The Jury Selection: Kelly Ricci

Kelly Ricci is a strategic communication and business advisor with over 15 years of experience delivering high-impact results across multiple disciplines within the consumer, entertainment, sports, luxury, business, tech, and lifestyle spheres. Currently, she is the Vice President of Communications at On Location, a premium hospitality and experience provider to over 150 iconic rights holders across sports, entertainment, and fashion.

Her leadership has led to the successful execution of national publicity campaigns that resonate with media, social, and celebrity influencers and have a proven track record of increasing brand awareness, consumer advocacy, and revenue for prestigious global brands.

Kelly has an expansive network of distinguished relationships comprising global media, various tastemakers, innovators, and industry disruptors. She’s also worked with a wide range of celebrated brands such as American Express, Bud Light, Michelob Ultra, Old Spice, and The Standard Hotels, where she’s paired artists like Justin Timberlake, Post Malone, Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Maluma, and Virgil Abloh bringing them into the fold of some of the globe’s most significant cultural moments such as Super Bowl, Grammy’s, NBA All-Star, U.S. Open, Coachella, Lollapalooza, Art Basel, SXSW, global fashion weeks and beyond.

Most inspiring campaigns

2022 was a year full of economic woes, filled with a series of controversies and an ongoing war, but it was also filled with inspiring and self-curated experiences. Below are some of the most innovative, talkable examples of brand-building campaigns.

• Twitter’s If You Can Dream It, Tweet It Campaign
• Reddit’s Super Bowl Awareness Campaign
• #Barbiecore
• Spotify Wrapped Campaign
• Smile Movie
• Victory is a State of Mind – Louis Vuitton with Lionel Messi x Cristiano Ronaldo

Best Shows

We all need a break sometimes to feel inspired, to tune out or have something to share around the office water cooler. These shows definitely had me hooked and my word-of-mouth approval.

• The Murdochs
• Fleishman is in Trouble
• The White Lotus
• The Bear

Best Art Installations

Part of my weekly routine is to go to museums and art galleries as it allows me to decompress from whatever is going on in life. Viewing art helps me stop, think, react and focus on whatever is in front of me. My job allows me to communicate, build, and activate numerous experiential events, and when I’m viewing an artist’s work, I’m also taking note of the experience the artist and the gallery are providing. These engagements allow endless sparks of inspiration that help fuel future activations. These three shows left a lasting impression on me this year.

• William Eggleston: The Outlands at David Zwirner, NY
• Wolfgang Tillmans’ To Look Without Fear at The Moma, NY
• Etel Adnan’s Colour as Language at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam

Best Mobile Apps

One of my goals this year was to download apps based on the recommendations of tastemakers, business owners and friends. I’m always curious about what drives their success to see if it’s something I could try to incorporate into my daily life and actually stick to using them. I’ve made good use of these this year.

• Hoffman
• The Pattern
• Headway

Best branded entertainment this year

There are so many new forms of entertainment, the way we consume content, and the realms we participate in. These two left an impression on me as they are strong entities offering unique propositions for all types of fans.

• Cosm
• Coca-Cola’s Christmas Always Finds a Way campaign