood out. The agency has produced some of the boldest campaigns for brands like BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Nivea, and Zalando, campaigns that have written advertising history while reshaping the face of Jung von Matt itself

On courage, AI, and the future of creativity

Asked about the industry’s biggest challenge today, Dörte is direct: courage. “When you are in danger and everything is against you, the only way to follow the secure way will be certain death. Especially in difficult times, for a brand or business, it is very important to be courageous, to stand out. Mediocre work will drown you in competition.”

And with AI transforming creative processes, she sees both opportunity and limitation. “AI is fantastic for supporting us in areas where we used to spend too much time. What took three people three days in Photoshop can now be prompted in an hour. This opens new fields of execution. But AI will never replace human emotions. It’s not good at being humorous, or at having ideas with twists and emotional resonance. That will always be ours.”

She recalls a case in Japan where AI and humans both developed campaigns for chewing gum. When the public voted, they chose the human work. “We are animals with instincts developed over millions of years. We can smell, feel, and tell when something is not truly human. Emotion is our territory. AI will never get there.”

Barriers, battles, and breaking ceilings

As the first female president of Germany’s Art Directors Club in its 60-year history, Dörte knows the barriers women face in advertising. “If I told young women what we went through in the last 20 years, they wouldn’t believe it,” she says. “Clients would remark, ‘Women sometimes can do good work, not only in cooking or making coffee.’ That’s the stuff we faced when I was younger.”

Determined to change this, she founded initiatives like The Art Club in Germany and championed empowerment programs that have grown into a movement. “Unfortunately, in our business in Germany, only 18% of leaders are female. In America, it’s around 60%. That’s why I will fight against this and encourage women to follow their goals.”

A relationship with LIA built on creativity and courage

“I love the LIA for being so strong in creativity, because of its courageous founder, Barbara Levy, who is a legend on her own. It’s the most interesting award show because they allow you to say what you’re really thinking. In some award shows, they would remark, ‘What is this person saying?’

Dörte has long admired the LIA for its boldness and it’s a liberal exchange of opinions. “In LIA, you can sit next to a famous CEO and after some hours, you’re like a team. I’ve sat next to Jeremy Craigen, Liz Taylor, Susan Credle — the best in the business — and they asked me what I thought. They listened and value you opinion. That is an exceptional experience. For me, it’s one of the best award shows in the world.”

Legacy beyond awards

Ultimately, she hopes her legacy will be more than the campaigns, more than the trophies. “It’s very important to care for the individual and individuality, to instill an atmosphere where people feel safe and happy. This may sound naive, but it’s something I believe in.”

As the first woman to be honored with the LIA Legend Award, Dörte reveals what is possible when creativity is matched with courage and conviction. Her story reminds us that legends are not made by awards alone, but by the impact they leave – on people, on culture, and on generations to come.

adobo Magazine is an official media partner of LIA 2025.

Dörte Spengler-Ahrens receives the 2025 LIA Legend Award, first woman honored with recognition

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