Lexus booked a car display with Motivate Val Morgan, through Play Dooh at VOX Cinemas – City Centre Mirdif during the Eid Weekened (7-14 July 2022).
The car display featured the all-new Lexus IS 350 2022 in the foyer area of the popular cinema location, and was timed to coincide with the release of the long-awaited Marvel blockbuster Thor: Love and Thunder.
Perfectly blending power, enthralling performance, striking design and sophistication, Lexus IS delivers a driving experience that stirs every emotion.
Motivate Val Morgan offers a range of off screen promotional activities to compliment and support on screen advertising, ranging from Digital Screens, Sampling Inside Cinemas, to Lighboxes, and much more.
Contact a member of our sales team for more information on how off-screen cinema advertising could help move your brand closer to its target audience, and click here to read more on Lexus IS.
Muvi Park Avenue – Riyadh is the latest addition to the operator’s extensive cinema network in the kingdom.
Saudi homegrown cinema brand Muvi Cinemas opened its twenty-first location at Park Avenue Mall, Riyadh on 28 April 2022.
The 10 screens cinema with a total of 1,277 seats also features a ScreenX and an Xperience screen, and it is the eighth cinema by the operator in Riyadh city.
The cinema is part of the newly opened outdoor mall in the city – Park Avenue, which offers a variety of entertainment and shopping options, restaurants, cafes and children’s amusement parks for the entire family to enjoy and experience.
Muvi Cinemas presently operates 205 screens across 21 locations in 9 cities of Saudi Arabia.
Contact a member of our sales team for cinema advertising opportunities at Muvi – Park Avenue – Riyadh.
Source: Muvi Cinemas
Motivate Val Morgan in partnership with VOX Cinemas, hosted a private screening of Thor: Love and Thunder at Mall of the Emirates on Thursday 14th July at – the first screening post COVID-19 and for the year 2022.
With an attendance of over 75 invitees – a mix of agency and direct clients (and their family members), the private screening was a massive success and the first of many more ahead for this year!
We would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank VOX Cinemas for helping us organize and execute this screening – making it a memorable one!
Finally, a huge thank you out to our invitees who attended, thus contributing to its immense success.
Stay tuned for more updates on future ‘Private Screenings’ by Motivate Val Morgan.
United Arab Emirates wins 2 Grand Prix, 2 Gold, 13 Silver and 5 Bronze Lions at the 2022 Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity.
Cannes Lions – the largest gathering in the creative marketing community, has announced all the winners of its 69th Festival awards, and UAE, once again, has emerged victorious at the event which took place between 20 – 24 June in Cannes, France.
United Arab Emirates won 22 Lions – 2 Grand Prix, 2 Gold, 13 Silver and 5 Bronze, across multiple categories, including first time wins in the category of Entertainment for Sport and Social & Influencer. The UAE also secured 61 shortlists at this year’s Festival.
This year’s winning agencies/clients from the UAE include Havas Middle East, Impact BBDO Dubai, Horizon FCB Dubai, TBWA\RAAD Dubai, VMLY&R Commerce MENA, Keko Dubai and UAE Government Media Office:
Simon Cook, CEO, LIONS, commented: “Cannes Lions is a global platform, and it’s been an incredible week, as the global creative community reunited in Cannes once again. Our community came together from across the globe, and from every corner of the industry, to drive progress through creativity, for business, the planet, and society at large. I would like to congratulate everyone who entered, who made the shortlists and who won a Lion to set the benchmark for creative excellence on the global stage.”
2022 also witnessed 13 professionals from the creative marketing/communication community represent the United Arab Emirates at the Cannes Lions Festival as awarding and shortlisting jury members:
Ali Rez (Regional Executive Creative Director – Impact BBDO Dubai), Priya Sarma (Head of Corporate Affairs & Sustainability – Unilever), Akhilesh Bagri (Chief Creative Officer – Serviceplan Middle East), Paul Banham (Regional Executive Creative Director – MullenLowe MENA), Lucy Harvey (Managing Director Middle East, Turkey, India & Africa – Hill+Knowlton Strategies Middle East) and Ali Cheikhali (Creative Strategy Lead, Creative Works MENA/TR/SSA – Google) were part of the awarding jury across Print & Publishing, Sustainable Development Goals, Brand Experience & Activation, Industry Craft, PR and Creative Commerce respectively. Shortlisting jury members included Alok Gadkar (Executive Creative Director & Managing Director – Group Partnership), Racha Makarem (Chief Executive Officer MENA – Starcom MENA), Aunindo Sen (Executive Creative Director – FP7 McCann), Ivan Bormaister (Associate Creative Director – M&C Saatchi UAE), Dana Tahir (General Manager – Red Havas ME), Pablo Maldonado (Executive Creative Director – Grey Dubai) and Till Hohmann (Chief Creative Officer MENA – Memac Ogilvy) across Health & Wellness, Media, Direct, Film, PR, Design and Outdoor respectively.
Representing the UAE at this year’s International Young Lions Digital Competition (for young creative below the age of 30 years in the digital category) and the Roger Hatchuel Academy (a mentorship programme for university students in the field of creative communications), were Rebecca Menezes and Eduardo Cesar Guimarães from Saatchi & Saatchi MEA, and Fatma Al Suwaidi from American University in Dubai.
As the official representatives of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in the UAE, Motivate Media Group and Motivate Val Morgan warmly congratulates all Lion winners from the UAE, and the jury members and young talent who represented the country at this year’s Festival.
Source: Cannes Lions ‘The Work’
The META Film Fest will be a three-day event filled with star-studded premieres, celebrating Hollywood, Bollywood, Arab and African content.
The inaugural META Film Fest has been launched by META Cinema Forum – the pioneering cinema convention for Middle East and Africa, in partnership with VOX Cinemas – the largest cinema exhibitor in the region, and is set to bring the latest blockbusters as well as independent, regional, and local productions to movie lovers over a three-day jammed packed festival from 27-29 October, at VOX Cinemas Nakheel Mall in Dubai, UAE.
Leila Masinaei, Managing Partner, The Great Minds Group (organizers of the META Cinema Forum) stated, “a selection committee will review all the submissions from around the global and the final 30-40 films will make it to the festival. Expect at least four to five blockbusters that will premiere with their stars walking the red carpet, after-parties with talents, and it will all culminate with an awards ceremony honouring the best in cinema.”
A film fund is another feature of this festival, where 2 pre-production content ideas submitted by regional talent, one full feature film idea and one documentary idea, will be chosen to be funded for production, and will be subsequently screened at the festival’s future editions and will be supported through marketing and worldwide distribution. This feature is dedicated to discovering Arab talent and contributing to production of world class Arabic content.
While the region was initially exposed to festivals such as Dubai International Film Festival and the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, the META Film Fest is billed as the first private-sector and industry stakeholder-led film festival in the Middle East and Africa.
“We are trying to engage as many audiences as we can at this festival … This is going to be a place for creative people to sit together, develop ideas, and produce great content too,” added Masinaei .
Due to the festival’s location, the event guarantees one of the most diversified audiences present at any festival, while boasting the legendary glitz and glamour of Dubai.
Sources: META Film Fest and Gulf News
Cinema ad spend in the U.S is expected to grow by 168% in 2022.
The advertising industry was one of the most affected by the pandemic. 2021 however, witnessed a rapid bounce back, with most mediums reaching a record high and surpassing pre-pandemic levels.
In a recent study, Magna Advertising forecasted U.S. ad spend in 2022 for each medium, and while most mediums are expected to grow less in 2022 – a result of the doom-and-gloom narrative surrounding the ad market owing to the impending recession, ad spend on cinema is expected to increase by 168%.
Due to a disappointing first half in 2021, full-year ad sales amounted to just 24% of pre-COVID levels, however it is projected that cinema advertising will enjoy its first quasi-normal year since 2019, with audience admissions already witnessing a boost with the release of The Batman, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Top Gun: Maverick, and a large slate of blockbusters set to release over Q3 and Q4 2022: Jurassic World Dominion, Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Black Adam and Avatar: The Way of Water.
As movie attendance is on the rise, marketers in both the U.S and globally are also looking at the ‘attention’ aspect cinema affords advertisers. Recent research by Amplified Intelligence reveals that cinema scores 80% ‘active’ attention and 20% ‘passive attention’ with zero wastage and no decay – the highest statistic thus far for active attention in a market of 30-40% attention average.
Sources: Magna Global, Variety and Mi3
‘Don’t Choose Extinction’ global cinema ad aims to inspire movie theater audiences to join fight against climate change.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Global Cinema Adervtising Association (SAWA) launched an eight-week international cinema advertising – ‘Don’t Choose Extinction’, on 12 May, 2022, aimed at raising awareness of the climate emergency and spurring broader and the urgent action to address it.
In the 60-second ‘Don’t Choose Extinction’ cinema ad, Frankie, an animated dinosaur is seen storming into the UN General Assembly, seizing its iconic podium, and urging stunned-looking dignitaries to avoid the dinosaurs’ fate—extinction—by making changes to tackle the climate crisis.
At the red-carpet launch of the film’s cinema release, SAWA and the Global Cinema Medium were presented the inaugural UNDP ‘Frankie’ Award for Climate Impact. The honor recognizes SAWA and the Global Cinema Medium’s tremendous efforts to screen the 60-second spot in 30 countries during a two-month period. The cinema ad, produced in 15 languages, has been mastered and distributed by UniqueX in the United Kingdom.
The animated Utharaptor, the first computer-generated character to appear inside the iconic General Assembly building, anchors UNDP’s ‘Don’t Choose Extinction’ Campaign. The original film was voiced in 39 languages and features famous actors from around the world, including Jack Black (English), Eiza González (Spanish), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Danish), and Aïssa Maïga (French) and has been translated into more than 60 languages.
“While the global cinema ad is entertaining, it addresses issues that could not be more serious,” UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner said. “It urges countries to phase out fossil fuels subsidies, which harm the environment in ways that threaten our very existence. UNDP is deeply grateful to SAWA and the Global Cinema medium for its commitment to climate action and generous support in sharing this film through cinemas in 30 countries around the world.”
“Since 2015, the Global Cinema Medium has partnered with the United Nations to advance its Sustainable Development Goals. Again, in 2022, although cinema has been one of the hardest hit industries during the pandemic, our Global Cinema advertising companies have committed to supporting this campaign on climate change—seen as one of the most pressing challenges of our time.” said Cheryl Wannell, SAWA, CEO. “Gen Z, Millennials and Gen X put climate action high on the list for both themselves and the brands they use. They are among the hardest demographics to reach and comprise the core cinema audience.”
“Fossil fuel subsidies contribute to climate change and growing inequalities around the world. But there isn’t enough global awareness or understanding around this issue. The cinema release of the Don’t Choose Extinction campaign hopes to change all that by using creativity to inform and inspire millions of moviegoers around the world to take action,” said Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, UNDP Goodwill Ambassador and the Danish voice of Frankie the dinosaur.
Click here for more information on the ‘Don’t Choose Extinction’ ad campaign and to learn how to get involved in addressing climate change.
CinemaCon 2022 took place between 25 – 28 April 2022 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
CinemaCon, the annual convention organized by the National Association of Theatre Owners, is back after a cancelled 2020 edition and a muted 2021 affair.
Only eight months ago, the movie theater industry congregated at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The previous edition took place at a time when the cinema industry was in constant flux, with fewer overseas delegates, pre-recorded studio presentations, and a low turnout on the trade show floor.
The industry has made great strides since CinemaCon 2021, after a string of box office successes – Spider-Man: No Way Home, The Batman, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and a far more stabilized movie release calendar, which have given cinema owners the foundation to pursue a serious recovery. The worst looks to be behind movie owners around the world, with theatrically exclusive films returning to big screen and recent box office figures suggesting that viewers are returning to the medium.
Here’s a look at the biggest studio announcements from the largest annual gathering of the motion picture industry:
Sony Pictures:
Sony opened the studio presentations at CinemaCon 2022 with a victory lap. Tom Rothman, chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment, who energized the studio’s 2021 showcase to exhibitors by expressing a strong commitment to theatrical exclusivity.
Sony Pictures Entertainment has earned a whopping $3.3 billion in global box office since their last appearance in CinemaCon, only eight months back.
The studio’s 2022 presentation began with an extended look at the upcoming comedy-action caper Bullet Train (July 29) and continued its presentation further with the new looks of Where the Crawdads Sing (July 15) and The Woman King (September 16), original titles the studio believes will help balance the tentpole-heavy release schedule of the coming months.
Warner Bros.:
Warner Bros. started the presentation at CinemaCon 2022 by unveiling an early first look at footage from The Flash.
The major announcement of the evening was confirmation from studio chairman Toby Emmerich that director Matt Reeves and star Robert Pattinson would be coming back for another installment of The Batman.
Fans also caught the first glimpse of Margot Robbie in the starring role for Barbie, now scheduled for a July 21, 2023 release.
Director Baz Luhrman gave an enthusiastic introduction to footage from his upcoming Elvis, scheduled for a June 24 release, the film will confront the challenge of re-engaging older moviegoers.
Other non-franchise Warner Bros. titles featured in the presentation include the Timothy Chalamet musical Wonka (Christmas 2023), Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry, Darling starring Florence Pugh (September 23), and the Stephen King adaptation Salem’s Lot (September 9).
Warner Bros.’ focus on original titles didn’t overshadow the other DC Comics properties on its schedule. Their CinemaCon presentation included advance looks at Shazam! Fury of the Gods (December 16), Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom (March 17, 2023), DC League of Super-Pets (July 29), and Black Adam (October 21).
Disney:
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige opened the ceremony introducing a 20-minute clip of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Marvel titles have been a financial lifeline for the industry since cinemas reopened with titles like Black Widow, Shan-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, The Eternals, and Spider-Man: No Way Home.
The CinemaCon 2022 audience also enjoyed a 30-minute look at Lightyear, the first Pixar title to hit theaters since Onward.
Disney turned the rest of the presentation over to its 20th Century Studios division, where audiences got a first look at footage of David O. Russell’s Amsterdam (November 4). The title promises to be a star-studded big screen experience driven by leads Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, and John David Washington.
Six minutes of The Bob’s Burgers Movie (May 27) also screened for the audience, emerging as a promising counter-programming option set to open alongside Top Gun: Maverick over Memorial Day weekend.
Producer Jon Landau came on stage to share Disney’s biggest announcement of the morning. Avatar 2, now titled Avatar: The Way of Water, will stick to its December 16 release date.
Universal Studios:
Universal Studios’ presentation represented with footage from Jordan Peele’s Nope (July 22), David Gordon Green’s Halloween Ends (October 14), and the Blumhouse evil robot thriller M3gan (January 13, 2023).
Highlights from the showcase also included enthusiastic responses from exhibitors for comedies Easter Sunday (August 5), Minions: The Rise of Gru (July 1), and Bros (September 30). Universal’s presentation closed with legacy cast members of Jurassic World: Dominion introducing a trailer for the film ahead of its June 10 release.
Focus Features:
Focus Features president Lisa Bunnell introduced footage from several upcoming titles. Focus will bring a diverse slate to theaters in 2022 that includes movies like Downton Abbey: A New Era (May 18) and Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (July 15), genre plays like action-comedy flick Violent Night (December 2), and dramas like James Gray’s Armageddon Time.
Neon:
Neon showcased footage from a trio of its own titles to complement the week’s tentpole-driven presentations. David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future (June 3) is sure to make audiences squirm as the legendary director returns to his roots in body horror.
Lionsgate:
Lionsgate showcased upcoming comedy About My Father. The Studio also revealed never before seen footage of a slate that balances original films like coming-of-age comedy Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret and horror flick The Devil’s Light with established action franchises like John Wick Chapter 4 and The Expendables 4.
The studio is also building spin-off series based on successful films. The drama White Bird will act as a sort of spiritual prequel to Lionsgate’s 2017 hit Wonder, while Ballerina will give star Anna de Armas her own series in the John Wick universe.
The CinemaCon 2022 audience caught their first glimpse of the video game adaptation Borderlands and a new Dirty Dancing movie heralding the return of original star Jeniffer Grey.
The big news from the Lionsgate showcase came in the final moments of the presentation with the announcement of a new Hunger Games prequel dated for November 17, 2023. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes could provide a return to major global grosses for Lionsgate, which has played a larger role with mid-range titles since the Hunger Games series concluded in 2015.
Paramount Pictures:
Paramount Pictures kept most of the focus of its CinemaCon 2022 presentation on Top Gun: Maverick, which got its first public screening at the Las Vegas gathering Thursday.
The studio still had a few other big announcements to make. Among them were two title announcements for Paramount’s biggest franchises: Mission: Impossible and A Quiet Place. The seventh M:I film will be titled Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning: Part One while the upcoming “Quiet Place” spinoff from director Michael Sarnoski will be called A Quiet Place: Day One. Both films are set for release in 2023.
Source: Boxoffice Pro
Alok Gadkar, Racha Makarem, Aunindo Sen, Ivan Bormaister, Dana Tahir, Pablo Maldonado and Till Hohmann from the UAE to join Cannes Lions 2022 shortlisting jury line-up
As the official representatives of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Motivate Media Group and Motivate Val Morgan are pleased to announce the line-up of shortlisting jury members from the UAE who will complete the initial stage of judging for this year’s Cannes Lions awards.
Health and Wellness Lions
Alok Gadkar
Executive Creative Director & Managing Director
Group Partnership
Born Sagittarius, 1977. Dribbles the ball at Don Bosco High School. Clicks the shutter & acquires BFA from Sir J. J. Institute of Applied Art. Wins state & art school awards. Hopps, skips & jumps as Art Director from Mudra Communications to Leo Burnett to Enterprise Nexus. Works hard on brands like Times of India, Killer Jeans, McDonald’s, The Economic times & more.
Represents Lowe from Asia as one of the youngest creatives at Cannes Lions on invitation by Adrian Holmes. Drops into Dubai on the way back. Falls in love with the hottest melting pot of culture. Moves to Dubai. Joins Partnership in 2003. Named Campaign Magazine’s young creative to watch in the region. Quits Partnership in 2007. Joins Lowe MENA. Moves back after 9 months.
Creates Iconic Splash Calendar in 2011. Continues to be Iconic every year. Wins first One Show Silver Pencil for Khaild Javed, a humble cobbler in Bur Dubai. Wins first Gold & Silver Cannes Lion for Aster Clinics & the UAE in Health.
Starts judging at Cannes Lions in 2018. Continues jury journey at Clio Health, LIA, Adstars, AME Awards, The Global Awards, New York Festivals & KYIV Festival. Keeps winning. Amassing over 200 awards at Cannes Lions, Dubai Lynx, One Show, D&AD, & more. Named among region’s Top 10 ECDs multiple times. Creates first-ever global campaign on invitation by SA Federation for Mental Health in 2018. Speaks on the global stage at Cannes Lions, Dubai Lynx, Mena Cristal. Mentors students at GEMS International School, FAD Fashion Institute & Middle Sex University.
Continues the show as MD & ECD.
Media Lions
Racha Makarem
Chief Executive Officer MENA
Starcom MENA
Racha is responsible for driving business outcomes by putting forward solutions that accelerate growth for partners as they navigate through an increasingly complex & uncertain ecosystem. Passionate about building brands, Racha strongly believes that key to any business or marketing transformation starts with investing behind the human capital & the right partnerships. In her role, she continues to focus on building diverse capabilities to solve for & unlock growth opportunities for clients across the region. What excites her about her role is that she gets to work with world class talent to accelerate growth for some of the most exciting global & regional brands/partners. Her experience spans across tourism, tech, luxury, automotive, government, CPG, payment solutions, entertainment & commerce to name a few.
Throughout her career Racha has worked closely with industry bodies to enhance & set measurement guidelines and principles. She is an elected board member in the IAB MENA & an active member in the D&I committee dedicated to positively influence corporate leaders & policy makers to value diversity & inclusion as a key currency for the growth of the digital economy. She has actively worked & collaborated with industry leaders to technically consult on ways of advancing audience measurement across MENA.
Previously to leading Starcom, Racha spent 15 years overseeing the A&I (Analytics & Insights) practice at Publicis Media. Her last assignment as a practice lead was to merge the DTI (data, tech & innovation) practice with A&I to create the Data Science Practice for the Groupe.
Racha is a mother of two and enjoys building puzzles & Lego with her kids, in addition to reading, meditating & spending quality time with her family, friends & dog.
Direct Lions
Aunindo Sen
Senior Creative Director
Leo Burnett MEA
Aunindo is Senior Creative Director at Leo Burnett, Dubai. With a career of 14 years, Aunindo started his career at JWT Mumbai, on Cadbury’s and various other brands. Spending the last 12 years in the MENA Region, he has previously worked at FP7/Mccann and Impact BBDO where he has been Creative Director on Nestle CPW, Snickers, Coca-Cola, Pepsico, Dove, JIF, Omo and Dettol among other brands, on both regional and global campaigns.
Along the way, he has been recognized with nearly a century of awards at Cannes, One Show, Clio, London International, Cresta, Epica, Dubai Lynx, Effies, Loeries and the Cristals.
He was recently ranked as the No.32 Copywriter in the world in the Big Won Report for advertising.
Film Lions
Ivan Bormaister
Associate Creative Director
M&C Saatchi UAE
Ivan is a Senior Creative from São Paulo with 12+ years of experience, now living in Dubai .
His work has been honored at Cannes Lions, The One Show, D&AD, LIA, Dubai Lynx, New York Festivals, Loeries and AdStars, among others. He also served as a jury member in Ad festivals and had his work published on Adweek, AdAge, Campaign and Lurzer’s Archive.
After traveling with indie bands photographing concerts, he started studying design and advertising. He did some graffiti and illustrations for brands such as Nike, which invited him to work on projects for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Rio Olympics.
He worked at creative agencies in Brazil as an Art Director, the last of which was DM9DDB. In 2017, accepted an invitation to move to the Middle East to work at Saatchi & Saatchi Dubai, later VMLY&R, the 2020 Middle East and Africa’s Cannes Lions Agency of the Decade. Having achieved success on his projects, Ivan was recruited to be part of the M&C Saatchi Group, the world’s largest independent communications network.
PR Lions
Dana Tahir
General Manager
Red Havas ME
With over 14 years of experience in the PR & Communications industry, Dana has been a pillar at Havas PR Middle East, where her role has spanned across all aspects of the agency’s growth, strategic counsel, team management and overall operations. Recognized for brand building, consultancy, and crisis management, know-how, and do-how, Dana has successfully led the agency’s post-digital transformation in recent years, allowing Havas PR to expand its footprint and diversify its portfolio across industries and disciplines.
Aligning with the global strategic direction of the Group. The new agency vision embraces the micro networks merged media strategic model which integrates earned, social, and experiential capabilities with content at the heart.
Prior to joining Havas PR, Dana worked at Leo Burnett, directly handling the Procter & Gamble portfolio. Dana has also recently joined Middle East Public Relations Association as a strategy board member.
Design Lions
Pablo Maldonado
Executive Creative Director
Grey Dubai
Pablo is Executive Creative Director at GREY Dubai but has also been named among the Top 10 Creative Directors in Argentina for the last 4 years by Lürzer’s Archive.
Over the past 17 years he has been one of the most effective and awarded Argentinean creatives in different markets such as Argentina, Mexico, US Hispanic, and now in the UAE.
His key role in Unilever’s ‘Degree Inclusive’ project, the world’s first deodorant designed for people with upper limb and visual disabilities, earned the Wunderman Thompson network its first Cannes Lions Grand Prix in 2020/21, and the first Grand Prix for Innovation in the history of Argentina.
Prior to this, he helped LatinWorks rank #9 in all of USA on Ad Age’s Agency A-List, and DDB as the #1 Mexican agency in the Gunn Report 2012, and #2 in 2011.
A standout in most young creative competitions, Pablo has not only been awarded 1 Grand Prix at Cannes, but 6 other Grand Prix’s and nearly 400 awards (32 Golds) from some of the most prestigious festivals in the world, including Cannes, Clio, One Show, D&AD, LIA, Epica, and Effie, among others.
At the last Cannes Lions, he helped Wunderman Thompson become the Most Innovative Network of the Year and the LIA’s 2021 Regional Agency of the Year in South America.
He is a regular member of Global Creative Councils and has chaired and judged several industry shows, such as the One Show, New York Festivals, The Drum, Cresta, and many others.
Outdoor Lions
Till Hohmann
Chief Creative Officer MENA
Memac Ogilvy
Since late 2021, Till leads Memac Ogilvy as Chief Creative Officer across 14 offices in the diverse MENA region based out of Dubai.
A role all about accelerating the network’s ability to deliver connected solutions, smart experiences, creative concepts, and borderless creativity for some of the world’s most exciting brands. This demands a decidedly media-neutral and channel-agnostic approach as well as a focus on work that has an impact.
It’s this approach and focus that he has built his 20+ year multinational career on. He has lead units, offices, countries, and regions at famous creative independent agencies as well as powerful global networks – out of Germany, the UAE and Singapore. His work for brands such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, GSK, The Economist, ACDelco, Unilever and many more has won 450+ industry awards across all disciplines at all major industry competitions. He has also been a member as well as jury president at many iconic festivals.
Interestingly, one of his achievements includes leading the regional Memac Ogilvy network to claim the Dubai Lynx Agency of the Year 2010 title, while based in Dubai for the first time, years ago (2007-2010).
Shortlist jurors will judge remotely online in advance of the festival and will receive full complimentary jury registration to this year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity from 20-24 June in Cannes, France.
This year’s Festival will also witnesses the highest ever representation of both awarding and shortlisting jurors from the UAE across 12 categories – Print & Publishing, Sustainable Development Goals, Brand Experience & Activation, Industry Craft, PR, Creative Commerce, Health and Wellness, Media, Direct, Film, Design and Outdoor.
The Cannes Lions Festival will be accessible to everyone, and delegate registration is now open. If anyone is unable to travel for any reason, LIONS Members get exclusive digital access to Cannes Lions – plus a series of other benefits, throughout the year.
Ali Rez, Priya Sarma, Akhilesh Bagri, Paul Banham, Lucy Harvey and Ali Cheikhali from the UAE to join Cannes Lions 2022 awarding jury member line-up.
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity returns in 2022 as a live event, and will provide an annual forum for the global industry to address the most pressing issues that they and the world are facing today.
As the official representatives of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in the UAE, Motivate Media Group and Motivate Val Morgan are pleased to announce the line-up of awarding jury members from the UAE who will come together in Cannes to complete the final stage of judging and awarding of Lions.
Print & Publishing Lions
Ali Rez
Regional Executive Creative Director
Impact BBDO Group MENAP
Ranked amongst the Top 10 ECDs in the world on the World Creative Rankings and named Creative of the Year twice by Campaign magazine, Ali Rez is one of the most successful creative leaders in EMEA. Rez’s work has been instrumental in Impact BBDO Dubai being named the No.2 Creative Agency In The World in 2021 on the WARC report, and has brought tremendous positive impact to business and social causes alike — he currently leads creative output for the IMPACT BBDO Group across the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan region.
Rez has won more than 600 international accolades in his career spanning four continents over 20 years, which include several Cannes Lions, Clios, D&AD, Effies, and a United Nations Peace Medal – awards which have led him to be ranked No.1 ECD in MENA and APAC in 2021 on a number of creative rankings.
Moving from California, Rez currently lives in Dubai, where he is an avid mountain biker. Besides lecturing at Oxford University and St.Martin’s College, Rez has exhibited at Tate UK, spoken at Tedx, captained a cricket county team, and — being a firm believer that curiosity leads to creativity — has traveled to 133 countries.
Sustainable Development Goals Lions
Priya Sarma
Head of Corporate Affairs & Sustainability
Unilever
Priya joined Unilever in February 2008 as the Corporate Communication Manager for Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and is based in Jebel Ali, Dubai which is the regional Unilever headquarter. In January 2012 she was assigned the additional responsibility for Employee Engagement across the countries of MENA, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. In 2019 she was promoted as Sr. Sustainability Head for MENA, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus & Turkey and in 2021 the additional remit of MENA External Affairs was added to her portfolio.
Prior to joining Unilever, Priya worked in global advertising agencies including FCB Ulka, India, Equity Advertising (an affiliate of Grey Communication) Egypt, and Lowe Look (an affiliate of Lowe Worldwide), Egypt.
In 2016, she led the formation of the Advertising Business Group (ABG) and has been its Board Member since 2016. The ABG is GCC’s largest advertising and marketing self-regulatory body with over 60 members who account for over 70% of the MENA’s advertising spend.
Since 2018 she has been representing the Multinational Companies Business Group in the FCSA led Private Sector Advisory Council on the SDG’s. In Nov 2020, Priya led the launch of the UAE Chapter of the Unstereotype Alliance (UA) in partnership with UN Women. The UA is a thought and action platform that seeks to eradicate harmful gender-based stereotypes in media and advertising. For this, she was recognised by Campaign Magazine as a ‘Marketing Game Changer 2020’.
Brand Experience & Activation Lions
Akhilesh Bagri
Chief Creative Officer
Serviceplan Middle East
Akhilesh started his journey in advertising in Mumbai at a malleable age of 17, before which he was a full-time teenager. A copywriter by trait he has worked at various acronymed and unacronymed agencies such as DDB, BBDO, JWT, McCann and Leo Burnett.
Flashback, 2007: Akhilesh wins an all-expenses trip to Cannes as a student to be part of the Roger Hatchuel Academy. Still wet behind the ears he has no idea what to expect from the week. His mind is blown.
Present Day, 2022 : Now a multiple-award winning creative and CCO of Dubai Lynx Independent Agency of the Year (how about that plug) Akhilesh gets invited to an all-expenses paid trip to Cannes, this time as a jury member. He still has no idea what to expect from the week. His mind is prepared to be blown.
Industry Craft Lions
Paul Banham
Regional Executive Creative Director
MullenLowe MENA
Paul has been the ECD of seven world-class agencies over the last 20 years. In that time, he’s helped to steer the way to 22 ‘Agency of the Year’ titles. His work has collected more than 700 awards for creativity and effectiveness. And he’s ranked in the world’s top fifty ECDs four times – 2008 #17th, 2014 #27th, 2016 #9th, 2021 #36th.
He’s judged at D&AD, One Show, Campaign BIG, NYF, IAB, Caples, Immortals, Lories, TIKTOK and many other global shows, and he has spoken on a variety of subjects at the likes of Cannes and Lynx. Paul’s work/opinions have also been published in many advertising books/annuals and editorials in the Guardian and The Wall Street Journal.
After moving from London to Dubai in 2012, he helped steer FP7 McCann to the enviable position of No.1 – ‘The World’s Most Effective Agency’ (Effie’s). Currently, he’s working to lift MullenLowe MENA to equally lofty heights – In 2021 alone, they collected 130+ global Awards – and three ‘Agency of the Year’ titles, including the Campaign Tech’s ‘Global Agency of the Year’ and New York Festival’s ‘Regional Agency of the Year’ 2021. Out of the top 200 agencies on the Drum Report, MullenLowe ranked 17th in 2021. They were the AME Awards’ 2nd Most Awarded Agency Globally in 2021 and the Caples Awards’ 5th Most Awarded Agency Globally.
PR Lions
Lucy Harvey
Managing Director, Middle East, Turkey, India + Africa
Hill+Knowlton Strategies Middle East
Lucy has over two decades of experience in the communications industry. She has worked with some of the world’s most recognisable brands and is currently supporting the growth of the creative firepower of H+K through the development of its award-winning Studio and Innovation + Creative hub in the Middle East, Turkey, India, and Africa.
Now living in Dubai with her family, Lucy has developed and led memorable campaigns, and delivered professional trainings to leaders across the region’s C-suite. Lucy’s resume includes consumer launches, impactful government communications for national and global initiatives, and effective internal campaigns. She champions the intersection of technical innovation and creativity, something the team at H+K are working on; but is most impressed by insightful ideas that are brought to life with simplicity, beauty and clarity. A big believer in giving back, Lucy is known in the industry as an ardent champion of nurturing young talent.
Currently listed in the PRWeek Middle East Power Book, she has been actively involved with Dubai Lynx as a coach and mentor in the See It Be it programme for young female talent, and is a regular judge and speaker for awards, seminars, and workshops.
Originally from the UK, Lucy previously worked for Freud Communications and in video production at The Press Association.
Creative Commerce Lions
Ali Cheikhali
Creative Strategy Lead – Creative Works MENA/TR/SSA
Google
Ali is an award-winning Creative Strategy Lead who works with brands and agencies across MENA, Turkey and SSA on maximizing their creative impact to solve critical business problems. In his role, he pushes the boundaries of Google’s tools and platforms to drive innovative work at the intersection of data, technology, and creativity. Before joining Google from the agency world, Ali was one of the most awarded creative strategists in MENA. The Drum’s ‘Big Won Rankings’ ranked him among the Top 20 Planners Worldwide in 2018 and the B&W Report named him MENA’s Planner of the Year in 2017.
Today, Ali enjoys being on the judging side of top award shows such as Cannes Lions, Dubai Lynx, WARC and New York Festivals in addition to teaching his Design Thinking & Product Creation course at Miami Ad School. Outside of work, and when he’s not agonizing over his favorite football team’s performances, he spends most of his time as a self-proclaimed food and filmmaking critic.
The initial stages of judging will take place remotely, with a cohort of Shortlist jury from the UAE to be announced over the week ahead.
On the judging at the Cannes Lions 2022 Festival, Philip Thomas, Chairman, LIONS, said, “The return of the physical Festival to Cannes in June allows us once again to bring the juries together in person to define the benchmark of creativity.”
The Cannes Lions Festival will take place between 20-24 June, and will be accessible to everyone, and delegate registration is now open. If anyone is unable to travel for any reason, LIONS Members get exclusive digital access to Cannes Lions – plus a series of other benefits, throughout the year.
More information on this year’s Cannes Lions jury can be found at canneslions.com/jury.
