The 57th edition of the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival [1], to be held from June 20 to 26, is now receiving registration applications, and potential delegates will be happy to know that prices for delegate registration have not been increased from 2009 levels.
Further, a guest can be added to a Full Week, three-day or four-day delegate package, allowing a guest to enjoy the award ceremonies and galas.
This year sees the launch of Cannes Connect, an online networking tool that will help delegates to get in touch before arriving in Cannes, to facilitate meeting-up with other like-minded people during the festival.
There are also several new initiatives: The Cannes Creative Leaders Programme a two-week training initiative in association with the Berlin School of Creative Leadership taking place in Berlin and Cannes in June for industry executives; a Young Marketers Competition similar to the Cannes Young Lions competitions where teams will have 24 hours to create the perfect brief and present it to a panel of world-leading creatives and strategists; and a ‘How to Cannes’, a morning session with a Cannes Lions veteran delegate who will share top tips on ‘How to make the most of Cannes’.
And new categories for this year include:
- A Grand Prix for Good – for entries ineligible to win a Grand Prix in their sections because they are made for charities and public services. Each of the Gold winners in these categories across all entry sections will be judged by the Titanium and Integrated Jury, who will choose one piece to receive the Cannes Lions Grand Prix for Good, to be awarded during the Awards Ceremony June 26.
- The Independent Agency of the Year = honouring the independent agency that has amassed the most points across all the entry sections at the Festival. An independent agency is one that is not majority-owned by Aegis [2], Dentsu [3], Havas [4], Interpublic [5], Omnicom [6], Publicis Groupe [7] and WPP [8].
- Film Craft Lions – celebrating excellence of craft technique in filmmaking, over and above the creative idea of the work.
- The Promo Lions have been renamed the Promo & Activation Lions – Promo work can innovatively employ tactics traditionally associated with promotion – such as sampling, tie-ins, competitions, events, in-store advertising, PR, exhibitions and direct marketing – as well as more recently developed promotional vehicles, including digital media, mobile applications, branded content, social networking, augmented reality and QR codes.