UAE Secures 23 Lions at the 2024 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity

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.

 

UAE Cannes Winner - 2024

 

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.

 

 

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UAE Wins 22 Lions at the 2022 Cannes Lions Festival

United Arab Emirates wins 2 Grand Prix, 2 Gold, 13 Silver and 5 Bronze Lions at the 2022 Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity.

 

Cannes Lions – the largest gathering in the creative marketing community, has announced all the winners of its 69th Festival awards, and UAE, once again, has emerged victorious at the event which took place between 20 – 24 June in Cannes, France.

 

United Arab Emirates won 22 Lions  – 2 Grand Prix, 2 Gold, 13 Silver and 5 Bronze, across multiple categories, including first time wins in the category of Entertainment for Sport and Social & Influencer. The UAE also secured 61 shortlists at this year’s Festival.

 

This year’s winning agencies/clients from the UAE include Havas Middle East, Impact BBDO Dubai, Horizon FCB Dubai, TBWA\RAAD Dubai, VMLY&R Commerce MENA, Keko Dubai and UAE Government Media Office:

 

UAE Winning Work at Cannes Lions 2022

 

Simon Cook, CEO, LIONS, commented: “Cannes Lions is a global platform, and it’s been an incredible week, as the global creative community reunited in Cannes once again. Our community came together from across the globe, and from every corner of the industry, to drive progress through creativity, for business, the planet, and society at large. I would like to congratulate everyone who entered, who made the shortlists and who won a Lion to set the benchmark for creative excellence on the global stage.”

 

2022 also witnessed 13 professionals from the creative marketing/communication community represent the United Arab Emirates at the Cannes Lions Festival as awarding and shortlisting jury members:

 

 

Ali Rez (Regional Executive Creative Director – Impact BBDO Dubai), Priya Sarma (Head of Corporate Affairs & Sustainability – Unilever), Akhilesh Bagri (Chief Creative Officer – Serviceplan Middle East), Paul Banham (Regional Executive Creative Director – MullenLowe MENA), Lucy Harvey (Managing Director Middle East, Turkey, India & Africa – Hill+Knowlton Strategies Middle East) and Ali Cheikhali (Creative Strategy Lead, Creative Works MENA/TR/SSA – Google) were part of the awarding jury across Print & Publishing, Sustainable Development Goals, Brand Experience & Activation, Industry Craft, PR and Creative Commerce respectively. Shortlisting jury members included Alok Gadkar (Executive Creative Director & Managing Director – Group Partnership), Racha Makarem (Chief Executive Officer MENA – Starcom MENA), Aunindo Sen (Executive Creative Director – FP7 McCann), Ivan Bormaister (Associate Creative Director – M&C Saatchi UAE), Dana Tahir (General Manager – Red Havas ME), Pablo Maldonado (Executive Creative Director – Grey Dubai) and Till Hohmann (Chief Creative Officer MENA – Memac Ogilvy) across Health & Wellness, Media, Direct, Film, PR, Design and Outdoor respectively.

 

Representing the UAE at this year’s International Young Lions Digital Competition (for young creative below the age of 30 years in the digital category) and the Roger Hatchuel Academy (a mentorship programme for university students in the field of creative communications), were Rebecca Menezes and Eduardo Cesar Guimarães from Saatchi & Saatchi MEA, and Fatma Al Suwaidi from American University in Dubai.

 

Young Talent from the UAE at the Cannes Lions Festival 2022

 

As the official representatives of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in the UAE, Motivate Media Group and Motivate Val Morgan warmly congratulates all Lion winners from the UAE, and the jury members and young talent who represented the country at this year’s Festival.

 

 

Source: Cannes Lions ‘The Work’

 

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