Sixteen UAE jury members will collaborate closely with awarding jurors from across the globe to recognize and honor outstanding creative work at the 2025 Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity
Cannes Lions has unveiled the cohort of global experts selected to award the world’s finest creative and effective work, setting the standard for excellence this June at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. Among the distinguished jury members announced, this year will feature sixteen representatives from the United Arab Emirates, marking the nation’s strongest representation ever at the industry’s most celebrated awards.
The 72nd edition of Cannes Lions, running from June 16 to 20, 2025, will showcase the UAE’s growing influence on the global creative stage as these exceptional professionals prepare to set new benchmarks for excellence during the Festival.
Commenting on the Jury, Simon Cook, CEO of LIONS, said: “The Cannes Lions Awarding Jury plays a vital role in setting the global benchmark for creative excellence. This year’s line-up brings together some of the most highly respected and accomplished industry talent from around the world. Their expertise will help define the creative standards that continue to drive our industry forward and spotlight the power of creativity as a catalyst for meaningful business growth and transformation.“
Regarding the record UAE representation, Ian Fairservice, Managing Partner of Motivate Media Group, said, “Having our largest-ever UAE representation on the Cannes Lions awarding jury is a remarkable achievement for our creative community. I am sure their diverse expertise will make a significant contribution to the global creative dialogue. Their selection reflects the UAE’s growing influence and our commitment to excellence, and demonstrates the creative caliber and thought leadership emerging from this region on the international stage.”
Audio & Radio Lions:
Leila Katrib | Global Executive Creative Director, Incubeta, Global
Brand Experience & Activation Lions:
Natalie Shardan | Managing Partner, Serviceplan Middle East, UAE
Creative Business Transformation Lions:
Fabio Silveira | Managing Director, Havas, Middle East
Creative Data Lions:
Karim ElFiqi | SVP and Chief Marketing Officer, PepsiCo, Africa, Middle East, and South Asia
Creative Effectiveness Lions:
Dani Richa | Group Chairman, Impact BBDO, UAE
Design Lions:
Dida Atassi | Managing Director, Creative Account Lead for Design & Digital Products, Accenture Song, UAE
Digital Craft Lions:
Paulo Engler | Senior Creative Director and Head of Art, FP7 McCann, UAE
Direct Lions:
Aricio Fortes | Chief Creative Officer, VML, UAE
Film Lions:
Manasvi Gosalia | Executive Producer, Dejavu, UAE
Health & Wellness Lions:
João Camacho | Executive Creative Director, Saatchi Wellness ME, KSA and Turkey, MEA
Industry Craft Lions:
Lara Assouad | Executive Creative Director, Landor, Middle East
Innovation Lions:
Seyoan Vela | Chief Creative Officer, Livingroom/LRDXB, MENA
Media Lions:
Ramzy Abouchacra | Media Practice President, Dentsu, MENA
Pharma Lions:
Alok Gadkar | CEO and Chief Creative Officer, Tuesday, UAE
PR Lions:
Khaled AlShehhi | Executive Director of Marketing and Communication, UAE Government Media Office, UAE
Sustainable Development Goals Lions:
Vidya Manmohan | Founder and Chief Creative Officer, V4Good, Global
With shortlisting jury line-up to be announced soon, see the full list of Global Presidents and Awarding Juries here.
Further information on this year’s Festival and the Lions Awards can be found at visit www.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 Press Release
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.
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.
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).
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
