The United Arab Emirates wins 23 majestic Lions – 1 Grand Prix, 3 Gold, 5 Silver and 14 Bronze, at the 2024 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
The 71st Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity concluded on June 21, 2024, with the UAE securing an impressive 23 Lions—including 1 Grand Prix, 3 Gold, 5 Silver, and 14 Bronze—across multiple categories such as Grand Prix for Good, Health & Wellness, Print & Publishing, Audio & Radio, Pharma Lions, Industry Craft, Direct, and more.
Winning agencies from the UAE include IMPACT BBDO, Leo Burnett MEA (Middle East & Africa), FP7 McCann, Saatchi & Saatchi ME, MullenLowe MENA McCann Health, and Serviceplan Group Middle East, alongside the brand Floward MENA.
Simon Cook, CEO, LIONS, said, “As we wrap up another year of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, I hope everyone feels an extraordinary sense of pride and a rejuvenated sense of energy and inspiration in our industry. I’d like to congratulate each and every winner – as well as those shortlisted – on being recognised by your peers as demonstrating the greatest, most effective creativity our industry has to offer.”
This year’s festival saw 13 Awarding Jury Members and 12 Shortlisting Jury Members who joined the cohort of Juries from around the world to select and award the best work of the year.
Nayan Ganegoda and Braeden Bihag proudly represented the UAE in two esteemed events as part of the Festival: the International Young Lions Digital Competition (for young creatives under 30 in the digital category) and the Roger Hatchuel Academy (a mentorship program for university students in creative communications). Their participation exemplifies the UAE’s commitment to nurturing and empowering emerging talent in the ever-evolving creative landscape.
Commenting on their experience at this year’s International Young Lions Competition, Team UAE – Nayan Ganegoda and Braeden Bihag – said “Attending the Cannes Lions for the first time was a remarkable experience. It went beyond what we imagined the festival to be, where we had the opportunity to not just immerse ourselves in learning from the best in the industry but form meaningful connections with them while celebrating creativity week long. We leave inspired and driven to attend again in the future.
They added, “Representing the UAE at the Young Lions, we had the chance to compete with over 100 of the world’s best under-30 creatives for a climate advocacy brief set by ‘Project Dandelion’. They are a new non-profit social movement aiming to unify climate efforts under one banner. In 24 hours, we were tasked with developing and presenting a digital campaign that would drive mass recruitment and awareness. It was a tough challenge, but having the chance to work on a meaningful problem and pitch to industry heavyweights was a truly gratifying experience. Armed with our experience, having succeeded locally at the UAE Young Lions, we brought that experience forward with a strategy-led campaign. In the end, we made it to the shortlist, presenting a second time to a larger jury and securing ourselves a place among the Top 7. Special thanks to Motivate Val Morgan for making all this possible, and to our team at Almost Impossible Agency for believing in us.
Speaking about her experience at this year’s Roger Hatchuel Academy, Clara Armanious from Murdoch University Dubai said, “Representing the UAE at the prestigious Cannes Lions Roger Hatchuel Academy 2024 was a career-defining moment. The energy of the festival, surrounded by the world’s most inspiring creative minds and celebrating the groundbreaking campaigns, was truly transformative and an achievement that will shape my professional journey for years to come.
She added, “At the academy, I had the unique opportunity to engage with and learn from the world’s best industry leaders through panel discussions and sessions, gaining invaluable insights into the creative landscape. I’m grateful to my Professor Joseph Nalloor and Murdoch University Dubai for nominating me for this incredible opportunity. I also want to thank the festival, the RHA, Ian Fairservice, Motivate Media Group, Avinash Udeshi, and Sahal Valliyot from the Motivate Val Morgan team for making this incredible experience happen. This experience has not only broadened my perspective but also inspired my passion for pushing the boundaries of creativity in my future work.”
As the official representatives of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in the UAE, Motivate Media Group and Motivate Val Morgan extend heartfelt congratulations to the victorious agencies, esteemed jury members, and talented young representatives who proudly showcased the UAE at this year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
Check out the Cannes Lions Wrap Up Report to catch up on all the prominent moments from the festival from industry insights to festival themes and what was said on stage and the work that won.
The UAE jury members will collaborate closely with awarding jurors from 54 markets to recognize and honor outstanding work from around the world at this year’s festival
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 thirteen representatives from the United Arab Emirates.
The 71st edition of Cannes Lions will witness Leo Burnett’s Kalpesh Patankar serving as the first Jury President for Industry Craft Lions from the MENA region, marking the second consecutive jury representation in two years.
Commenting on the Jury, Simon Cook, CEO of LIONS, said: “We’re delighted to have a balance and breadth of expertise and global representation across our Juries. The Awarding Juries represent the global industry’s leading talent from a diverse range of disciplines, and we welcome the unique perspectives they bring. We thank them for their time, dedication, and care in setting the global creative benchmark for our industry.”
Regarding the Cannes Lions jury panel from the UAE, Ian Fairservice, Managing Partner of Motivate Media Group, said, “We are excited to see the continuous increase in the UAE’s footprint at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. Kalpesh Patankar’s appointment as the second consecutive jury president in two years serves as a clear indication of the creative industry’s development here, steered by a diverse and talented group of experts. This reflects the UAE’s steadfast dedication to upholding standards of excellence and innovation in advertising, marketing, and communications. With a further twelve talented jury members, each bringing their own unique perspectives to the judging process, this is a great representation of our region at the international level.”
The 2024 Awarding Jury Members from the UAE have been named as:
Brand Experience & Activation:
Nayaab Rais, Senior Creative Director, FP7 McCann Dubai
Creative Commerce:
Sebastien Boutebel, Chief Creative Officer, Saatchi & Saatchi ME
Creative Effectiveness:
Islam Eldessouky, Global VP, Creative & Strategy, Coca-Cola TM
Digital Craft:
Stacy Andersen, Head of Digital Transformation & Innovation, Merkle MENAT
Direct:
Saymon Medeiros, Creative Director, and us
Entertainment Lions For Music:
Pierre Carnet, Managing Director, MENA, MassiveMusic
Film:
Camila Venegas Gomez, Associate Creative Director, M&C Saatchi
Industry Craft (Jury President):
Kalpesh Patankar, Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett
Media
Elda Choucair, Chief Executive Officer, Omnicom Media Group (MENA)
Pharma
Darius LaBelle, President, BPG Group
PR
Marie Claire Maalouf, Chief Creative Officer, Edelman
Radio & Audio
Federico Fanti, Chief Creative Officer, FP7 McCann Dubai
Titanium
Ali Rez, Chief Creative Officer, Impact BBDO
With shortlisting jury line-up alongside the Luxury & Lifestyle Lions Jury 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 Lions
The UAE Cannes Lions Awards Ceremony celebrated the country’s triumph at the 2023 Cannes Lions Festival, with 21 wins across various categories
Motivate Media Group and Motivate Val Morgan – the official representatives of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in the UAE, hosted their annual UAE Cannes Lions Awards Ceremony on Tuesday 12th September 2023 to celebrate this year’s winning agencies.
The 70th edition of the Cannes Lions Festival witnessed the UAE’s active participation with a total of 640 entries from 22 agencies. The UAE distinguished itself by securing a total of 21 Lions, including 1 Grand Prix, 1 Gold, 6 Silver, and 13 Bronze awards, spanning various categories. Notably, the UAE achieved inaugural victories in the categories of Glass: The Lion for Change, Entertainment for Music, and Creative Data. The UAE also amassed an impressive tally of 89 shortlisted entries, solidifying its position as a creative powerhouse on the global stage.
This year’s winners across Print & Publishing, Brand Experience and Activation, Creative Commerce, Creative Data, Creative Strategy, Design, Direct, Entertainment for Music, Health & Wellness, Industry Craft, Media, Outdoor, PR, Radio & Audio, and Glass: The Lion for Change categories included:
*VMLY&R Commerce New York in collaboration with VMLY&R Dubai secured 1 x Silver (Radio & Audio)
Creative heads and their respective team members from this year’s winning agencies gathered for an evening of networking and refreshments, culminating in the prestigious LIONS presentation.
Also in attendance was Jonathan Cruz, who, along with Saymon Medeiros, represented the UAE and And Us at the International Young Lions Digital Competition, as well as Chloe Salloum from the American University in Dubai, who proudly represented the UAE in the Roger Hatchuel Academy student program as part of the Cannes Lions Festival.
This year’s Festival marked a remarkable milestone for the UAE, boasting the largest assembly of jurors to preside over a single festival, totaling 18 esteemed jury members. Particularly noteworthy is Ali Rez from Impact BBDO, who made history by becoming the first Jury President from the MENA region.
Impact BBDO was also presented with the MENA Network of the Year award. This prestigious recognition follows the agency’s consistent performance as the No.1 agency in the Middle East and North Africa at Cannes Lions in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022.
Motivate Media Group and Motivate Val Morgan extend our heartfelt congratulations to all the winning agencies, and we eagerly anticipate continued success at the upcoming Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity next year.
Impact BBDO’s Ali Rez serves as the first Cannes Lions Jury President from the MENA region
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has announced the names of the Jury Presidents who will lead juries to award this year’s Lions and set the global benchmark for excellence in creativity.
Simon Cook, CEO, LIONS, said, “These individuals represent the rich spread of exceptional talent from across the full spectrum of the creative industry. The Cannes Lions Jury Presidents play an essential role in upholding the integrity of the Lions as well as setting the creative benchmark for the global industry. We thank them for their unique perspectives, expertise, and experience for the leadership they will bring to the very important task ahead of them.”
In a first, Impact BBDO’s Ali Rez will serve as Cannes Lions’ first Jury President from the MENA region. Commenting on the appointment, Rez said, “The UAE is a place where creativity thrives, and where we believe nothing is impossible. It is a special honour to represent that very spirit of this inspiring country, and the rich heritage of the Middle East, at Cannes Lions as Jury President. I hope this announcement will pave the way for many more people from the region to lead juries in the future at this most prestigious of awards.”
The Cannes Lions 2023 Jury Presidents have been named as:
Brand Experience & Activation Lions:
Ari Weiss, Global Chief Creative Officer, DDB Worldwide, Global
Creative B2B Lions:
Tom Stein, Chairman and Chief Growth Officer, Stein IAS, Global
Creative Business Transformation Lions:
Justin Peyton, Chief Transformation Officer, Wunderman Thompson, APAC
Creative Commerce Lions:
Nancy Crimi-Lamanna, Chief Creative Officer, FCB, Canada
Creative Data Lions:
Samantha Hernández Díaz, Chief Strategy Officer, GUT Mexico City, Mexico
Creative Effectiveness Lions:
Devika Bulchandani, Global CEO, Ogilvy, Global
Creative Strategy Lions:
Amrita Randhawa, CEO, Publicis Groupe, Singapore & Southeast Asia
Design Lions:
Quinnton Harris, Co-founder & CEO, Retrospect, USA
Digital Craft Lions:
Resh Sidhu, Global Director of Arcadia Creative Studio, Snap Inc., Global
Direct Lions:
Chaka Sobhani, Global Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett, Global
Entertainment Lions:
Brent Anderson, Global Chief Creative Officer, TBWA\Media Arts Lab, Global
Entertainment Lions for Gaming:
Francine Li, Global Head of Marketing, Riot Games, Global
Entertainment Lions for Music:
Danielle Hinde, Owner / Executive Producer, Doomsday Entertainment, USA
Entertainment Lions for Sport:
Rob Doubal, Co-President of McCann London and Joint Chief Creative Officer of McCann UK, McCann London, UK
Film Lions:
Bruno Bertelli, Global CEO of Le Pub, Global Chief Creative Officer of Publicis Worldwide, Chief Creative Officer of Publicis Groupe Italy, Publicis Worldwide, Global
Glass Lions: The Lion for Change:
Tea Uglow, Creative Director, Google, APAC
Health & Wellness Lions:
Mel Routhier, Chief Creative Officer, VMLY&R Chicago, USA
Industry Craft Lions:
Yoshihiro Yagi, Executive Creative Director, Dentsu Inc., Japan
Innovation Lions:
Grace Francis, Global Chief Creative and Design Officer, WONGDOODY, Global
Media Lions:
Christian Juhl, Global CEO, GroupM, Global
Mobile Lions:
Shannon Washington, US Chief Creative Officer, Connected Communications, R/GA, USA
Outdoor Lions:
Javier Campopiano, Worldwide Chief Creative Officer at Grey and Global Chief Creative Officer of OpenX From WPP, Grey/OpenX, Global
Pharma Lions:
Joshua Prince, CEO, Professional Group, Omnicom Health Group, Global
PR Lions:
Jo-ann Robertson, CEO, Global Markets, Ketchum, Global
Print & Publishing Lions:
Ali Rez, Chief Creative Officer, Impact BBDO, MENAP
Radio & Audio Lions:
Tseliso Rangaka, Chief Creative Officer, FCB, South Africa
Social & Influencer Lions:
Samantha Almeida, Director of Diversity and Content Innovation, Globo, Brazil
Sustainable Development Goals Lions:
Jean Lin, Chief Culture Officer, Dentsu Group Inc., Global
Dan Wieden Titanium Lions:
David Droga, CEO & Creative Chairman, Accenture Song, Global
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity will take place between 19-23 June and will provide an annual forum for the global industry to address the most pressing issues that they and the world are facing today.
Registration to attend Cannes Lions opens on 12 January 2023 and awards submissions open on 19 January 2023. Further information on this year’s Jury Presidents, as well as the Festival, the Lions Awards and LIONS Membership can be found at canneslions.com.
Motivate Media Group and Motivate Val Morgan – the official representatives of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in the UAE, hosted an awards ceremony on Wednesday 14th September 2022 to celebrate this year’s winning agencies.
The 2022 Cannes Lions Festival received a total of 358 entries from the UAE, of which 61 received shortlists and 22 won Lions – including 2 Grand Prix, 2 Gold, 13 Silver and 5 Bronze Lions.
This year’s winners across Outdoor, Print & Publishing, Media, Entertainment for Sport, Direct, Digital Craft, Creative Commerce, Social & Influencer, PR, and Film Craft categories include:
Creative heads and their respective team members from this year’s winning agencies attended the awards ceremony for an evening of networking over refreshments, followed by being presented with the most coveted trophies in the advertising industry – the LIONS.
Also in attendance were Rebecca Menezes and Eduardo Cesar from Saatchi & Saatchi MEA who represented the UAE at the Young Lions Digital Competition, and Fatma Al Suwaidi from American University in Dubai who represented the country at the Roger Hatchuel Academy student program as part of the Cannes Lions Festival.
Congratulations to all winning agencies, and we look forward to many more wins at next year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
The annual LIONS Creativity Report ranks the most creative businesses and people in the world based on performance at Cannes Lions.
Official rankings are presented alongside insights, analysis, and interviews with Lion-winning creators, uncovering what it takes to produce the highest-ranking work in the world.
The LIONS Creativity Report has been released and is available to everyone for free through LIONS’ insights and intelligence platform The Work. Full to the brim with insights and data, the report is the ultimate global benchmark for impactful creativity and ranks the most creative businesses and people in the world, based on performance at Cannes Lions.
Speaking about the report, Simon Cook, CEO, LIONS, said, “It’s a celebration and also a tool for future success. The official global creativity rankings provide a definitive benchmark for the industry, accompanied by insights and commentary from our winners and the talented experts who judged the work this year. I would like to congratulate everyone who ranked this year. Together, they set the global benchmark for creativity.”
The LIONS Creativity Report presents four Regional Network of the year awards and 11 global awards: Creative 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 Year. The creative rankings also include the top performing Director, Art Director, Creative Director and Copywriter.
The rankings are compiled using data from Lion-winning and shortlisted work from 2022. PwC is LIONS’ Process Integrity Partner and is responsible for independently confirming due process in the calculation and reporting of the Special Awards rankings listed in the LIONS Creativity Report.
In this year’s Lions Creativity Report, Jarred Pitts and Maher Dahdouh from Impact BBDO Dubai share seventh rank as ‘Copywriter of the Year’ – another triumph for the agency, who not only won 8 Lions at this year’s Festival, but has also been ranked the No. 1 creative agency in the Middle East and Africa region for the fourth consecutive year.
Also included in the report is analysis and insights from the winning work and lessons on how brands are growing businesses and tackling some of the world’s most challenging problems in innovative ways. The themes covered include – Creativity for Growth; Scalable Solutions; Craft with a Conscience; Tech in Service to the Idea; and Invite Everybody. It is an essential companion for the coming creative year for it showcases brilliant work that will help guide creativity, as well as give exclusive insight that will support awards entries for Lions in 2023.
The LIONS Creativity Report is powered by The Work, the LIONS intelligence and insights platform that houses 250,000 pieces of work along with how it was briefed, researched, produced and crafted.
Access the full report, for free, here.
Source: Cannes Lions (Press Release)
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.
Rebecca Ann Menezes and Eduardo Cesar from Saatchi & Saatchi Middle East win gold at the UAE Young Lions Digital Competition 2022.
The 19th edition of the esteemed UAE Young Lions Digital Competition, hosted by Motivate Media Group and Motivate Val Morgan – the official UAE representatives of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, took place on Saturday, 26th March 2022.
This year’s competition took place online and witnessed participation from 18 teams across 10 creative agencies. The judging and awards ceremony followed on Wednesday, 30th March 2022, with Rebecca Ann Menezes and Eduardo Cesar from Saatchi & Saatchi Middle East winning Gold.
Rebecca and Eduardo will move on to represent the UAE at the International Young Lions Digital Competition, which will take place online between 25th – 27th May 2022. The gold winning duo will also receive a full week delegate pass and an all-expense paid trip to attend the in-person Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in June 2022.
Ana Julia De Oliveira and Jarrad Pitts from Impact BBDO bagged Silver, while Mayar Essawy and Francesco Negri from FP7 McCann won Bronze.
The jury panel for this year’s competition comprised of Louise Kotze Hussein (BPG Group), Giorgia Fattoracci (Leo Burnett), Bruno Barbosa (Saatchi & Saatchi), Yasmina Boustani (Impact BBDO), Rafael Augusto (Publicis Middle East), Andre Marchesi (Science & Sunshine), Claudia Canas (FP7 McCann), Muhammad Ali (Momentum MENA), Vivek Kukreti (Precise Communications) and Vijay Simon (You Experience).
This year’s client brief was from Goumbook, the leading social enterprise promoting sustainable living and green practices in the UAE and beyond since 2010, and the competition was sponsored by Getty Images.
Participating teams were challenged to develop a creative and innovative digital led campaign for Goumbook’s latest initiative ‘Save the Butts – Waste to Value’ – the first sustainability initiative in the UAE that adopts a circular Economy approach to environmental pollution, that converts cigarette butts into a value-added material. The campaign goal was to raise awareness on the littering of cigarette butts and its negative impact on the environment, with a focus on promoting the initiative to corporates/companies and encouraging them to get involved.
Speaking at the online awards ceremony, Tatiana Antonelli, Founder of Goumbook, stated: ”Trillions of cigarettes are smoked annually, making cigarette butts the most common type of litter in the world. Due to the composition of butts being mainly plastic and toxic substances, this waste carries a very harmful risk for the environment and for living organisms, including humans. The ‘Save The Butts’ campaign aims to raise awareness and showcase alternative solutions to landfilling and incineration. We have identified technology to properly recycle this kind of waste and promote the recovery of materials in line with a circular economy approach and sustainable development. We welcome the local community, including individuals and businesses, to join the initiative, collect cigarette butts and help transform waste into value.”
Ian Fairservice – Managing Partner, Motivate Media Group, said: “After a stellar performance from the standout up-and-comers of the industry, it was particularly difficult to narrow down the top submissions. In the end there had to be a winning team – I want to congratulate everyone who participated, but especially the winners Rebecca and Eduardo from Saatchi & Saatchi ME, who I’m sure will be great ambassadors from the UAE during this year’s Cannes Lions event.”
The UAE Young Lions Digital Competition – hosted by Motivate Media Group and Motivate Val Morgan, supported by Getty Images, aims to unveil the brightest creative minds from across the UAE, and is part of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity – the world’s biggest celebration of creativity in communications. 2022 will witness the return of the annual festival and will take place between 20th – 24th June at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes, France.
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
As the official representatives of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in the UAE, Motivate Media Group and Motivate Val Morgan recently concluded the distribution of Lions won by UAE at this year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
This year witnessed UAE bring home 7 Lions – the region’s first Grand Prix and six Bronze Lions, all of which were won by Impact BBDO Dubai.
Of the 1,252 entries from 62 countries competing in the Print & Publishing Lions category (Communication Track) where 32 Lions were awarded – 1 Grand Prix, 6 Gold, 7 Silver and 18 Bronze Lions, Impact BBDO Dubai snatched the Grand Prix for ‘The Blank Edition’, which saw the agency work with leading Arabic-language daily newspaper An-Nahar to print an entirely blank edition – calling on Lebanese citizens to use the space to send a message to the stalled government.
Ian Fairservice – Managing Partner and Group Editor in Chief at Motivate Media Group, and Avinash Udeshi – Chief Operating Officer at Motivate Val Morgan, paid Dani Richa – Chairman & CEO of BBDO Middle East, Africa & Pakistan, and his team a visit on Wednesday 9th October 2019 to hand over the Lions won by their agency at this year’s Cannes Lions Festival which concluded in June 2019.
We at Motivate Media Group and Motivate Val Morgan warmly congratulate Impact BBDO Dubai and look forward to UAE winning many more Lions at next year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
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