CANNES, France, June 19, 2018 – Portugal’s Ana Rita Almeida of Worten and Diogo Vasques of Caixa Económica Montepio Geral won the Gold Lion in the ninth-annual Young Lions Marketers Competition at the 65th annual Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Sponsored by Ketchum, this year’s competition challenged 18 teams of young, in-house marketers from around the world to develop a creative brief for a product or service that would benefit the Movember Foundation, the only global charity focused solely on men’s health. Competitors presented their communication plans to a panel of industry leaders, which was led by Ruth Yearley, partner and director of insights and strategy at Ketchum.
Team Portugal developed the winning brief to win the Gold Lion. Almeida said of the campaign brief, “We have now been working together for four years, so we have gotten to the level where we really trust each other and know what the other is thinking. We are so happy, so thrilled to win Gold.”
The team from India, ITC’s Raisa Chakravarty and Anupama Sharma, won the Silver Lion, and the Bronze Lion went to the team from Australia, Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s Jill Elizabeth Harmon and Nathan Kwok.
Participants were briefed onsite at Cannes and then given 30 hours to develop their product or service concept before showcasing their communication plans in a one-page written brief and short presentation to the judging panel. The winning teams will receive their trophies at the Young Lions Marketers Competition award ceremony tomorrow evening in Cannes.
“The range of work we saw today was astonishing, as it all had simplicity at the heart. All of the teams had in common a very clear understanding of the brief, eloquence and top-level smart thinking,” Yearley said of the judging. “I felt humbled to be in the presence of such bright, engaging and confident young professionals. The future of the industry is in amazing hands, and I look forward to seeing how they continue to use their talents to make the world a better place.”
Additional participants in this year’s competition hailed from Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Dominican Republic, Finland, Georgia, Hungary, Ireland, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Participants represented leading global brands including Anheuser-Busch InBev, Frito-Lay, Unilever and Johnson & Johnson.
This is the eighth year that Ketchum has sponsored the Young Lions Marketers Competition. In addition, a Ketchum team is representing the U.S. in the Young PR Lions competition for the second consecutive year.
About the 65th Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, June 18 to 22, 2018, Palais des Festivals, Cannes, France
The International Festival of Creativity, also known as Cannes Lions, is the world’s leading celebration of creativity in communications and encompasses Lions Health, Lions Innovation and Lions Entertainment. Founded in 1954, the festival takes place every June in Cannes, France. As the most prestigious international annual advertising and communications awards, over 40,000 entries from all over the world are showcased and judged at the Festival. Winning companies receive the highly-coveted Lion trophy, a global benchmark of creative excellence, for Film, Print, Outdoor, Interactive, Radio, Design, Product Design, Promo & Activation, Film Craft, Mobile and Integrated advertising, as well as the best Media, Direct, PR, Integrated, Creative Effectiveness, Creative Data, Innovation, Entertainment and Music ideas. The festival is also the only truly global meeting place for advertisers, advertising and communication professionals. More than 15,000 delegates from 95 countries attend a week-long program of exhibitions, screenings and talks by worldwide thought leaders. As the networking and learning opportunity of the year, Cannes Lions is the must-attend event for anyone involved in brand communications.
About Ketchum
Ketchum is a leading global communications consultancy with operations in more than 70 countries across six continents. The Holmes Report’s Creative Agency of the Year, Ketchum is the winner of 45 Cannes Lions and an unprecedented six PRWeek Campaign of the Year Awards. Ketchum partners with clients to deliver strategic programming, game-changing creative and measurable results that build brands and reputations. For more information on Ketchum, a part of Omnicom Public Relations Group, visit www.ketchum.com.
About Omnicom Public Relations Group
Omnicom Public Relations Group is a global collective of three of the top global public relations agencies worldwide and specialist agencies in areas including public affairs, marketing to women, fashion, global health strategy and corporate social responsibility. It encompasses more than 6,000 public relations professionals in more than 330 offices worldwide who provide their expertise to companies, government agencies, NGOs and nonprofits across a wide range of industries. Omnicom Public Relations Group is part of the DAS Group of Companies, a division of Omnicom Group Inc. that includes more than 200 companies in a wide range of marketing disciplines including advertising, public relations, healthcare, customer relationship management, events, promotional marketing, branding and research.
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