At Mediaweek’s Next of the Best Awards 2025, Mary Karananos was honoured with the Advertising Creative award, recognising her as one of the brightest talents in Australia’s media landscape.
As Paramount Brand Studio Associate Creative Director at Paramount Australia, Karananos has led innovative campaigns for major brands including LG, Kellogg’s, Crown, Lion, and ANZ, across flagship programs like MasterChef Australia, I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, and Gogglebox Australia.
The judges were impressed by her ability to take on any project and exceed the objectives with a great blend of creativity and commercial awareness describing her as “someone whose excellence shines through”.
Here, she tells Mediaweek how she feels to have won and how she approaches her work and her past successes.
Mary Karananos with colleagues from Paramount at Next of the Best.
The awards have been judged by an all-star line-up, what does it mean to you to be recognised by this group?
What makes this recognition especially meaningful is the diversity of the judging panel – leaders and trailblazers across so many corners of our industry. To be acknowledged by such a talented group is genuinely motivating and inspiring.
What’s the one thing you’re most proud of at work in the last 12 months?
The resilience and drive of my team – I’m surrounded by genuine, passionate people that take great pride in their work.
What’s been your biggest challenge so far in 2025?
Juggling giving 100% to both being a mum and working full time is incredibly challenging at times. But becoming a parent has also sharpened my focus and resilience, professionally, in ways I didn’t expect.
If you could give one piece of career advice to anyone who wants to be a Creative Director?
There’s no set path to becoming a Creative Director – everyone’s journey is different, and that’s a good thing. I’ve grown within a single organisation, evolving my role and navigating major change, which is now a strength. I would say, stay curious, challenge convention, build a broad skillset and above all, think strategically and connect your creativity to real business outcomes. That’s what sets great creative leaders apart.
What piece of work in the last 12 months has been your favourite and why?
It’s hard to pick just one, but if I had to choose a standout piece of work from the last 12 months, it would be our LG and MasterChef Australia campaign. It’s a great example of how leveraging the power of IP and talent across multiple, distinctive creative touch points can really cut through – not just driving brand awareness but influencing consideration.
Hearing from the client that customers are actively asking about the LG products they’ve seen on the show – that kind of direct, measurable impact is exactly what we aim for.
That said, our Kellogg’s integrated partnership has also been incredibly special. It’s spanned multiple formats and included an Australian-first, bringing some of our Gogglebox Australia families into the mix in bespoke content, doing what they do best: bantering over a bowl of Kellogg’s.
Both campaigns really highlight the power of storytelling when it’s tailored to platform and audience.
What’s on your priority list for the next 12 months?
For me, the next 12 months are about deepening collaboration with our internal teams locally and globally, and our partners and clients who are brave in their vision.
I’m focused on creating work that genuinely connects, shows up meaningfully in culture, and pushes creative boundaries across formats.
Collaboration is key, because when we’re all aligned, there’s trust and a willingness to take risks, that’s when the magic happens.
If you weren’t doing this as a career, what would you be doing?
Something creative and entrepreneurial with lots of travel and family time woven in.