Freshly excused from jury duty, Bob Scarpelli is enjoying a rare Friday afternoon at his Chicago home when he picks up the phone to speak about his upcoming turn as the Film and Print Jury President for the 2007 Cannes International Advertising Festival. Between looking for his dog in his garden and describing himself as "just a dad; a geek to my sons", Scarpelli exudes an everyman warmth that belies his 29 years in the ad industry and, as DDB's worldwide CCO and chairman, his status as steward of some of the world's most famous brands. But it's this lack of braggadocio that seems to inform his approach to determining the fate of this year's would-be Lions winners. Here, Scarpelli explains his hopes of bringing fairness and a consumer-centric view to judging the most ad-ish of ad awards.

Going into the process, what do you hope to bring to the jury this year?
Today, television is like a traditional medium. I'm hoping we honor ideas that are looking towards the future and are maybe using the medium in fresh new ways.

I think that the other thing I'll bring to the jury is absolute fairness. Any jury I've chaired, I've tried to be completely fair and listen to all opinions, because I'll get a lot of opinions and points of view, and hope that when we leave we can be proud of the work we've chosen. When people look at the work and see the winners, I want all of us to be proud that we made the best choices.

You mentioned that film is becoming a traditional medium. Where do you see things going in the industry?
We're not as reliant on television to reach people as we once were. That is exciting. You can make a film, a television special, you can create a game... you're not tied to a particular medium. The key thing is that we have to reach people where they are, not where we may think they are or where they might have been.

Given that TV is becoming part of a much larger fabric, does that make the job of the film jury more difficult?
That's one of the reasons there are the Titanium Lions. That was essentially started to honor the most innovative idea and I think that's kind of wandered around a little bit the last couple of years. I think most people look at it as integrated campaigns, but I know Alex [Bogusky, Titanium jury chair] is going to really try to honor the best, most innovative idea. With television, we can only look at it for what it is. Is it a really great idea? The way I look at things is how does it make me feel, what does it make me think?

After so many years in the industry, how do you keep in touch with the consumer side of things compared to that of the ad man?
That's why you have to have your real life outside of your business life. Our business life is consuming, but I don't ever think of myself as an ad guy. I just try to think of myself as a customer. I have a great family that keeps me grounded.

Do you have an impression of the output from the industry over this last year?
I don't know. I certainly know a lot of the work that's been going on, but I'm going into it with no expectations. I hope the whole jury is going into it fresh. I want to let us hit it when we're there. You have to look at it as a whole; the nature of judging is that you're basing it against everything that you see. Some years you know going in what is favored for the Grand Prix, like Honda "Grrr", and there's enough talk in the general public that you know what to expect. I'm not trying to put any of those parameters on myself or on the jury. I don't think anything's jumping out.

Do you think it's because of how much the industry has changed that some of the greatest work isn't necessarily "TV" work?
It's part of it, but not all of it. If you're going to work in the medium, you have to make it as great as you can. Right now, it's almost as if TV isn't the sexy medium anymore; it's the Internet. One of the things that I talked to Terry about was whether or not we should include films that have run only on the Internet in the film category. They're probably in the Cyber category at the moment. He's not quite ready to make that move yet. But you have to think about that. If it's not the Television category, which it isn't - it's the Film category - should all those films that go on the Internet and YouTube go in the Film category? I think it'll evolve over the years; it'll get there.