The 17th edition of the prestigious UAE Young Lions Digital Competition, hosted by Motivate Media Group and Motivate Val Morgan – the official UAE representative of Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, in association with Dubai Media City took place on Saturday 20th April 2019 at the offices of Motivate Media in Dubai Media City. The Judging and Awards Ceremony followed on Monday 22nd April 2019 at the In5 Media Innovation Centre in Dubai Production City, with Arwa Al Jundi (Art Director) and Warsha J. Dhemani (Copywriter) from Livingroom Communication named the Gold winners of the competition.
The wining duo was selected from a pool of 16 participating teams, and will be flown on an all-expense paid trip to Cannes to represent the UAE at the International Young Lions Digital Competition, which will be held in June 2019.
Not too far behind them were Sumer Kotwal (Art Director) and Gaurav Maitreya (Copywriter) from Publicis Sapient (Gold winners of last year’s UAE Young Lions Digital Competition) who bagged Silver.
With so many creative ideas and inspiring submissions, determining the Bronze winner was a challenge, and this year, the UAE Young Lions Digital Competition saw a tie between three teams – Felipe Menezes (Art Director) and Sabine Haddad (Copywriter) from TBWA\RAAD, Alan Hong (Art Director) and Poroma Pant (Copywriter) from Saatchi & Saatchi Dubai, and Nour Mohammad (Art Director) and Peter Mazloumian (Copywriter) from Socialize.
Other participating agencies at this year’s competition included:
Leo Burnett Dubai, APCO Worldwide, Mullenlowe MENA, Publicis Middle East, RAPP Middle East, Wavemaker, Amber Communications, Rain Creative, and McCann Health Dubai.
The ‘Creative Club’ who judged this year’s competition comprised:
Manuel Bordé – TBWA\RAAD
Prajakta More – McCann Health Dubai
Ali Shabaz – RAPP Middle East
Georgine Hajjar – Wavemaker
Mohamed Bareche – Publicis Middle East
Seyoan Vela – Livingroom Communication
Samer Zouehid – Saatchi & Saatchi Dubai
Anton Marais – Leo Burnett
Prasad Pradhan – Amber Communications
Pascale Youssef – APCO Worldwide
Alfonso Arbos – Mullenlowe MENA
Shwan Nazar – Publicis Sapient
Shamrock Nevis – Rain Creative
Rafael Bergamini – Socialize Agency
Shyam Vipin – Praxis Advertising
This year’s client was World Food Programme (WFP) – the food- assistance branch of the United Nations and the world’s largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger, and the competition was sponsored by Getty Images and Xerox Middle East.
Ian Fairservice – Managing Partner, Motivate Media Group, said “After 17 years of hosting the Young Lions competition, we have seen some inspiring work from these exceptional young professionals. This year is certainly not different and I’d like to wish Arwa and Warsha from Livingroom Communication the best of luck representing the region in Cannes. I’m sure they will be great ambassadors for the UAE.”
Majed Al Suwaidi – Managing Director of Dubai Media City, said: “Dubai Media City is proud to collaborate once again with the UAE Young Lions and Motivate to encourage the rise of digital platforms and the region’s creativity. As our mandate to support the growing upcoming talent, the UAE Young Lions and Motivate competition provides the opportunity for our people to gain recognition and grow their careers. Our partnership, with the collaboration of our incubator in5 media, looks forward to a successful outcome and we wish all the participants great learnings every success.”
Congratulations to the winners and a job well done to all 16 teams that participated in this year’s competition.
The UAE Young Lions Digital Competition – hosted by Motivate Media Group and Motivate Val Morgan, in association with Dubai Media City and supported by Getty Images and Xerox Middle East, 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. The International Festival will take place from the 17th to the 21st of June 2019 in the city of Cannes, located on France’s mesmerizing south coast and will offer five days of award ceremonies, seminars, workshops, master classes, exhibitions, screenings and networking.
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity – the largest gathering of worldwide advertising professionals, designers, digital innovators and marketers, drew to a close on 22nd June 2018 in Cannes, France.
1.Awards
United Arab Emirates walked away with 12 Lions this year – 3 Gold Lions, 2 Silver Lions and 7 Bronze Lions, across a number of categories. United Arab Emirates also secured approximately 47 shortlists at this year’s Festival.
This year’s Festival received a total of 32,372 entries – with approximately 456 entries from United Arab Emirates, while last year’s Festival received a total of 41,170 entries – with a total of 997 entries from the United Arab Emirates.
Speaking to Gulf News on TBWA\RAAD’s success at Cannes Lions 2018, Reda Raad – CEO TBWA\RAAD said:
“There’s something deeply satisfying about our wins at Cannes. “The wins confirm that what we have been doing for the past few years has been right. We have transformed ourselves into an agency of the future whilst simultaneously gathering new business, winning the highest industry accolades, and cultivating a creative culture that’s capable of consistently producing exceptional work.
It’s a huge achievement. An achievement that could not have been possible without the bravery and belief of our clients and team, and without the contribution of our partners at OMD, phd, Google and Facebook. These wins are an affirmation that data-driven creativity works. And that a team that believes passionately in what it’s doing can achieve almost anything.”
2.Judges
This year, 413 jury members were chosen to award and celebrate the best creative work from around the world.
This year’s juries were composed of individuals from 50 countries – with first-time representatives from Georgia, Nigeria, Kenya and Sri Lanka. Continuing the drive for a more diverse mix within the jury room, this year included 46% female jury members, as well as a wide mix of creative agencies, brands, media owners and production companies.
Seven leading creatives represented the UAE in the Awards and Shortlist jury panel under Entertainment, Design, Health & Wellness, PR, Media, Brand Experience & Activation and Direct categories.
Awards Jury from the UAE:
Entertainment – Walid Kanaan (Chief Creative Officer MENA, TBWA\RAAD)
Design – Ali Rez (Regional Creative Director – Middle East & Pakistan, BBDO Worldwide)
Health & Wellness – Alok Gadkar (General Manager & Executive Creative Director, The Classic Partnership Advertising)
Shortlist Jury:
PR – Alex Malouf (Corporate Communications Manager for the Arabian Peninsula, Procter & Gamble)
Media – Ravi Rao (CEO MENA Region, Mindshare)
Brand Experience & Activation – Juliana Paracencio (Regional Creative Director, Memac Ogilvy Dubai)
Direct – Kapil Bhimekar (Associate Creative Director, Y&R Dubai)
Speaking to Gulf News on his experience as an Awards Jury member at Cannes Lions 2018, Alok Gadkar from The Classic Partnership Advertising said:
“It was my first time for Cannes. It was an honor as much as it was a privilege.
No matter how prepared you are for it, you are never quite prepared. The excitement, the anticipation, the experience, they were unlike anything I had ever experienced before and I would classify this as an experience of a lifetime.
I was selected to judge in the Health & Wellness category and it had about 1462 entries waiting to be tried. That was about going through an average of 200 entries daily. What is really interesting in this category is, the work encompasses multiple disciplines ranging from social films, long format films, product innovation, radio, print, direct, media to all there is in the industry.
Our day typically begins at sharp 9 every morning and continues for at least 12 hours. On the final day of judging where the colour of the award had to be determined, the envelope was pushed and we finished at 2.30am the following day.
What’s really interesting though is despite the extended hours, we were never short on enthusiasm. The process of distilling the longlist to shortlist was challengingly fun. The atmosphere in the jury room was different every day. At times it was very silent and there were days where it was the complete opposite . By the end of the judging process, I had ticked two very important things: 1. Judged and selected the best work from around the world. 2. Judged and selected the best work from around the world with a new bunch of good friends.”
3.International Young Lions Competition
The seven Young Lions competitions (Film, Digital, Design, PR, Print, Marketers and Media) let the next generation of creative superstars demonstrate their creativity on a global stage. Taking place live in Cannes, the competitions are judged by members of the Cannes Lions Jury, and is the perfect opportunity to put young talent in the spotlight.
This year, Gaurav Maitreya and Sumer Kotwal (who entered as a freelance team) represented the UAE within the Digital category, and competed against 44 teams from around the world.
2018 International Young Lions Digital Winners:
Gold – Costa Rica
Silver – France
Bronze – Mexico
Speaking on his experience at the International Young Lions Digital Competition 2018, Gaurav Maitreya said:
“Cannes was a life-changing experience. That’s what I knew I’d say before I attended. But, it was so much more and less. More because rubbing shoulders with the world’s best for an entire week helped me set a new bar. Less because the industry seems to be in flux with budgets shrinking, mediocre content and no clear direction forward. But, no matter what, it holds a special place in advertising for a reason – winning a lion is still the pinnacle in the advertising industry.
The competition was spectacular. Competing with the best creatives from around the world was a rush I could only compare to the first time I ate sugar. The standard was high, but we felt we were right up there with them. It’s really anyone’s game.”
4.Roger Hatchuel Academy 2018
The Roger Hatchuel Academy – which runs parallel to the Cannes Lions Festival, trains the Lion winners of tomorrow with intensive mentorship from industry thought-leaders, marketing luminaries and the world’s most celebrated creatives.
Students follow a programme tailored to the current industry landscape, one which combines classroom sessions and a selection of official Festival content.
This year, Lina Ibrahim – a third year student of the American University in Dubai (AUD) who is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree of Fine Arts in Visual Communication (majoring in Advertising), was selected to represent the UAE at the prestigious Academy.
Speaking on her experience at the Roger Hatchuel Academy 2018, Lina Ibrahim said:
“This opportunity allowed me to meet anyone and everyone. Students, professionals, leaders and even celebrities. Every conversation I had and every talk I attended gave me new insights and increased my knowledge and understanding of the industry. The workshops I did alongside other students helped me better my skills. I learned how to be a better leader, communicator, and learned to become more open minded and diverse. This allowed me to become more confident in myself and my skills, which made me not only realize that my work is in fact remarkable, but also helped me fight for what I’m passionate about.
One of the most memorable workshops was a 48-hour brief which was presented to the jurors of Cannes Lions. This was the highlight of my trip as they told my group that our idea was clever and that they would like to see it come to life for next year’s festival as we were labeled the future creatives of the industry! Another bit of the trip that blew me away was the future technological innovations that were introduced to us by Google and other companies. Despite the fact that I was on a whole different continent, I was astounded to realize what a small world it really is. As even in France, I met mutual friends of mine and my family. I’m also glad that I made new friends and that we’ve grown so close together in such a short period of time. We already consider each other family and it was emotional leaving each other behind.
It’s safe to say that the Roger Hatchuel Academy was quite literally the best experience of my life and for that, I would like to thank Motive Val Morgan for the opportunity. I would also like to thank Maksimilian Kallhed and Abraham Abbi Asefaw for organizing the Roger Hatchuel Academy. It’s because of them that I am even more informed and passionate about advertising. I definitely recommend that everyone in the industry should visit Cannes Lions at some point in their lives. It is an unforgettable and seamless experience where you come out as a better and more improved version of yourself.”
5. “See It Be It” 2018
As part of the Cannes Lions Festival, the ‘See It Be It’ programme is an initiative that aims to create a platform for women who face diversity challenges in the industry and enables them to become the drivers for change in their respective regions and throughout the industry by providing access to high-profile leaders, executive coaching and mentoring opportunities with senior figures from across the industry.
This year’s ‘See It Be It’ programme included 20 participants in total from Lebanon, Uganda, USA, Turkey, Australia, Brazil, France, Denmark, Chile, India, Ecuador, Romania and UAE.
Prajakta More – Conceptual Creative from Geometry Global Dubai, represented the UAE at this year’s programme, and she’s written a comprehensive article on her experience which can be accessed here.
As the official UAE representatives of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Motivate and Motivate Val Morgan would like to congratulate all winning agencies in the UAE, and wish those who represented the country at this year’s Festival a job well done!
Sources: Cannes Lions and Gulf News
Cannes Lions has announced the 20 participants taking part in this year’s See It Be It programme, an increase of five participants on previous years. Now in its fifth year, the initiative aims to create a platform for women who face diversity challenges in the industry and enable them to become the drivers for change in their respective regions and throughout the industry by providing access to high-profile leaders, executive coaching and mentoring opportunities with senior figures from across the industry.
“This initiative was launched to address the issue of gender disparity in the senior levels of the creative industry. While there has been some progress, the dial is moving far too slowly and by supporting exceptional female talent we believe we’ll help shift the balance. Over the years of running See It Be It we have been absolutely blown away by the power of the community of women that have been involved with the programme, so many of whom have gone on to become advocates for change and role models for the next generation. This year, the quantity and quality of applications has led us to add five additional places,” said Louise Benson, Cannes Lions’ Executive Lead on See It Be It.
“The programme brings them together to learn from current industry leaders and one another. And this year we have a fantastic partner in Spotify to help enhance the experience and expand it beyond the onsite experience at Cannes Lions.”
As special guests of Cannes Lions, the group receives a curated programme of events including executive training, creative masterclasses, an insider tour of a Cannes Lions jury room, exclusive networking opportunities and mentoring from some of the most successful leaders in the global branded communications industry. Travel, accommodation and a Complete Festival pass are also included for a career changing experience.
This year’s See It Be It Ambassador, Chloe Gottlieb, Chief Creative Officer, R/GA will lead the group onsite and provide counsel and guidance for the 20 women. Speaking on the announcement Chloe said, “Each one of these talented women has overcome significant barriers to arrive at this moment. Helping them stay the course to realize their potential means our entire industry benefits from their leadership. When they see us, they see what is possible. When we see them, we see a brighter future.”
Prajakta More – Conceptual Creative from Geometry Global Dubai has been selected as a participant at this year’s programme – where she’ll join 19 other female creatives from Lebanon, Uganda, USA, Turkey, Australia, Brazil, France, Denmark, Chile, India, Ecuador and Romania.
Prajakta More is a first generation working woman in her family, who left her career in engineering to become a copywriter. She firmly believes that the best work transcends advertising and creates something far more valuable for people. She is also a founder of Blank Paper Project, a platform for women artists who have pushed boundaries of current thinking through their work.
Click here to meet the rest of 2018’s See It Be It participants.
Source: Cannes Lions
