Kalpesh Patankar from Leo Burnett UAE serves first Jury President for Industry Craft Lions from the MENA region
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has announced the names of the global experts who will preside over the 2024 Juries, playing a pivotal role in assessing and setting benchmarks for excellence across the spectrum of the world’s most outstanding creative and effective work.
Commenting on the Jury Presidents, Simon Cook, CEO, LIONS, said: “Our Jury Presidents play a crucial role in the existence of the Lions. Their knowledge, skills, and incredible talent, combined with the commitment and leadership that they will bring to their roles, bring integrity and rigour to the Lions. This is an exceptional line-up of talent from across the world, and we can’t wait to see the work that rises to the top in June.”
Kalpesh Patankar from Leo Burnett UAE has been appointed as the first Jury President for Industry Craft Lions, and the second consecutive jury representation in two years for the MENA region. Commenting on his appointment, Kalpesh remarked, “When you see a truly great piece of work, the feeling is undeniable. I have felt it many times, in many jury rooms over the years. This year, as Jury President I’ll be championing those undeniable pieces of work in Industry Craft at Cannes Lions 2024.”
The Cannes Lions 2024 Jury Presidents have been announced as follows:
Audio & Radio Lions:
Simon Vicars, Chief Creative Officer, Colenso BBDO, New Zealand
Brand Experience & Activation Lions:
Anselmo Ramos, Founder, Creative Chairman, GUT, Global
Creative B2B Lions:
Andisa Ntsubane, Managing Executive: Brand, Marketing and Communications Africa, Vodacom Group, Africa
Creative Business Transformation Lions:
Ariana Stolarz, Global Chief Strategy Officer, Marketing, Accenture Song, Global
Creative Commerce Lions:
Amy Lanzi, CEO, Digitas NA, Digitas, North America
Creative Data Lions:
Rose Herceg, Country President Australia and New Zealand, WPP, Australia and New Zealand
Creative Effectiveness Lions:
Harjot Singh, Global Chief Strategy Officer, McCann and McCann Worldgroup, Global
Creative Strategy Lions:
Vita M. Harris, Global Chief Strategy Officer, FCB, Global
Design Lions:
Fura Johannesdottir, Chief Creative Officer, Huge, Global
Digital Craft Lions:
Kentaro Kimura, International Chief Creative Officer and Corporate Officer, Hakuhodo, Global
Direct Lions:
Pancho Cassis, Partner and Global Chief Creative Officer, DAVID, Global
Entertainment Lions:
Geoffrey Edwards, Executive Creative Director, GALE, USA
Entertainment Lions for Gaming:
Lydia Winters, Chief Storyteller, Mojang Studios, Global
Entertainment Lions for Music:
Madeline Nelson, US Head of Independent Label Relations, Amazon Music, USA
Entertainment Lions for Sport:
Louise Johnson, CEO, Fuse, UK/EMEA
Film Lions:
Tor Myhren, VP Marketing Communications, Apple Inc, Global
Film Craft Lions:
Prasoon Pandey, Ad Film Maker, Corcoise Films, India
Glass: The Lion for Change:
Cindy Gallop, Founder and CEO, MakeLoveNotPorn, Global
Health & Wellness Lions:
Wendy Chan, Health Creative Lead, Asia Pacific, Edelman, APAC
Industry Craft Lions:
Kalpesh Patankar, Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett, UAE
Innovation Lions:
Diego Machado, Global Chief Creative Officer, AKQA, Global
Media Lions:
Prerna Mehrotra, Chief Client Officer and CEO Media, dentsu, APAC
Outdoor Lions:
Marco Venturelli, Chief Creative Officer, Publicis Groupe, France
Pharma Lions:
Collette Douaihy, Global Chief Creative Officer, Health, Dentsu Health, Global
PR Lions:
Kat Thomas, Founder and Global Chief Creative Officer, One Green Bean, Global
Print & Publishing Lions:
John Raúl Forero, President and Chief Creative Officer, DDB, Colombia
Social & Influencer Lions:
Amy Ferguson, Chief Creative Officer, TBWA\Chiat\Day New York, USA
Sustainable Development Goals Lions:
Gustavo Lauria, Co-Founder, President and Chief Creative Officer, We Believers, USA
The Dan Wieden Titanium Lions:
Debbi Vandeven, Global Chief Creative Officer, VML, Global
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.
VMLY&R Dubai has been named MENA’s regional best agency of the past 10 years in Cannes Lions’ first Lions Creativity Report of the Decade – an award presented to the agency that has performed best across the festival’s annual agency rankings over the last 10 years.
VMLY&R (previously Y&R until it merged with WPP sister agency VML in 2018) has produced Cannes Lions-winning work over the past 10 years for clients including the Interreligious Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with whom it created ‘One Book for Peace’ and ‘One Poster for Peace’, which won Gold in 2017 and 2018. The work on this project helped to show Christians and Muslims that there is more they have in common than that which divides them.
On winning the award, Kalpesh Patankar, CCO of VMLY&R MENA, told Campaign Magazine Middle East: “Our big learning of the decade is that no matter where you work, you have to be willing to break the rules. I’m very grateful to all of the people who have brought us this far and contributed passionately to our story. In the next decade I hope we can write a story that is even bigger and bolder.”
Georges Barsoum, CEO of VMLY&R MENA, said: “This couldn’t have happened without wonderful clients who believed in our ‘connected brands’ philosophy, whereby great storytelling is empowered by technology to create brands that not only live in people’s culture but rather bend it to create impact. Thank you Cannes Lions for being such an inspiring platform that pushes the bar higher and higher.”
TBWA Hunt Lascaris, Johannesburg, South Africa and Ogilvy, Johannesburg, South Africa secured second and third rankings (respectively) for the MENA region.
WPP was named the best holding company in the rankings. The business, which has its headquarters in the UK and owns the Grey, Ogilvy, VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson networks, was named Holding Company of the Year at seven straight Cannes Lions festivals from 2011 to 2017, although it was surpassed at the last two events by US rival Omnicom, which finished second over the decade, followed Interpublic who came in third.
Motivate Media Group and Motivate Val Morgan (the representatives of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in the UAE) congratulates VMLY&R Dubai on winning this prestigious accolade.
Source: Campaign Magazine Middle East
