LIONS: See It Be It 2022 – Applications Now Open

See It Be It announces applications open for the 2022 programme

Five places are available for creative female talent to join the 2020/2021 cohort

This year’s See It Be It accelerator programme will take place at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity from 20-24 June 2022

 

Cannes Lions has announced that applications are open for the 2022 See It Be It programme, which aims to support creative female talent from across the global industry and accelerate them into senior creative roles.

 

Five places are available for female industry talent, from across the world, to join the 15 women already selected for the 2020/21 cohort. Together, they will take part in a unique development experience at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in June, receiving an all-access Festival pass, travel to and from Cannes, and accommodation, courtesy of the Festival, the group will attend an exclusive programme of events, workshops and mentoring with some of the most respected leaders in the industry today. To date, over 100 women have taken part in See It Be It, and many alumni have progressed into leadership positions, won Lions awards and become Cannes Lions jurors.

 

The See It Be It Ambassador for 2022 will be Swati Bhattacharya, Chief Creative Officer, FCB India, who will guide the participants through the programme, alongside the See It Be It Chair: Madonna Badger, CCO and Founder, Badger & Winters.

 

Swati Bhattacharya commented: “The most important element of See It Be It, is bringing the brightest women together and supporting them to take the lead in their career, to shine brighter, and to own it. Peer mentorship is a delicate dance of lifting each other up to achieve more. Gender is part of us, but it doesn’t define us. Women can and must lead and the need for the See It Be It programme is greater now than it has ever been.”

 

Susie Walker, VP Awards and Insight, LIONS, added: “See It Be It launched in 2014, in response to the gender imbalance across the creative communications industry. The programme provides networking and an array of support for female industry talent from across the globe in their career and leadership ambitions. We are delighted to extend the See It Be It programme in 2022 and support creative women in the industry from across the world to achieve personal and professional success.”

 

The 15 females already selected to take part in See It Be It 2020/2021, who will join the five newly selected creatives for the 2022 cohort in Cannes, are as follows: 

Allie Steel, Senior Writer, DDB – Australia

Andrea Auz, Creative Director, Paper – Ecuador

Denise Tee, Creative Consultant – Philippines,

Ellen Fromm, Senior Copywriter, AKQA Amsterdam – Netherlands

Geetanjali Jaiswal, Senior Creative Director, McCann – India

Javiera Wuth, Senior Copywriter, Pedro Juan y Diego – Chile

Karo Gómez, Social Media Strategist, Media.Monks – Mexico

Lauren Ferreira, Creative Director for Apple, TBWA\Media Arts Lab – USA

Letícia Rodrigues, Associate Creative Director, FCB Brazil – Brazil

Mica Gallino, Brand Creative Director, Nike – USA

Nedal Ahmed, Senior Writer, Wieden+Kennedy Tokyo – Japan

Rachel Chew, Associate Creative Director, Ogilvy – Singapore

Rosa Guerrero, Creative Leader, MoM Marketing of Minds – Dominican Republic

Tescia Deák, Creative Director, TBWA\Chiat\Day – USA

 

Applications close on 16 February 2022 and the full See It Be It 2022 cohort will be announced in March. Click here to apply
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity will take place from 20-24 June 2022, in Cannes, France. Click here to purchase passes.

 

Source: Cannes Lions Press Release

 

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Dubai Lynx Announces 2022 Jury Presidents

Thirteen experts will lead the Dubai Lynx juries to award outstanding creativity in branded communications from across MENA

 

Dubai Lynx, MENA’s premier Festival and Awards for creative excellence in branded communications, has announced the thirteen industry experts who will lead the 2022 juries.

 

The Jury Presidents will judge work entered across 20 different categories, including the newly launched Social & Influencer Lynx and refreshed Creative Effectiveness Lynx and PR Lynx.

 

About the Jury Presidents, Philip Thomas, Chairman, Dubai Lynx, said, “This is an exceptional group of global talent from across a spectrum of disciplines. We are delighted that, together with their juries, they will be responsible for setting the creative bar in the region as they view, discuss and award work from across MENA. It’s a privilege to be working with them and we’re already excited to see the outcome of their judging.

 

Ian Fairservice, Vice Chairman of Dubai Lynx, added: “Dubai Lynx, MENA’s premier festival of creativity, is making an eagerly awaited comeback. In 2022, a newly designed two-day learning and development experience will replace the full festival, with a smaller programme of community-focused networking and talks taking place in a number of venues across Dubai.”

 

The 2022 Dubai Lynx Jury Presidents have been announced as follows:

 

Dubai Lynx 2022

 

Brand Experience & Activation Jury President
Malcolm Poynton, Global Chief Creative Officer, Cheil Worldwide, Global

Creative Effectiveness and Creative Strategy Jury President
Nadja Bellan-White, Global Chief Marketing Officer, VICE Media Group, Global

Design and Industry Craft Jury President
Marta Swannie, Senior Creative Director, Superunion, United Kingdom

Direct and Outdoor Jury President
Chaka Sobhani, Global Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett, Global

Digital and Mobile Jury President
Wesley Ter Haar, Co-Founder, Media.Monks, Global

Entertainment Jury President
Asawin Phanichwatana, Deputy Chief Creative Officer, GREYnJ UNITED, Thailand

Film Jury President
Alex Grieve, Chief Creative Officer, AMV BBDO, United Kingdom

Film Craft Jury President
Khalil Bachooali, Founder & Managing Director, Offroad Films, India

Healthcare Jury President
Veronica Trujillo, Managing Director, TBWA\WorldHealth Mexico

Media Jury President
Anna Chitty, CEO, Starcom China

PR Jury President
Kat Thomas, Founder & Global Executive Creative Director, One Green Bean, Global

Print & Publishing and Radio & Audio Jury President
Tseliso Rangaka, Chief Creative Officer, FCB/HC Johannesburg, South Africa

Social & Influencer
Catalin Dobre, Chief Creative Officer McCann Worldgroup Romania & Creative Director McCann CEE, McCann, Romania

 

The winners of the 2022 awards will be revealed and celebrated at the Dubai Lynx Awards Show. Taking place at Dubai Opera House on 16 March 2022, the black-tie awards dinner is a night of celebration and networking for the whole industry.

 

Entries into Dubai Lynx are being accepted until 2 February 2022. For further information please visit the Dubai Lynx website

 

Tickets for the two-day learning and development experience will be available from 26 January 2022.

 

Source: Dubai Lynx

 

Cannes Lions Returns to Cannes, France in June 2022

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has confirmed that it will return to  Cannes, France, from 20-24 June 2022.

 

Philip Thomas, Chairman, LIONS, said, “We can’t wait to reunite the industry and bring the community together once again. For over 67 years, Cannes Lions has served as a convening force for the global creative community. As the world continues to shift and change we know that our role as conveners needs to evolve. Building Cannes Lions as a hybrid Festival will allow us to continue to reach our expanded creative community who we have welcomed through our digital initiatives over the last 18 months. It provides us with an opportunity to democratise, innovate and reinvent the Festival for the future.”

 

Plans for the Festival, which will build on LIONS Membership, the subscription-based, digital offering launched in March 2020, and which now has more than 10,000 members, are being developed to offer the global community even more flexibility and easier access to the home of creativity.

 

Simon Cook, Managing Director, LIONS, said, “We are putting the foundations in place to build a purposeful Festival that allows our community to come together in a meaningful way. Through highly curated content, community networking opportunities and agenda setting initiatives Cannes Lions will provide an annual forum for the global industry to address the most pressing issues the industry and world are facing today. In doing this, sustainability is top of mind for us – as it is for the industry – and we’ve committed to putting a sustainability agenda in place. Together with a number of partners, we are striving to deliver our most sustainable Festival in history.”

 

In early November 2021, LIONS opened its annual State of Creativity Study Designed to uncover the industry’s attitudes and approaches towards creativity, and paint an accurate picture of what will impact the creative economy tomorrow. The results of the study will form the LIONS 2022 editorial agenda across all of its platforms and events. Cannes Lions will open its call for content in January.

 

Speaking about the 2022 Cannes Lions juries, Susie Walker, VP, Awards & Insight, said, “Returning the Festival to Cannes means that we can once again bring our jurors together in person. Our unique judging technology allows us to carry out the initial judging stages remotely, but we’re delighted to be bringing the jurors back to Cannes to complete the final stages and award the Lions – as they have done since 1954. We can’t wait to hear the discussions and insights as our juries deep-dive into the work and set the global benchmark in creative excellence.”

 

Over the last 18 months, Cannes Lions, together with owners Ascential, has developed a health and safety standard that delivers industry best practice at live events. The Festival will adhere to the latest health guidelines leading up to and at the event. Cannes Lions will open for entries and registrations on 20 January 2022.

 

The LIONS Membership platform is the year-round home of creativity. For access to exclusive content, resources, training and networking find out more here.

 

 

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LIONS Launches New Initiative – The Brief

The Brief invites LIONS Members across the world to come together to create a progress-driving creative campaign for the World Woman Foundation

 

The winning team will receive complimentary passes to Cannes Lions 2022 and all entrants will see work showcased across global LIONS channels

 LIONS announces the launch of The Brief, a new initiative to bring creatives together to develop progress-driving creative campaigns for the World Woman Foundation to positively impact the future of women and girls across the world.

Open to all LIONS Members, The Brief will connect people from all corners of the globe, all levels of seniority, and from across the spectrum of creativity, to form teams who will compete to produce a winning campaign and brand identity for a new World Woman Foundation programme. On 15 November, a live briefing, hosted by LIONS Membership and the World Woman Foundation, will officially launch the challenge to all entered teams.

The work will be judged by a panel of creative industry legends, chaired by: Jonathan Mildenhall, Founder, TwentyFirstCenturyBrand. Jury members include: Nicky Bullard, CCO, MRM; Wesley ter Haar, Founder, Media.Monks; Josy Paul, Chairman, BBDO India and Mauricio Sarmiento CCO, Leo Burnett Bogotá.

Speaking about the initiative, Gaelle Comte, SVP, LIONS Membership, comments, “The Brief is an exciting and important moment in the LIONS Membership journey. At its heart the platform has always been about providing a place where our community can surround themselves with the very best advice, coaching, and opportunities to drive their creativity forward. This is a time for our Members to connect with others beyond their usual circle. We’re privileged to be in a position that allows us to convene the global industry and pull together the most diverse talent; we’re certain that as a result we will see some outstanding responses to the brief, with creativity being used as a full force for good.

The World Woman Foundation is a US-based 501(c)(3) public charity with a current global footprint in 20 countries and a vision to empower 1 million women and girls worldwide by 2030. It aims to elevate women’s socio-economic milieu by providing access to capital, building community, commerce opportunities, and coaching in STEAM fields.

Speaking about the partnership, Rupa Dash, CEO, World Woman Foundation, said, “We see women’s entrepreneurship as a critical factor for creating new jobs and contributing to societies’ social and economic growth. Our timely partnership with LIONS for The Brief will merge the power of creativity and gender equality to reimagine the global reset in a bold new way for female entrepreneurs worldwide. Our collaboration will ignite new ideas and energies to bring equity and equality for aspiring young female entrepreneurs to play a similar role in the global labor market irrespective of gender. Ultimately our shared mission to inspire and engage with female entrepreneurs, could possibly add $28 trillion, or 26% to the global gross domestic product (GDP), which will be a gamechanger.”

Teams will have four weeks to work on their creative idea ahead of the submission deadline on 10 December. The winners of The Brief will receive complimentary passes to attend the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in June 2022, and all entrants will see their work promoted on LIONS channels.

Key dates: 

Registration is now open
Registration closes: 5 November
Teams confirmed:12 November
Creative sprint: 4 weeks, with the deadline for submissions on 10 December.
Judging: 10-21 January
Winners announced: 26 January

Interested Members can register to take part in the programme here.

Further information on LIONS Membership and how to become a member is available here.

 

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LIONS Creativity Report Global Rankings Released

The LIONS Creativity Report recognises the world’s most creative companies, people and sectors globally: Nisha Ganatra, Director of Grand Prix Lion-winning ‘#wombstories’ for Libresse takes Director of the Festival; and Dentsu ranks first as Regional Network of the Festival – Asia Pacific.

 

LIONS has released the global LIONS Creativity Report, which benchmarks creative success across the industry. This year, the report is extended and the official rankings are presented alongside trends, analysis, and interviews with Lion-winning creators, uncovering what it takes to produce the highest-ranking work in the world.

 

The global rankings within the LIONS Creativity Report record the performance of the world’s most creative companies, people, and regions. The rankings are compiled using data from Lion-winning and shortlisted work across 2020 and 2021, including PwC as the process integrity partner at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity since 2013.

 

The LIONS Creativity Report presents four Regional Network of the Festival awards and 11 global awards: Holding Company, Network, Agency, Independent Agency, Creative Brand and Palme d’Or, as well as Health Network, Health Agency, Media Network, Agency by Track, and Independent Agency by Track of the Festival. The creative rankings also include the Festival’s top performing Director, Art Director, Creative Director and Copywriter.

 

The official rankings were revealed at LIONS Decoded, a one-day broadcast designed for international LIONS Members to learn and be inspired. Tuning in from across the globe, Decoded audiences saw 11 multi-Lion-winning ideas deconstructed and brought to life. Whether you missed the whole LIONS Decoded livestream, or just a few key sessions, you can now sit back, relax, and watch each and every session from LIONS Decoded on your brand new LIONS TV platform – exclusive to Members.

 

The LIONS Creativity Report is available to all LIONS Members and an expanded version is available to subscribers of LIONS’ insights and intelligence platform The Work.

 

Simon Cook, Managing Director, LIONS, comments: “Alongside the definitive rankings, the LIONS Creativity Report contains actionable insights that can support the creative community to learn from the global talent behind the world’s highest ranking creative work. The report spotlights the companies and people producing game-changing work and sets the benchmark for the future of creativity.”

 

Susie Walker, VP, Insight & Awards, LIONS, added: “Ranking in the LIONS Creativity Report is an immense achievement and we’re delighted to celebrate the creative success of the people and companies behind the work, within this report. The stories and insights demonstrate how creative excellence and effectiveness is impacting brands and businesses right across the globe.”

 

The official rankings are announced as follows. Full rankings are found within the report:

 

Creative Location Rankings:

  1. USA
  2. United Kingdom
  3. Brazil

 

Creative City Rankings:

  1. New York
  2. London
  3. São Paulo

 

Creative People of the Festival Rankings:

 

Director of the Festival

  1. Nisha Ganatra, CHELSEA PICTURES, New York, USA
  2. Markus Ahlm, COLONY, Stockholm, Sweden
  3. Similar But Different (Charlotte Fassler / Dani Girdwood), SMUGGLER, London, United Kingdom

 

Creative Director of the Festival

  1. Jean Zamprogno / Fernando Pellizzaro, DAVID, Miami, USA
  2. Niels Sienaert / Tim Schoenmaeckers, FCB CHICAGO, Chicago, USA
  3. Jim Hilson / Toby Allen, AMV BBDO, London, United Kingdom

 

Art Director of the Festival

  1. Felipe Antonioli, DAVID, Madrid, Spain
  2. Andy Tamayo, DAVID, Miami, USA
  3. Dwight Williams / Mateus Cerqueira, FCB CHICAGO, Chicago, USA

 

Copywriter of the Festival

  1. Luis Giraldo, DAVID, Madrid, Spain
  2. Alexander Allen, DAVID, Miami, USA
  3. Jared Schermer, DAVID, Miami, USA

 

Regional Network of the Festival – Asia Pacific

  1. DENTSU
  2. OGILVY
  3. DDB WORLDWIDE

 

Regional Network of the Festival – EMEA

  1. PUBLICIS WORLDWIDE
  2. BBDO WORLDWIDE
  3. OGILVY

 

Regional Network of the Festival – Latin America

  1. DDB WORLDWIDE
  2. AKQA
  3. OGILVY

 

Regional Network of the Festival – North America

  1. FCB
  2. OGILVY
  3. McCANN WORLDGROUP

 

The LIONS Creativity Report is included as part of LIONS Membership, the world’s leading creative network of people and businesses to drive professional, personal and societal progress through creativity. Members receive exclusive access to events, content and networking opportunities through the year. Annual LIONS Membership is €249 and is complimentary for all Cannes Lions award winners.

 

The LIONS Creativity Report is also available to all subscribers to LIONS’ insights and intelligence platform The Work, alongside a series of insight reports and access to all the data and rankings.

 

 

Source: Cannes Lions Press Release

UAE Wins 21 Lions at The Cannes Lions Festival 2021

UAE creative agencies bag two gold, six silver and thirteen bronze lions at the recently concluded virtual Cannes Lions Festival 2021!

 

The Cannes Lions Festival 2021 drew to a close on Friday 25th June, which for the first time in history – due to the ongoing pandemic, took place online via the LIONS Live platform.

The UAE bagged 21 Lions in total for 2020 and 2021 – 2 Gold, 6 Silver and 13 Bronze Lions, across multiple categories, including newly introduced categories such as Sustainable Development Goals, Creative eCommerce and Creative Strategy.

This year’s winning agencies from the UAE included Impact BBDO, Memac Ogilvy, FP7 McCann, TBWA\RAAD, Mullenlowe MENA and VMLY&R.

 

UAE Winners of Cannes Lions Festival 2021

 

Addressing the Cannes Lions Live audience during the Awards Show, Simon Cook, Managing Director, LIONS, said, “Over the past five days we’ve seen the return of the global creative benchmark, and the winning work that sets the bar for the entire industry. We’ve seen inspirational talks, taken part in learning programmes, celebrated creative excellence through our Award Shows and Debriefs – and come together as a community, united in the belief that creativity has the power to build business, shape society, and change the world for the better.”

2021 also witnessed 10 leading advertising and media professionals from the UAE represent the country as jury members at this year’s Festival.

Paul Shearer (Chief Creative Officer, Impact BBDO Dubai), Jennifer Fischer (Chief Innovation Officer, TBWA\RAAD) and Dida Atassi (Design Director, Accenture Interactive Middle East) were part of the Awards jury across Industry Craft, Innovations and Design categories respectively, and joining them as Shortlist jury members were Asad Rehman (Director Media and Digital Transformation, Unilever MENA) for Media, Amy Brill (Head of PR, M&C Saatchi) for PR, Vidya Manmohan (Founder and Creative Chairwoman, V4 Advertising LLC) for Brand Experience & Activation, Serena Abi Aad (Head of Content, Havas Dubai) for Film, Akanksha Goel (Founder & CEO, Socialize) for Social & Influencer, Alex Pineda (Creative Director, TBWA\RAAD) for Direct and Fabio Silveira (General Manager, Havas Dubai) for Outdoor.

 

Cannes Lions 2021 UAE Jury Members

 

Running parallel to the Cannes Lions Festival are the Young Lions Competitions (for young creative below the age of 30 years) and Roger Hatchuel Academy (a mentorship programme for university students in the field of creative communications).

 

YLDC 2021 UAE ParticipantsRoger Hatchuel Academy Recipient and

 

Having won Gold at the UAE Young Lions Digital Competition 2021, Moemen Metwally and Fernando Montero from Memac Ogilvy Dubai represented the UAE at the International Young Lions Digital Competition.

Kamilla Bakytova – a student at American University in Dubai (AUD), pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Communication (majoring in advertising), was selected to represent the UAE at the prestigious Roger Hachuel Academy.

As the official UAE representatives of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Motivate Media Group and Motivate Val Morgan warmly congratulates all winning agencies, jury members and both Young Lions and Roger Hatchuel Academy participants from the UAE, and look forward to yet another successful Festival in 2022.

 

 

Sources: Cannes Lions and Campaign Middle East

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UAE Jury for Cannes Lions 2021 Announced

UAE Jury for Cannes Lions 2021 include Paul Shearer, Jennifer Fischer, Dida Atassi and seven other highly respected and award winning advertising and media personalities.

 

As the official representatives of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Motivate Media Group and Motivate Val Morgan are pleased to announce that ten leading advertising and media professionals from the UAE have been selected as jury members for the 2021 Festival.

 

UAE jury members who will be on the Awarding and Shortlisting jury panel include:

 

Awarding Jury

UAE Awards Jury for Cannes Lions Festival 2021

 

Industry Craft Lions
Paul Shearer | Chief Creative Officer | Impact BBDO Dubai

Paul has always believed in bringing something different to the table.

His work for Guess Jeans, Nike, Audi and Levi’s has won him respect and numerous advertising awards.

During his time at BBH, Paul had the opportunity to work collaboratively with clients, which contributed to his work being impactful and successful in the marketplace. Paul then decided to broaden his horizons globally and took a job at Wieden and Kenedy Amsterdam as the Creative Director. It was here that he had the chance to work on the Nike account.

Paul prides himself on understanding the digital world and has won 54 Cannes Lions (the most recent being a Grand Prix). When it comes to awards, Paul believes that winning a client some new customers is far more satisfying. Other awards won include 8 D&AD pencils, 15 One Show and 9 British Television awards.

 

Innovation Lions
Jennifer Fischer | Chief Innovation Officer | TBWA\RAAD

Always dissatisfied with the status quo, Jennifer spent years shaping the future of some of the most valuable brands in the world such as Coca-Cola, Apple, Ikea, KFC, Expo 2020, Facebook or Nissan.

Her role as Chief Innovation Officer MENA for TBWA\RAAD is to lead an always in beta transformation – harnessing the power of technology, strategy, collaboration, and creativity to re-imagine the way companies work, innovate and grow.

Her career milestones include many firsts from launching the first opera house in the region to communicating the first space mission from an Arabic nation or working on the first Apple campaign in MENA.

Her ideas have been published and shared by Forbes, Campaign Magazine, Communicate, Marketing Society, Arab Ad, Arabian Business among others.

 

Design Lions
Dida Atassi | Design Director | Accenture Interactive Middle East

An accomplished digital professional, Dida has spent 18 years developing compelling world-class experiences for global and local brands across telecommunication, banking, retail, lifestyle and government sectors. From ideation workshops to polished design deliverables, Dida places a particular focus on crafting unique, loveable products and services that resonate with local cultures. As an advocate of the user, Dida tries to help people see how digital can make life a little easier by designing simple and rewarding experiences.

Dida’s skills include user experience design, interface design, service design, and digital strategy using tools such as prototyping, user research and design thinking workshops and methodology. She has a particular interest in studying local cultures and norms and how they impact design.

 

Shortlisting Jury

Cannes Lions Festival 2021 - UAE Shortlisting Jury

 

Media Lions
Asad Rehman | Director Media and Digital Transformation | Unilever MENA

Asad manages Unilever’s Media & Digital Marketing Transformation for Middle & East North Africa. He also sits at the Unilever MENA/Turkey/Russia Board. He has been in Dubai since 2013, prior to which he spent 6 years at the Unilever HQ in London. Earlier on in his career, Asad worked for WPP/Group M in various parts of the world. He managed local offices in Pakistan and Vietnam, did a global role in London, and managed regional projects in Asia and LATAM.

Asad is an award-winning marketer with accolades from D&AD, Cannes Lions, WARC, Global Effie’s, and Spikes, Lynx, Festival of Media, and MENA Effie’s, and is passionate about bringing together technology, data, and creativity to help craft purposeful brands.

Asad was the Founding Chair of The Marketing Society Middle East Chapter from 2016 to 2018 and sits on the board of the IAA UAE. He was awarded The Marketing Society Fellowship in 2019 and was also the Effie’s Marketer of The Year in 2018.

 

PR Lions
Amy Brill | Head of PR | M&C Saatchi

As M&C Saatchi Public Relations’ market lead for the UAE, Amy is responsible for the overall direction of the team, creative work and business growth. An experienced PR professional, she has worked for some of the world’s most recognisable brands across corporate and consumer sectors.

Amy has a BA Hons degree in Public Relations from Bournemouth University in the UK and started her career at BBC Worldwide before embarking on agency life, working for clients such as Rolls-Royce, Discovery, Hilton, Disney, PayPal and the British Embassy in both the UK and Middle East.

She established the M&C Saatchi Public Relations business in the UAE in 2017, aged just 27 and has been recognised by industry leaders as a Rising Star and Face to Watch. In the two years the agency has been running, Amy and her team have picked up gold and silver accolades at both the PRCA and MEPRA Awards.

 

Brand Experience and Activation Lions
Vidya Manmohan | Founder and Creative Chairwoman | V4 Advertising LLC

Vidya Manmohan is the Founder & Creative Chairwoman of V4 Good and Ex-Executive Creative Director of GREY Dubai.

She also happens to be one among the rare breed of female Executive Creative Directors in the region today, celebrated for having travelled off the beaten track, across the span of her career – from walking out of the gates of medical school to pursue a career in Advertising and switching from Art direction to copywriting mid-way through her successful career.

What’s more, this mom of a University student has gone back to University herself to pursue her Master’s in Digital Management, whilst having successfully launched a new-age communication hub.

Her work reflects the pop culture around her and has bagged International awards, not only in the print and outdoor categories, but also in radio, design, digital, integrated and advertising for good.

Vidya has also been on the jury panel of International Advertising Festivals such as Cannes Lions, New York Festivals, Clio, Adfest, Lisbon Advertising Awards, The White Square and the Young Guns to name a few.

 

Film Lions
Serena Abi Aad | Head of Content | Havas Dubai

Serena is an award winning film director whose short films have travelled international festivals across the Middle East, Europe and Canada.

As a passionate storyteller, her professional journey has been diverse and always centered around storytelling.

She spent most of her twenties on film sets, learning every job in a film crew. She then decided to understand the ad world better and became a TV producer at Leo Burnett, where she worked on films for DSF, Chevrolet and Hummer, among others.

Following her time at Leo Burnett, she worked with MBC as writer, producer and director of a first of its kind reality TV show. In 2012, she joined Yahoo as branded content manager and supervised multiple video content productions for brands such as P&G and DSF.

She had her own content production house for a couple of years, before joining Havas DXB as Head of Content.

She is currently Creative Director at Havas DXB, telling stories for clients such as FAB, Barakat, Veet and Durex.

 

Social & Influencer Lions
Akanksha Goel | Founder & CEO | Socialize

A digital marketing pioneer, Akanksha Goel is the founder of Socialize; Middle East’s first dedicated social media agency.

Akanksha started her career at the age of 20, as the youngest ever Editor-in-chief for STUFF Magazine. She gained experience working across India & Singapore, where she was at the forefront of the Web2.0 revolution and helped organise Asia’s first-ever pod-camp. She then moved to Dubai amidst the region’s economic crisis, and in 2010 created Socialize to harness the untapped business potential of then-emerging social networks.

In her current role as Managing Director, she is actively involved in driving business growth, leading team development and overseeing the strategic mandate across the agency’s coveted client roster that includes iconic brands like Dubai EXPO 2020, Volkswagen, Sony, General Mills & Bioderma.

An executive graduate from Harvard Business School; she holds a business degree in Marketing Communications from Singapore Management University. Nominated as Emirates Woman of the Year and named to Holmes Report’s Innovator 25 list in 2018, Akanksha is widely recognized as a business influencer, speaker, and a reference for social media in the Middle East.

 

Direct Lions
Alex Pineda | Creative Director | TBWA\RAAD

Alex Pineda was born in Bogotá, Colombia, and English and Spanish speaker and Crazy about football. He is also a museum hunter, napkin illustrator and comic book artist who has travelled to 5 continents, 77 countries, hundreds of cities, and explored many cultures.

He holds a Master’s degree in ‘Creativity and Strategic Management of Advertising’ from the European Institute of Design in Barcelona, Spain; Specialist in ‘Advertising Management’ from the Jorge Tadeo Lozano University of Bogotá, Colombia; and graduated as a ‘Professional in Graphic Design’ from the same university.

Alex has been awarded at Cannes Lions, Cannes Young Lions, D&AD, One Show, Clio, Dubai Lynx, LIA London International Awards, New York Festivals, Loeries, Webby Awards, Effies, Epica, Cresta, Ojo De Iberoamérica, Festival El Dorado and ‘Lápiz de Acero’ (National Design Award of Colombia).

He was also elected as ‘Associate Creative Director of the Year’ for the Middle East and North Africa, by the ‘Black & White Report’ in 2018; the Number 1 Creative Copywriter in the UAE by ‘Lürzer’s Archive’ Magazine in 2017, 2018 and 2019, and one of the “Best Colombian expats around the world” by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia and the Embassy of Colombia in Abu Dhabi in 2020.

 

Outdoor Lions
Fabio Silveira | General Manager | Havas Dubai

Fabio has been in leadership positions on strategy and client services in creative agencies for the past 10 years.

His experience spans 15 years and 5 continents – with regional and global responsibilities in Brazil, Portugal and Dubai.

He’s currently responsible for the operations of Havas Creative in Dubai, encompassing Client Services, Strategy, Creative, Social Media, Content and Production.

 

Cannes Lions 2021 will mark the highest ever representation from global brands, platforms, entertainment and technology companies, bringing a breadth of expertise to the Lions awards.

 

Furthermore, for the first time ever, the number of female jurors too reaches 51%, up from 48% in 2019.

 

Cannes Lions 2021 will be fully digital, running as Cannes Lions Live, from 21-25 June. Due to the ongoing pandemic, the event in Cannes, France, will not take place this year. Further information on the Lions can be found at Cannes Lions Awards.

 

We at Motivate Media Group and Motivate Val Morgan warmly congratulate these ten highly respected and award winning advertising and media personalities from the UAE who will be part of the jury panel at this year’s Cannes Lions Festival, and wish them all the very best with the judging ahead.

 

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Memac Ogilvy Wins Gold at the UAE Young Lions Digital Competition 2021

Moemen Metwally and Fernando Montero from Memac Ogilvy Dubai win gold at the UAE Young Lions Digital Competition 2021.

 

The 18th edition of the esteemed UAE Young Lions Digital Competition, hosted by Motivate Media Group and Motivate Val Morgan – the official UAE representative of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, took place on Saturday 27th March 2021.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, this year’s competition took place online, with a total of 14 teams across 9 agencies participating. The Judging and Awards Ceremony followed online on Monday 29th March 2021, with Moemen Metwally and Fernando Montero from Memac Ogilvy Dubai winning Gold.

The winning duo will move on to represent the UAE at the International Young Lions Competition – in the digital category, which will also take place online in June 2021.

 

Moemen Metwally & Fernando Montero from Memeac Ogilvy wins Gold at the UAE Young Lions Digital Competition 2021

 

Gold Winning Submission by Memac Ogilvy at the UAE Young Lions Digital Competition 2021

 

Warsha Jamnadas and Nour Itani from Publicis Middle East bagged Silver, while Tarryn Tucker and Luma Kudsiova from BPG Group Dubai, and Lina Maria Monroy and Alison Cordeiro Rodriguez from Saatchi & Saatchi Dubai tied for Bronze.

 

Silver Winning Submission at the UAE Young Lions Digital Competition 2021

 

Bronze Winning Submission at the UAE Young Lions Digital Competition 2021

 

Bronze Winning Submission at the UAE Young Lions Digital Competition 2021

 

Other participating agencies at this year’s competition included: Leo Burnett Dubai, Socialize, And Us, Serviceplan Middle East and FP7 McCann.

The jury panel for this year’s competition comprised of: Munah Zahr (Leo Burnett), Fadi Yaish (And Us), Cristiano Tonnarelli (Memac Ogilvy), Komal Bedi Sohal (Saatchi & Saatchi Dubai), Fouad Malak and Oliver Robinson (F7P McCann), Rafael Augusto (Publicis Middle East), Akhilesh Bagri (Serviceplan Middle East), Anyce Nedir (Socialize), and Lousie Kotze and Justin Du Plessis (BPG Group Dubai)

This year’s client was du Telecommunications, who presented a brief pertaining to cybercrime in the UAE. Participating teams were asked to create a digital campaign with a powerful message and fitting hashtag, to emphasize the importance of the internet being utilized wisely and safely, with the necessary precautions in place.

Speaking at the Award ceremony on behalf of du Telecommunications, Dr. Mansoor Habib, Head of Sustainability & Wellbeing, said: “At du, our mission is to create a culture that addresses safe internet usage and related issues such as cyber bullying, digital addiction, and the wellbeing of everyone that uses our telecommunication services. We are very honored that we could introduce the theme of cyber safety at this year’s UAE Young Lions Digital Competition to brief all the participating agencies. The creative insight of the participants – all of which were very unique and powerful – helped us understand how much more innovative we can be with our communication on using the internet safely and responsibly.”

Ian Fairservice – Managing Partner, Motivate Media Group, said “Even though the format for the UAE Young Lions Competition had to be adjusted to an online version this year, we were still very impressed with the content produced. I want to congratulate everyone who entered, but especially Moemen Metwally and Fernando Montero from Memac Ogilvy who I’m sure will be great ambassadors for the UAE during this year’s Cannes Lions Festival.”

The UAE Young Lions Digital Competition 2021 was held in strategic partnership with Dubai Media City and was sponsored by Getty Images.

Congratulations to the winners and a job well done to all 14 teams who participated in this year’s competition.

 

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Agenda for the March 2021 Edition of LIONS Live

Thought-leaders, authors and coaches join a roster of creative leaders to deliver an impactful learning experience at LIONS Live in March 2021

 

LIONS has published the agenda for its March edition of LIONS Live. Designed as a toolkit for the creators of tomorrow, the interactive digital experience has been created to drive measurable gains in both personal and professional development.

 

About LIONS Live, Charlotte Williams, VP Content, LIONS, said, “When we launched LIONS Live last June, it was always with the intention that its format and purpose would evolve. This edition – ‘The New Creators Toolkit’ – is about providing a purposeful learning resource to our community and supporting those in pursuit of creative excellence. The programme will equip individuals with a host of skills by delivering insider training, expert guides and resources, all designed to propel development.”

 

Offering advice for the year, creative legends – including Madonna Badger, God-is Rivera, Tiffany R. Warren and Jim Stengel – will share their vision for the future as they reflect on the past. While in the popular ‘What I’ve Learnt’ series Jeff Goodby and Rich Silverstein will speak separately about their individual journeys to becoming one of the greatest creative duos.

 

As part of the programme, leading practitioners and innovators will teach future-proof skills. Experts include: London Business School’s Greg Orme, author of the 2020 Business Book of the Year – The Human Edge – on how to grow the human superpower of curiosity; Alison Chadwick, a host of Made Not Born podcast and a leadership coach with thirty years’ experience working with world-class creative companies on how you can transform yourself into a leader for tomorrow; and Todd Henry, author of five books (The Accidental Creative, Die Empty, Louder Than Words, Herding Tigers, and The Motivation Code) and host of The Accidental Creative podcast on new ways to unleash your best work.

 

Uncovering trends and insights from 65+ years’ worth of awards data, three unique LIONS Intelligence Guides will be released – Navigating Market Disruption, Emotional Storytelling and Unconventional Creativity – to accelerate personal creative development and raise benchmarks.

 

LIONS Live will conclude with the release of a unique LIONS insight report unveiling the big creative topics for 2021 and launching the key themes that will set the framework for discussion, debate and insight at Cannes Lions and beyond. The report is the result of LIONS’ biggest research study to date, with 1,500 members of the global creative community taking part.

 

The agenda for LIONS Live: The New Creator’s Toolkit is now available online. Over 80,000 people have registered to be a part of the LIONS Live community and anybody wishing to join them can do so here. All content is streamed live through official streaming partner YouTube and is available on-demand, for free, to all registered users.

 

LIONS Live will take place from 1-5 March 2021.

 

 

Source: Cannes Lions (Press Release)

Cannes Lions to Host an In-person Festival in 2021

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is set to take place in person from 21-25 June 2021, and will also feature a series of digital elements – an aspect of the Festival since 2016.

 

Cannes Lions has confirmed that the awarding of the ‘Lions’ will take place as usual during the third week of June 2021. After the postponement of last year’s awards due to the global pandemic, the juries will be judge and award work from both 2020 and 2021.

“For more than 65 years Cannes Lions has set the benchmark for great creative work,” said Lions Managing Director Simon Cook, “and after the disappointment of postponing the 2020 Lions awards, we look forward to presenting the work to the Juries in June. We’ve been delighted by the diverse spread of work that has emerged in our regional awards – Eurobest, Dubai Lynx and Spikes Asia – and we look forward to being inspired by the work that will set the global standard across two years at Cannes Lions.”

The plan is to judge and present the work in person in Cannes, France, during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, which is now open for delegate registrations.

“While travel is currently constrained, the availability of multiple vaccines offers hope that we can be together in June, even if we need to limit the numbers of delegates who can safely attend,” said Lions Chairman Phillip Thomas. “We will continue to carefully monitor the situation, and maintain our regular communications with the authorities in France, but there are many other large international events planned for the same timeline, and it’s clear from talking to the global industry that everybody is very keen to come together again.”

As part of the Festival in June, Cannes Lions will continue to have a significant digital element, something Cannes Lions pioneered in 2016 with its Digital Pass. Last year, more than 80,000 members of the global creative and marketing community united to take part in the on-going digital series.

Delegate registration is now open, click here to book your pass.

For more information, visit canneslions.com

 

Motivate Media Group and Motivate Val Morgan are the official representatives of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in the UAE.

 

 

Source: Cannes Lions (Press Release)