Awards categories include renewed focus on data & technology and brand experience
LONDON — The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has today announced that entries to the prestigious Lions awards are open.
This year, there are no new Lions and significant focus has been placed on improving and simplifying the entry process to ensure it is clear and easy to navigate. Improvements include a new 10-point entry checklist, designed to guide people through the system more effectively.
The Lions, the global awards that celebrate the best creative work, commend and honour 24 key disciplines, from Innovation, Product Design and Entertainment to Creative Data and Outdoor. Entry numbers have grown annually, reaching a record-breaking 43,101 in 2016.
To ensure that the Lions continue to fully represent the industry they serve, subcategories have been revised across some existing Lions in 2017 and amended guidelines will help to outline what the jury will be looking for.
The changes to categories affect the following Lions:
The Innovation Lions are where ground-breaking technological solutions are born and two new categories are introduced this year: ‘Technological Craft & Development’ will award the technical prowess behind the ideas, and ‘Early Stage Technology’ offers a space for prototypes and beta stage ideas, providing more opportunities for start-ups to enter their best work.
The Creative Data Lions now aim to recognise the use of creative insight in a more accurate and meaningful way by introducing new categories: ‘Data Strategy’, ‘Data-Driven Targeting’ and ‘Use of Real-Time Data’ and the existing data section within Media Lions has been refined.
The Media Lions have added a new ‘Excellence in Media’ section, which recognises how a media campaign delivered outcomes for a brand through outstanding media strategy, planning and execution.
The Promo & Activation Lions introduce a new ‘Experience’ section for engaging, immersive, face-to-face customer-focussed brand experiences with storytelling at the heart.
Simon Cook, Director of Awards for Cannes Lions, said, “The Lions are developed in partnership with the industry and are in a continual state of review, because it’s vital they continue to reflect current shifts. So this year, there is no new Lion, instead, we’ve focussed on our existing awards and made developments to cement their relevance.”
Jose Papa, Managing Director of Cannes Lions, commented, “The work that wins Lions demonstrates the most exciting and innovative progressions in creative communications and sets the standard globally. The awards will always remain the heart of the Festival.”
The Lions are awarded each year at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. A creative community of over 15,000 people from around 100 countries attend the Festival, making it the only truly global meeting place for those working in branded communications to connect, share and learn, and celebrate the best creative work.
Cannes Lions Stories, the event’s new content arm, delivers insider knowledge, category history and emerging industry trends through https://www.canneslions.com/stories. The Awards team will publish weekly features, providing candid insights and showcasing examples of shortlisted and winning work from previous years, like the Story of Cyber and A Lion in Five – the Entertainment Lion.
Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2017: 17-24 June 2017, Cannes, France.
For further details on entering work, see: https://www.canneslions.com/awards/the-lions and to find out what’s on, visit www.canneslions.com.
Those looking to enter work can find further information online and discuss submissions directly with an Awards Expert: https://www.canneslions.com/awards/help-entering.
This year, applications for press accreditation will close on 31 May 2017, due to an increase in requests to attend. Accreditation will not be open on site during the event, so please ensure you apply before the deadline so your application can be assessed.
Festival dates:
Cannes Lions: 17 – 24 June 2017
Lions Health: 17 – 18 June 2017
Lions Innovation: 19 – 20 June 2017
Lions Entertainment: 21 – 22 June 2017