Cannes Lions, the International Festival of Creativity, has today announced the 413 jury members chosen to award and celebrate the best creative work from around the world.

This year’s juries are composed of individuals from 50 countries, including for the first time representatives from Georgia, Nigeria, Kenya and Sri Lanka. Continuing the drive for a more diverse mix within the jury room, this year includes 46% female jury members, as well as a wide mix of creative agencies, brands, media owners and production companies.

Jose Papa, Managing Director of Cannes Lions said: “The job of the Cannes Lions jury is to act as the custodians of creativity and celebrate work that demonstrates the value of creativity in all its forms. We are committed to ensuring that our juries include a diverse range of people from across the branded communications ecosystem.”

Last year the Festival announced new Lions with the introduction of a new Awards architecture to better reflect and support the fast-moving creative industries. These Lions include Creative eCommerce Lions, Brand Experience & Activation Lions, Social & influencer Lions, Sustainable Development Goals Lions and the Industry Craft Lions. An overall reduction in the number of categories within individual Lions refined the focus, while new categories were introduced to reflect how creative companies are operating.

“Cannes Lions is now in its 65th year and in that time the industry, and the organisations operating within it, has changed dramatically. These new specialised Lions require a broader range of skills and experience which will ultimately help expand our perspective of creative excellence,” said Terry Savage, Chairman, Cannes Lions. “The Lions are constantly evolving, just as the industry is, and our jury members are fundamental to ensuring that we keep creativity at the core of what we do.”

The 2018 Cannes Lions Awards will be presented at ceremonies taking place each evening throughout the Festival from the 18-22 June.

The 2018 members are:

Brand Experience & Activation Lions

Rob Reilly, Global Creative Chairman, McCann Worldgroup, Global – Jury President

Guillermo Tragant, Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Furia, Argentina

Geert Verdonck , Creative Director, TBWA\Belgium, Belgium

Fernando Guntovitch, Founder/CEO, The Group, Brazil

Nuala Byles, EVP, Executive Creative Director, Geometry, Canada

Martin Vinacur, President and Executive Creative Director, AldeA Santiago, Chile

Vivian Yong, Executive Creative Director, Wieden+Kennedy, China

Radouane Hadj Moussa, Chief Creative Officer, DDB Prague, Czech Republic

Juan Manuel Koenig, Chief Creative Officer, Koenig Communications, Ecuador

Souen Le Van, Creative Director, Buzzman, France

Giorgi Avaliani, Creative Director, Leavingstone, Georgia

Sandra Loibl, Executive Creative Director, Serviceplan, Germany

Josh Mullens, Global EP & Head of Projects, Will O'Rourke Experiential, Global

Beatrice Remy, Managing Director, LORE, Hong Kong

Levente Kovacs, Chief Creative Officer, White Rabbit Budapest, Hungary

Brijesh Jacob, Chief Creative Technologist, DDBMudra Group, India

Shani Gershi, VP Creative, Freelance, Israel

Francesco Bozza, Chief Creative Officer, FCB, Italy

Satoshi Otsuka, Communication Architect/Digital Creative, ADK, Japan

Marialejandra Urbina, Director of Planning and Strategy, MullenLowe Group, LATAM

Yasmina Baz, Regional Creative Director, Leo Burnett, Lebanon

Alexis Ospina, Chief Creative Officer, Y&R, Mexico

Emily Beautrais, Creative Director, Clemenger BBDO, New Zealand

Lanre Adisa, Managing Director & Chief Creative Officer, Noah's Ark, Nigeria

Ester Hjellum, Senior Art Director and Partner, Try, Norway

Juan Pablo Peschiera, Creative Director, Publicis, Peru

Agnieszka Klimczak, Creative Director, J. Walter Thompson, Poland

Pedro Pires, Founder Partner, Solid Dogma, Portugal

Johanna Santiago, Creative Director, J. Walter Thompson, Puerto Rico

Irina Pencea, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Jazz, Romania

Daniele Pancetti, Executive Creative Director, FCB Moscow, Russia

Primus Nair, Executive Creative Director, BBDO Singapore, Singapore

Matt Ross, Executive Creative Director, King James, South Africa

Victoria Sunmie Lhie, Director of Experience Strategy, Cheil Worldwide, South Korea

Gil Blancafort, CEO and Founder, Yslandia, Spain

Linnea Lofjord, Head of Brand Design, NordDDB, Sweden

Dennis Lueck, Chief Creative Officer, Jung von Matt/Limmat, Switzerland

Satit Jantawiwat, Chief Creative Officer, Cheil, Thailand

Darre Van Dijk, Chief Creative Officer, TBWA\Neboko, The Netherlands

Lize Karaboga, Managing Partner, Ultra, Turkey

Juliana Paracencio, Regional Creative Director, Memac Ogilvy & Mather Dubai, UAE

Vicki Maguire, Joint Chief Creative Officer, Grey Global, UK

Shirin Majid, Executive Creative Director, Cake, UK

Tiffany Rolfe, Chief Creative Officer and Partner, Co:collective, USA

Menno Kluin, Chief Creative Officer, 360i, USA

Creative Data Lions

Marc Maleh, Global Director, Havas, Global – Jury President

Kim Bartkowski, Creative Director, Associate Partner, IBM iX, Australia

Alex Cheng, Vice President, Baidu and Chief Technology Officer, Baidu Search, China

Paola Aldaz, VP Marketing, Mastercard, Colombia

Chloe Hawking, Chief Digital Director, OMG, EMEA

Kim O'Brien, Director, Data Science & Analytics, Publicis.Sapient, Global

Ryota Mochizuki, Managing Director, Accenture Interactive, Japan

Bas Korsten, Creative Partner, J. Walter Thompson Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Sebastian Tomich, SVP, Global Head of Advertising & Marketing Solutions, The New York Times, USA

Amy Avery, Chief Intelligence Officer, Droga5, USA

Creative eCommerce Lions

Nick Law, Global Chief Creative Officer, Publicis Groupe and President of Publicis Communications, Global – Jury President

Cheelip Ong, Group Chief Creative Officer, 180.ai, Asia

Andrea Siqueira, Executive Creative Director, Isobar, Brazil

Dan Burdett, Senior Director of Marketing Innovation and Head of EMEA Marketing Lab, eBay, EMEA

Minah Kim, Director of User Experience, Cheil Worldwide, Global

Daniel Bonner, Global Chief Creative Officer, Wunderman, Global

Gemma Spence, Head of eCommerce, PHD Media Global Business, Global

Eric Jannon, VP Executive Creative Director, R/GA New York, USA

Creative Effectiveness Lions

Fernando Machado, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Burger King, Global – Jury President

Paula Lindenberg, Vice President Marketing, AB-Inbev, Brazil

Harjot Singh, Chief Strategy Officer, McCann Worldgroup, EMEA

Jonny Bauer, Global Chief Strategy Officer, Droga5, Global

Michael Houston, Worldwide CEO, Grey Group, Global

Anuraag Trikha, Global Director, Marketing Communications, Heineken, Global

Kristina Duncan, VP Global Marketing Communications Barbie, Mattel, Global

Brent Nelsen, Chief Strategy Officer, Leo Burnett, North America

Jeeyoung Park, SVP, Corporate Communications & Head of Brand Marketing, Hanwha Group, South Korea

Crystal Rix, Chief Strategy Officer, BBDO New York, USA 

Design Lions

Johnny Tan, Executive Creative Director, 72andSunny, APAC – Jury President

Dominic Hofstede, Executive Creative Director, Maud Melbourne, Australia

Giovanni Vannucchi, Partner, Oz Estratégia+Design, Brazil

Vanessa Eckstein, Creative Director/Founder, Blok Design, Canada

Julia Deshayes, Art Director, TBWA\Paris, France

Katrin Oeding, CEO & Creative Director, Studio Oeding, Germany

Thomas Holst Sørensen, Creative Director, Global Design Innovation, LEGO, Global

Greg Quinton, Chief Creative Officer, Superunion, Global

Connie Birdsall, Sr. Partner and Global Creative Director, Lippincott, Global

Lulu Raghavan, Managing Director, Landor, India

Yuri Uenishi, Art Director, Dentsu Inc., Japan 

Leonid Feigin, Creative Director, DDVB, Russia

Carola Gerlach, Former Creative Director, FutureBrand, Singapore

Vumile Mavumengwana, Designer, Creative Director, VM DSGN, South Africa

Ali Rez, Regional Creative Director - Middle East and Pakistan, BBDO, UAE 

Digital Craft Lions

Jean Lin, Global CEO, Isobar, Global – Jury President

Saulo Rodrigues, Executive Creative Director, Visual Design, R/GA, Brazil

Sanne Drogtrop, Head of Integrated Production, Wieden+Kennedy Shanghai, China

Madison Wharton, Global Chief Production Officer, Kirshenbaum Bond Senegal & Partners, Global

Cathrine Movold, Service Designer and Digital Product Strategist, Catalyst Business Design, Norway

Jeroen van der Meer, Executive Creative Director, MediaMonks, The Netherlands

Karen Boswell, Head of Innovations, adamandeveDDB, UK

Steve Jelley, Managing Director, Hammerhead VR, UK

Jennifer McBride, Director of Digital & Innovation, J. Walter Thompson, USA

Resh Sidhu, Creative Director, AKQA, USA 

Direct Lions

Susan Credle, Global Chief Creative Officer, FCB, Global – Jury President

Sergio Pollaccia, Chief Creative Officer/CEO, AMEN, Argentina

Jim Ingram, Founder & Chief Creative Tinker, Thinkerbell, Australia

Sophie De Plecker, Creative Director, Leo Burnett, Belgium

Paulo Coelho, Co-President & Chief Creative Officer, DM9DDB, Brazil

Barbara Williams, Executive Creative Director, Track DDB & Tribal Worldwide, Canada

Francisco Cavada, Executive Creative Director, Y&R Santiago, Chile

Daniel Bermudez, Founder & Chief Creative Officer, FANTÁSTICA / BOMBAI, Colombia

Klara Palmer, Group Creative Director, McCann Prague, Czech Republic

Michael Robert, Chief Creative Officer/Co-Founder, ROBERT/BOISEN & Like-minded, Denmark

Luis Campoverde, General Creative Director, Véritas DDB & Tribal Worldwide, Ecuador

Gaëtan du Peloux, Creative Director, Marcel Paris, France

Felix Fenz, Executive Creative Director, Grabarz & Partner, Germany

Gerrit Zinke, Managing Director and Partner, thjnk Hamburg, Germany

Carol Lam, President & Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett, Greater China

Prateek Bhardwaj, National Creative Director, McCann Worldgroup, India

Gina Ridenti, Group Executive Creative Director, TBWA, Italy

Shota Hatanaka, Integrated Campaign Director, Hakuhodo Kettle, Japan

Paola Mounla, Creative Director, J. Walter Thompson, Lebanon

Rocío Cuadra, Vice President Creative, Only If, Mexico

Lisa Fedyszyn, Group Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather, New Zealand

Alexander Gjersøe, Creative Director & Partner, SMFB Oslo, Norway

Juan Carlos Gomez De La Torre, President, Chief Creative Officer, Circus Grey, Peru

Tomás Froes, Founder & Owner, MSTF Partners, Portugal

Sebastian Olar, Co-Creative Director, MAINSTAGE THE AGENCY, Romania

Polina Maguire, Creative Director, Havas, Russia

Lizi Hamer, Regional Creative Director, Octagon, Singapore

Neo Segola, Creative Director, FCB, South Africa

Kiyoung Kim, Executive Creative Director, Innocean Worldwide, South Korea

Anthony Chelvanathan, Group Creative Director, Leo Burnett, Sri Lanka

Karin Frisell, Senior Creative, Forsman & Bodenfors, Sweden

Sandra Genge, Managing Partner, Creative Strategy, FOUR Werbeagentur AG, Switzerland

Subun Khow, Chief Creative Officer, Dentsu One (Bangkok), Thailand

Kalle Hellzen, Executive Creative Director, 180 Kingsday, The Netherlands

Can Faga, Executive Creative Director, Publicis Istanbul, Turkey

Kapil Bhimekar, Associate Creative Director, Y&R Dubai, UAE

Victoria Fox, CEO, LIDA, UK

Katrina Encanto, Creative Director, MullenLowe London, UK

Corinna Falusi, Chief Creative Officer & Partner, Mother NY, USA

Alfonso Marian, Co-Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy & Mather, USA

Chacho Puebla, Chief Creative Officer & Friend, MullenLowe, Western Europe & LATAM 

Entertainment Lions

Debbi Vandeven, Global Chief Creative Officer, VML, Global – Jury President

Claudia Cristovao, Head of Brand Studio, Google, APAC

Lisa Buchan, Director, Lisa Buchan Consultancy, EMEA

Alexandre Tan, VP Advertising & Brand Partnerships, Gameloft, France

Nils Rottsahl, Head of Edelman.ergo STUDIOS & Executive Producer, Edelman.ergo, Germany

Alexandra Ouzilleau, Global Head of Entertainment Partnerships, Havas Group, Global

Andre Llewellyn, Global Brand Strategy, Instagram, Global

Rafael Lazarini, Senior Vice President, Head of Business Development, Live Nation Entertainment, LATAM

Walid Kanaan, Chief Creative Officer, TBWA\RAAD, MENA

Reed Collins, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy & Mather, North Asia

Miguel Bemfica, Chief Creative Officer, MRM McCann, Spain

Alice Chou, Chief Creative Officer, Dentsu Inc., Taiwan

Bas Verhart, Founder, THNK School of Creative Leadership and DFFRNT Media, The Netherlands

Luke Southern, Managing Director, DRUM, UK

Jez Nelson, CEO & Chief Creative Officer, Somethin’ Else, UK

Kristin Greene, Co-Founder/Principal, Flashpoint PR, USA

Elizabeth Lindsey, Managing Partner, Wasserman, USA

Ari Halper, Chief Creative Officer, FCB New York, USA

Rebecca Skinner, Managing Director / Executive Producer, Superprime Films, USA

Amy Emmerich, Chief Content Officer, Refinery29, USA 

Film Lions

Luiz Sanches, Chief Creative Officer, Almap/BBDO, Brazil – Jury President

Laura Visco, Creative Director, 72andSunny Amsterdam, Argentina

Jen Speirs, Deputy Executive Creative Director, BMF, Australia

Laura Esteves, Creative Director, Y&R, Brazil

Helen Pak, Chief Creative Officer, Grey Group Canada and President, Grey Toronto, Canada

Thomas Hoffmann, Creative Director and Owner, & Co., Denmark

Steffen Bärenfänger, Executive Creative Director, Mackevision, Germany

Fred Levron, Worldwide Creative Partner, FCB, Global

Senthil Kumar, Chief Creative Officer, J. Walter Thompson, India

Stefania Siani, Executive Creative Director, DLV BBDO, Italy

Takayuki Niizawa, Senior Creative Director, TBWA\Hakuhodo, Japan

Ariel Soto, VP & Chief Creative Officer, BBDO, Mexico

Koh Hwee Peng, Creative Partner, Blak Labs, Singapore

George Low, Creative Director, TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris JHB , South Africa

Isahac Oliver, Executive Creative Director, &Rosàs, Spain

Gustav Egerstedt, Executive Creative Director, Saatchi & Saatchi, Sweden

Asawin Phanichwatana, Executive Creative Director, GREYnJ UNITED, Thailand

Jessica Kersten, Co-Founder & Creative Director, Cloudfactory, The Netherlands

Valentine Freeman, Creative Director and Filmmaker, Other Animals, Inc., USA

Sally-Ann Dale, Chief Creation Officer, Droga5, USA 

Film Craft Lions

Diane McArter, Founder & President, Furlined, Global – Jury President

Colin Renshaw, VFX Supervisor, Company Director, Alt.vfx, Australia

Alberto Lopes, Partner & Executive Producer, Vetor Zero, Brazil

Vibeke Nannerup, Founder & CEO, Liquidminds, Denmark

Dushan Drakalski, Chief Creative Officer, Y&R Productions, Europe

Masato Kosukegawa, Creative Director, Shiseido, Japan

Nick Bailey, Chairman, Independent, The Netherlands

James Bland, Partner, Blink, UK 

Diane Jackson, Chief Production Officer, DDB Chicago, USA

Oliver Fuselier, Managing Partner, Tool of North America, USA

Gayle McCormick, Executive Producer, Ogilvy & Mather, USA 

Glass: The Lion for Change

Madonna Badger, Founder/Chief Creative Officer, Badger & Winters, USA – Jury President

Tea Uglow, Creative Director, Google, APAC

Rupen Desai, Vice Chairman for Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa, Edelman, APACMEA

Judy John, CEO, Canada & Chief Creative Officer, North America, Leo Burnett

Jean Batthany, VP, Creative, Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, Global

Deidre Smalls-Landau, EVP, Global Chief Cross-Cultural Officer, UM and EVP, Managing Director of IDENTITY, Global

Charlotte Beers, Speaker, Author, Former CEO, Ogilvy & Mather, Global

Toyin Ojora Saraki, Philanthropist, Founder-President, Wellbeing Foundation Africa, Nigeria

David Guerrero, Creative Chairman, BBDO Guerrero, The Philippines

Rafael Rizuto, Chief Creative Officer – Founder, TBD, USA 

Health & Wellness Lions

R.John Fidelino, Executive Creative Director, InterbrandHealth, Global – Jury President

Carol Ong, President, Bebebalm, Asia

Cherie Davies, Creative Director, Sudler & Hennessey, Australia

Bruno Abner Rebelo, Creative Director, McCann Health, Brazil

Andre Hansen, Creative Director, Anthill Agency, Denmark

Orla Burke, Partner, EMEA Healthcare co-Lead, FleishmanHillard, EMEA

Tom Richards, Chief Creative Office, Havas Lynx, Europe

Alok Gadkar, General Manager & Executive Creative Director, The Classic Partnership, UAE

Melissa de Lusignan, Group Creative Director, The Hive Group, UK

Stephanie Berman, Former Partner & Chief Creative Officer, The Bloc, USA

Collette Douaihy, EVP, Executive Creative Director, Digitas Health, USA 

Industry Craft Lions 

Yang Yeo, Creative Kaiju , Hakuhodo Inc., APAC – Jury President

Alessandra Sadock, Creative Director, Artplan, Brazil

Kaz Tsuburaku, Chief Creative Officer, Dentsu Shanghai, China

Tereza Sverakova, Chief Creative Officer, Y&R Prague, Czech Republic

Abbie Walsh, Group Director, Fjord, EALA 

Cristiana Boccassini, Chief Creative Officer, Publicis Italy, Italy

Osborne Macharia, Owner & Photographer, K63 Studio, Kenya

Oskar Lübeck, Founder & Executive Creative Director, Bold, Sweden

Susan Young, EVP, Executive Creative Director, McCann New York, USA

Alvar Suñol, Co-President & Chief Creative Officer, ALMA DDB, USA 

Innovation Lions

Tor Myhren, VP Marketing Communications, Apple, Global – Jury President

Eco Moliterno, Chief Creative Officer, Accenture Interactive, Brazil

Bessie Lee, Founder & CEO, Withinlink, China

Frederic Josue, Director of 18 (Havas X) and Global Executive Advisor, Havas, Global

Tessa Conrad, Global Director of Operations, TBWA & DAN Worldwide, Global

Perry Nightingale, Executive Creative Technologist, Grey Global, Global

Eran Gefen, Founder, Gefen Team - Innovation Agency, Israel

Johan Pihl, Creative Director, Great Works, Sweden

Thecla Schaeffer, Chief Marketing Officer, G-Star, The Netherlands

Tracey Follows, Head of Strategy, Wired Consulting, WIRED, UK 

Media Lions

Tim Castree, Global CEO, Wavemaker, Global – Jury President

Martin Guirado, President, IPG Mediabrands, Argentina

Fiona Johnston, CEO, UM, Australia 

Sophie Van Laer, Strategy Director, Initiative, Belgium

Cesar Toledo, Media VP, Tribal Worldwide, Brazil

Alain Desormiers, CEO, PHD and Touché!, Canada

Amrita Randhawa, CEO Asia Pacific & Executive Chair, Mindshare, China

Javier Urbaneja, Chief Creative Officer, Havas Tribu, Costa Rica

Stine Halberg, CEO, Publicis Media, Denmark

Hernando Eslava, Chief Executive Media Agencies, Peña Defilló Group, Dominican Republic

Neil Hurman, Chief Advisory Officer, OMD, EMEA

Chris Skinner, President, UM, EMEA 

Andreas Bahr, Founder and Member of the Board, Fluent AG, Europe 

Severine Six, CEO, All Response Media, France 

Tino Krause, CEO, Mediacom, Germany 

Greg James, Global Chief Strategy Officer, Havas Media Group, Global

Izzy Hedges, EVP, International Media, Vizeum, Global

Nigel Conway, Head of Global Media, Nestle, Global

Rajni Menon, CEO, Carat, India 

Ran Bar- On, CEO & Partner, Mediacom, Israel

Chiara Tescari, Managing Partner, OMD, Italy

Sanshiro Shimada, General Manager, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners, Japan

Lina Rivero, Strategy & Innovation Director, Havas, LATAM 

Ravi Rao, CEO, Mindshare, MENA

Marta Ruiz-Cuevas, CEO, Publicis Media, Mexico

Nigel Douglas, CEO, OMD, New Zealand

Marie-Louise Alvær, Managing Director, PHD, Norway

Patrick Van Ginhoven, CEO, OMG, Peru 

Dana Bulat, General Manager, United Media Services, Romania

Natalia Kiryanova, CEO, Wavemaker, Russia

Wayne Bishop, Managing Director, PHD, South Africa

Ester Garcia Cosin, General Manager, Havas Media Group, Spain

Niclas Fröberg, Chairman & Founder, Tre Kronor Media, Sweden

Nannette Passberg, Account Director, Carat, Switzerland

Pathamawan Sathaporn, Managing Director, Mindshare, Thailand

Danielle Pak, Head of Comms & Digital Strategy, Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Tolga Uner, CEO, Mediacom, Turkey 

Amy Armstrong, CEO, Initiative, USA

Diana Bojaj, EVP, Managing Partner, Global Connections Planning, UM/J3 , USA

Kendra Hatcher King, VP, Strategy and Consulting, South Region Lead, SapientRazorfish, USA 

Mobile Lions

Jay Morgan, Innovations Director, The Monkeys, Australia – Jury President

Fabio Simoes, Executive Creative Director & Digital Creative Director, FCB , Brazil

Fura Johannesdottir, VP Executive Creative Director, Publicis.Sapient, EMEA

Aurélie de Villeneuve, Executive Creative Director, 5emeGauche Herezie Group, France

Oliver Drost, Chief Creative Officer, deepblue networks, Germany

Andrew Keller, Global Creative Director, Facebook Creative Shop, Global

Flavio Fabbri, Digital Chief Creative Officer, Armando Testa Group, Italy

Kyoko Yonezawa, Creative Technologist, Dentsu Inc., Japan

Harsh Kapadia, Executive Creative Director, VML, UK

Ari Weiss, Chief Creative Officer NA, DDB Worldwide, USA 

Entertainment Lions for Music

Lori Feldman, EVP Strategic Marketing, Warner Bros. Records, USA – Jury President

Kito Siqueira, Music & Sound Producer, Satellite Audio, Brazil

Jeannette Perez, President of Global Synch & Brand Partnerships, Kobalt | AWAL, Global

Jackie Jantos, Vice President, Brand & Creative, Spotify, Global

Leo Premutico, Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Johannes Leonardo, Global

Sander van Maarschalkerweerd, Founding Partner & CEO, Sizzer Group, The Netherlands

Mike O'Keefe, VP 4th Floor Creative, Sony Music , UK

Jocelyn Brown, Executive Producer, Squeak E Clean Productions, USA

Joel Simon, CEO & Chief Creative Officer, JSM Music, USA 

Outdoor Lions

Chris Garbutt, Chief Creative Officer, TBWA, Global – Jury President

Mariana Borga, Creative Director, J. Walter Thompson, Brazil

Stephan Vogel, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy & Mather, EMEA

Jean-François Sacco, Chief Creative Officer & Co-Founder, Rosapark, France

Jayanta Jenkins, Global Group Creative Director, Twitter, Global

Pallavi Chakravarti, Executive Creative Director, Taproot Dentsu, India

Daniel Kee, Executive Creative Director, MullenLowe, Singapore

Damisa Ongsiriwattana, Co-Founder/ Executive Creative Director, SOUR Bangkok, Thailand

Erica Hoholick, President, phenomenom, USA 

Pharma Lions

Rich Levy, Chief Creative Officer, FCB Health, Global – Jury President

Shefali Srinivas, VP, Health Lead, Asia Pacific, WE Communications, APAC

Patrick Ackmann, Executive Creative Director, WEFRA, Germany

Oliver Caporn, Worldwide Creative Director and Executive Director, CDM London, Global

Renata Florio, Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy Health and Wellness, Global

Lyndon Louis, Senior Creative Director, Havas Live Sorento, India

Paola Figueroa, Creative VP, Made, Mexico 

John Scott, Creative Director, Ward6, Singapore

Victoria McGee, Associate Creative Director, Langland, UK

Carolyn O'Neill, Chief Creative Officer, Centron NY, USA 

PR Lions

Stuart Smith, Global CEO, Ogilvy PR, Global – Jury President

Cassandra Cheong, Founder, Accenzvision, APAC

Damian Martinez Lahitou, CEO, Feedback PR, Argentina

Aden Ridgeway, Partner, Cox Inall Ridgeway, Australia

Patricia Bartuira, Director, FleishmanHillard, Brazil

Mia Pearson, CEO, MSL, Canada 

Darren Burns, President, China, and Chair, Creativity & Innovation, Asia Pacific, Weber Shandwick

Andres Ortiz, Senior Partner, Dattis, Colombia

Anders Sigsgaard-Rasmussen, Head of Insight, Radius Kommunication, Denmark

Arnaud Pochebonne, General Manager, Weber Shandwick, France

Mirko Kaminski, CEO, achtung!, Germany

Lesley Sillaman, Senior Vice President, Havas PR, Global

Cecile Nathan-Tilloy, Managing Director - Global Client Relationship, Edelman Intelligence, Global

Alan VanderMolen, President International, WE Communications, Global 

Valerie Pinto, CEO, Weber Shandwick, India

Ishteyaque Amjad, Public Affairs & Communications, Coca-Cola, India & South West Asia

Elisabeth Leriche, Advertising, Digital & CRM Manager, Renault, Italy

Tetsuji Hirose, Executive Officer, Dentsu Inc., Japan

Adriana Valladares, CEO, Burson Marsteller, Mexico

Gina McKinnon, General Manager, Fuse, New Zealand

Sindre Beyer, Head of PR and Content Marketing, Try, Norway

Agnieszka Bacińska, CEO, Walk PR, Poland

José Franco, Founder & CEO, Corpcom, Portugal

Andreea Grigorean, PR Officer, Publicis, Romania

Alexander Chernov, Board Member, SVP, Skolkovo Foundation, Russia

Ee Rong Chong, Group Managing Director, Ogilvy, Singapore

Michelle Tham, Managing Director, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, Singapore and Malaysia

Higinio Martínez, CEO, Omnicom PR Group, Spain and Portugal

Mattias Ronge, Chairman, Creative Strategist, Edelman Deportivo, Sweden

David Schärer, Partner, Rod Kommunikation, Switzerland

Sorada Sonprasit, CEO, Brilliant & Million, Thailand

Wendeline Sassen, Strategy Director, Havas Lemz, The Netherlands

Ann Maes, Head of Influence, Ogilvy Amsterdam and Managing Director, Ogilvy Public Relations, The Netherlands and Belgium

Gizem Kececi, Director of Corporate Communications, Siemens, Turkey

Alex Malouf, Corporate Communications Manager, Arabian Peninsula, Procter & Gamble, UAE

Candace Kuss, Director of Social Media, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, UK

Ruth Yearley, Partner, Director of Insight and Strategy, Ketchum PR, UK

Denise Kaufmann, Partner, Director Client Development, North America, Ketchum, USA

Jaclyn Ruelle, SVP, Group Account Director, MullenLowe PR, USA

Tonya Veasey, President & CEO, OCGPR, USA 

Print & Publishing Lions

Kate Stanners, Chairwoman & Global Chief Creative Officer, Saatchi & Saatchi, Global – Jury President

Rodolfo Sampaio, Creative Partner, Moma Propaganda, Brazil

Jaime Mandelbaum, Chief Creative Officer, Y&R, Europe

Diego Medvedocky, Chief Creative Officer, Grey Group, LATAM

Marta Lluciá, Executive Creative Director, McCann Worldgroup, Spain

Livio Dainese, Chief Creative Officer & Co-CEO, Wirz BBDO, Switzerland

Leigh Reyes, President & Chief Creative Officer, MullenLowe, The Philippines

Rosie Arnold, Creative Partner & Head of Art, AMV BBDO, UK

Justine Armour, Executive Creative Director, 72andSunny NYC, USA 

Product Design Lions

Asif Khan, Architect, Asif Khan Ltd, Global – Jury President

Christiane Bausback, Managing Director + Head of Design, N+P Industrial Design, Germany

Jeremy Lindley, Global Design Director, Diageo, Global

Darshan Gandhi , Head of Design, Godrej Consumer Products, India

Raffaella Citterio, Head of Experience, Interbrand, Italy

Naoki Ono, Copywriter/Product Designer, Hakuhodo, Japan

Per Ivar Selvaag, Principal, Montaag, Norway

Alex Hulme, Director, Map Project Office, UK

Victoria Slaker, VP, Industrial Design, Ammunition, USA

Rei Inamoto, Founding Partner, Inamoto & Co, USA 

Radio & Audio Lions

Jo McCrostie, Creative Director, Global, UK – Jury President

Alvaro Rodrigues, Chief Creative Officer & CEO, Fullpack, Brazil

Jenny Smith, President / Creative Director, Ray, Canada

Matthias Storath, MD, Executive Creative Director, Heimat, Germany

Kerry Keenan, Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Never The Less, Global

Toby Talbot, Chief Creative Officer, Saatchi & Saatchi, New Zealand

Hugo Delgado, General Director, Grupo RPP, Peru

Molefi Thulo, Creative Director, Ogilvy JHB, South Africa

Blanca Gomara, Executive Creative Director, Dimensión, Spain

Jill Kershaw, CEO, Executive Creative Director, Sound & Fury, USA 

Sustainable Development Goals Lions 

Mark Tutssel, Executive Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett Worldwide, Global – Jury President

Akae Wang, Executive Creative Director, Tencent, China

Jean-Charles Caboche, Managing Director, BETC, France

Maher Nasser, Director of the Outreach Division (Judging in Personal Capacity), United Nations, Global

Claudia Romo Edelman, Chair, We Are All Human Foundation and Co-Host, Global GoalsCast, Global

Kash Sree, Executive Creative Director, gyro, Global

Ariana Stolarz, Global Chief Strategy Officer, MRM//McCann, Global

Eduardo Maruri, President & CEO, Grey Latam, President & CCO Maruri Grey, LATAM

Gustavo Lauria, Chief Creative Officer & Co-Founder, We Believers, USA

Tina Allan, EVP Director of Data Solutions, BBDO New York, USA 

Social & Influencer Lions

Mark D'Arcy, VP, Chief Creative Officer, Facebook, Global – Jury President

Mônica Salgado, Journalist, Influencer, TV Presenter, Mônica Salgado, Brazil

Lennie Stern, Head of Creative and Entertainment Strategies, BETC, France

Ralf Osteroth, Senior VP Marketing & Sales, Studio71, Germany 

Eric Edge, Head of Global Marketing Communications, Pinterest, Global 

Anthony Svirskis, CEO, TRIBE, Global

Noriaki Onoe, Creative Director, Dentsu Inc., Japan

Gerard Crichlow, Head of Cultural Strategy, AMVBBDO, UK

Michelle Franzoia, Executive Creative Director, Edelman, USA

Catherine Patterson, Director Experiential NA, Y&R, USA 

Titanium Lions

Colleen DeCourcy, Chief Creative Officer, Wieden+Kennedy, Global – Jury President

Eugene Cheong, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy & Mather, Asia Pacific

James McGrath, Creative Chairman, Clemenger BBDO, Australia

Jason Xenopoulos, Global Chief Vision Officer & Chief Creative Officer, VML, EMEA

Caitlin Ryan, Regional Creative Director, Facebook and Instagram, EMEA 

PJ Pereira, Creative Chairman & Co-Founder, Pereira O’Dell, Global

Fred Raillard, FFounder, Creative CEO, FF, Global

Susan Bonds, Co-Founder & CEO, 42 Entertainment, Global

Gail Heimann, President , Weber Shandwick, USA

Duncan Marshall, Founding Partner, Droga5, USA

J. Walter Thompson Dubai has been selected by Closeup, a leading Unilever oral care brand, as its Agency of Record and communications partner in the Gulf region. The globally renowned oral-care brand, Closeup is the original youth oral care brand of Unilever Arabia and Middle East. It is one of the first brands targeting youth in the oral care market around the world, with an edgy and youthful image that stays continually relevant.

Commenting on behalf of Closeup, Unilever, Abhiroop Chuckarbutty, Personal Care Director Gulf said, “We are excited to partner with a prominent regional agency such as JWT. The Unilever-JWT collaboration will look to enhance what we communicate and how we communicate with our consumers. Closeup is a youth brand, and it understands that the times we live in are both exciting and at the same time challenging for young people. The youth are faced with greater opportunities but also unique problems. The future is promising and yet it is different from anything we have experienced. This is a journey that we intend to traverse with JWT as our partner on this iconic and yet evolving brand.”

Sasan Saeidi, Regional CEO of J. Walter Thompson Gulf, added: “The Closeup proposition and how it intends to capture the attention of the youth, makes it one of the best brands and briefs you could ever work on. A great client, a phenomenal brand, we are excited about the work we will be doing together, which will be courageous, breakthrough and conversation provoking.” 

J. Walter Thompson’s historic relationship with Unilever dates back to 1902 when a press ad in a US title marked the beginning of the longest ever working relationship between an agency and a multinational client. The history of the industry’s marketing communications sector is often viewed as a reflection of the brand building heritage this strategic partnership brought about.

A partnership venture bringing corporate business and start-ups together

Mindshare MENA and STEP Group announced this week, The StartUp Studio, a new programme and first of its kind in the region which will facilitate partnerships between corporates and start-ups to deliver technology-based business solutions across fintech, adtech, and martech. 

Nizar Fakih, co-Founder & VP of Strategic Partnerships at STEP Group said, “In the past 5 years, we have worked extensively with over 1,000 startups from the region through STEP Conference and other entrepreneurial programs, and a recurring challenge founders have voiced has been the difficulty to access and work with big corporations. For this reason we believe that a platform such as The StartUp Studio is essential to facilitate this process for startups and also add value to companies looking for innovative solutions to their strategic business challenges”. 

With fast-paced growth and dynamic consumer needs, businesses today need to stay ahead of the curve and continuously adapt to deliver successful results. The talent and expertise required for necessary transformation often sits outside a company, and increasingly resides in startups or emerging entrepreneurs. The StartUp Studio will build the bridge between both worlds.  

“Client feedback clearly shows the need for digital transformation across the businesses they operate. Some are already structuring for this change, so we saw this opportunity to create a defined innovation platform, by joining hands with STEP Group. The goal is to create valuable products/solutions for The StartUp Studio clients. Initially, we will have two key tracks, Fintech and Adtech/Martech covering areas of expertise like Blockchain, AI, Payments, Banking, Smart Finance Management, Performance & Predictive Analytics, personalization and more all focused on specific technologies keeping a startup-side approach at the crux of the program. Later, as program accelerates we will bringing more tracks to help provide tech enabled business solutions,” said TJ Lightwala; Head of Future Adaptive Specialist Teams (FAST), Mindshare MENA. 

The keynote speaker at the launch event, Yousuf Al Mulla, Partner at E11 Capital, knows exactly how important it is to drive this cross collaboration both within in the corporate & government sector. The launch event also hosted a panel highlighting the need for collaboration exactly in line with The StartUp Studio’s vision, led by Zaira Lakhpatwala, Managing Editor, Communicate Magazine with Khalid Hassan, Head of Performance & Programmatic MEA and Nadine Mezher, co-Founder at Sarwa.co.

Ravi Rao, CEO of Mindshare MENA views The StartUp Studio as a logical and natural progression for Mindshare in the region,  “Being adaptive is at the heart of Mindshare’s culture and thinking.  Our clients are increasingly seeking tech based solutions & the growing startup market often is the best source for the necessary expertise. We strongly believe Mindshare can help accelerate this need in the market, and are very proud to be the first in MENA to put together a results based opt-in model in place.”

The StartUp Studio is a dedicated opt-in programme facilitated by Mindshare MENA and STEP Group where companies can access qualified startups to deliver solutions to their briefed business challenge. The programme consists of 3 core phases; firstly, a disruption workshop where industry specific future trends are used as a thought starter to build a client specific business brief; secondly, based on the brief, a hosted session matches the client with multiple pre-selected relevant startups, and finally, shortlisted implementable proposals are delivered against the client’s briefed business challenges. The first sessions of the pilot programme are aimed to start as of June 2018, with the full pilot programme completed by August 2018. 

Divest “Now” – to fund digital growth strategies

·         87% of companies are planning to divest within the next two years

·         70% of executives consider the changing technology landscape is directly influencing their divestment plans

·         65% of companies hold onto assets too long when they should have divested

·         50% stated not presenting the business as a stand-alone business had “scared off” buyers or prompted lower bids

EY Global Media & Entertainment Sector recently published the M&E Global Corporate Divestment Study 2018: How can divesting fuel your future growth? The report is a survey of executives from large M&E companies around the world that gauges plans for approaching divestments, managing portfolio strategy, improving divestment execution and making the remaining business agile.

Media and entertainment sector faces constant change as disruptive forces continue to transform the way in which consumers and businesses interact with and consume content and data. Digital technology is evolving future business models, hence, companies that are agile and fl exible will only be able to thrive. As a result, market leaders realize now is a good time to divest and fund their digital growth strategies. Our latest Global Corporate Divestment Study indicates that a record number (87%) of companies are planning to divest in the next two years — strikingly higher than the 33% reported in our 2017 study.

Media and entertainment companies are confident in the sector growth prospects as well as in their own corporate earnings. Companies are looking to focus on their core areas and as a result are looking to reshape their portfolio. They’re starting to look at divestments and understand what they need to do to drive better value within their control.

In divestment situations, the seller is usually focused on optimizing the following three key components: a) Value; b) Speed; and c) Certainty. Early preparation and focus can help optimize all three components. While most media and entertainment companies (77%) prioritized securing Value over Speed of execution in their most recent divestment, achieving that expected Value can be a signifi cant challenge. Once a formal divestment process has begun; Certainty often becomes the main priority and its impact on Value and Speed can often only be managed appropriately via early preparation and focus.

Sellers should have a clear understanding and agreement on what elements they are willing to compromise to optimize the other; for example by trying to divest in 18 months versus 6 months, may give the seller the opportunity to be better prepared for the sale process and hence will increase value and certainty; but it has come at the expense of speed.

Market forces: technology is evolving business models

Companies are facing intense pressure to evolve their business models using rapidly advancing technology.

As new technologies power innovation, business models in the media and entertainment sector look starkly different than they did just a few years ago. Companies are reorganizing their business models and more than two-third (70%) of executives agree that the changing technology landscape is directly infl uencing their divestment plans. The challenge today’s companies face is deciding what, where and when to divest.

Divest to get a competitive edge

The key divestment driver continues to be a business unit’s relative weakness in competitive position in its marketplace — cited by 90% of companies in the latest findings, up from 57% in 2017. Media and entertainment companies are confi dent of their future growth plans.

Almost half of the companies (47%) planning a divestment say they intend to use the proceeds to fund investment in new technology. Those companies divesting to fund technological change are primarily looking to improve operating effi ciency (75%) and address changing customer needs (80%) in their remaining businesses. 

Strategic reviews: develop an “always-on” real-time review process

Especially in this fast-moving market, companies need a portfolio review process that makes them ready to act.

Companies that conduct portfolio reviews at least annually are twice as likely to exceed performance expectations for divesting “at the right time.” However, 65% of media and entertainment companies stated they held on to assets too long. The future of portfolio reviews is a real-time process that captures the exponentially increasing amount of external data and do w-time assessment of performance using advanced analytics.

Take an “outside-in” perspective toward their business portfolio

Almost all media and entertainment companies (98%) struggle to understand how technology impacts the value of their businesses. Furthermore, overcoming emotional attachments to assets and admitting “failure” in one of their business units was highlighted (78%) as a second major challenge in the portfolio review process.

Sellers should avoid this inward focus by taking an outside-in view of their portfolio — understanding shifts in customer expectations, future business models and growth trajectories, as well as competitive positioning. Companies that identify emerging trends are best equipped to readjust their portfolios and recycle capital to take advantage of new growth areas.

Media and entertainment companies are at the forefront of ongoing digital revolution. The companies recognize that changing technology and customers’ expectations demand a different asset mix to thrive in the future. Hence, they must raise their game further and build a sound portfolio strategy to remain in position to disrupt trends.

Hence, they should be aware of the following:

Pace of divestments has sped up and will continue to accelerate

In this fast-moving market, companies should not wait too long to accept that a business may be better off in the hands of another owner.

Strategic and programmed portfolio review process has become an imperative

Businesses need to exploit data and analytics tools to improve decision making and identify non-core assets or lower growth legacy businesses which, can be divested.

Effectively positioning and presenting the business for sale is crucial to extract value

Companies need to spend time up-front to adequately capitalize and operationalize the business for potential buyers. It is important to understand the investment story for the next owner as well as all the opportunities, challenges and restrictions associated with it.

Solidifying its reputation as one of the UAE’s -  and region’s - leading and most trusted brand and digital agencies, Omnia is announcing that it has been appointed brand consultant for Emirates NBD.

Having worked with Emirates NBD on an ongoing basis since 2016 on a number of brand related projects, Omnia will now be responsible for ongoing strategic counsel and consultancy related to the leading financial institution’s brand, as well as ongoing brand stewardship and design.

Steve Haysom, Chief Executive Officer of Omnia says that opportunity to work with clients of such scale and national importance as Emirates NBD, is testament to not only the strong partnerships that Omnia has established with its clients, but also the depth and breadth of service that it provides: “We take great pride in developing meaningful partnerships with our clients and with an unrivalled depth of experience and expertise across a variety of sectors, we are well-placed to support such a high-profile and prestigious organisation such as Emirates NBD.  As an independent agency operating for over 17 years in the region, the opportunity to support Emirates NBD is an absolute privilege.”

Based in Dubai with presence in Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, Omnia has worked with some of the region’s highest profile brands on a variety of transformational brand and digital projects.  With over 52 staff members representing 15 nationalities, Omnia provides strategic, creative and impactful branding & digital and social media solutions, delivered through thoughtful, senior and helpful support, every step of the way. For more information on Omnia, visit www.omnia.ae.

Babyshop, a children’s retailer, sends a message of unity from the Middle East to the Middle East and to the world, through a surprising perspective, starting with the month of Ramadan.

Ramadan is a time of the year when Muslims around the world fast during the day, every day, for an entire month. People wake up, pre-dawn, to eat the morning meal. And they abstain from all food and liquids until dusk. Ramadan serves as a reminder about empathy, tolerance, humanity, unity and togetherness; values that are often forgotten in today’s world beset with prejudice, divisions and walls – both physical as well as emotional. 

So, this Ramadan, Babyshop, a children’s retailer in the Middle East is inviting people across the Middle East and the world to reconsider accepted thinking and behaviour. In an uncertain time, when the world around us remains divided between “us” vs. “them”, when we’re all building walls between countries, families, neighbours, economic and social statuses and each other, Babyshop is sharing a message of unity during the month of togetherness - but, with a ‘little’ difference; encouraging us to open up our hearts, doors and minds to others by embracing its philosophy of “World Without Walls”.

A film on YouTube and Facebook is launching the idea. It follows the journey of a child making his way through an actual world without walls – from his room to his parents’ room to a luxurious Middle East home to a refugee tent to a South Asian home (where a dad is spotted making some morning sandwiches) to an old people’s nursing home and finally, to an orphanage, and beyond. 

Through the film, Babyshop is encouraging people across the region to share the message of a #WorldWithoutWalls. The brand is also implementing in-store activities, on-ground initiatives, social content as well as a co-creative social media activation to bring #WorldWithoutWalls to people around the region, and around the world too.  

Watch the film here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwFuKSIb7Nw

Credits

Brand: Babyshop

Agency: FP7/McCann Dubai

Production House: Mitra Films

Post-production: Abis Studio

Audio production: BKP

Client team: Ruban Shanmugarajah, Deepak Mahnot, Mitin Chakraborty, Dina Barakat

Creative Direction: Tahaab Rais

Director: Mikkel Blaabjerg Poulsen

DOP: Jonas Berlin

Copywriting, Art Direction, Screenplay: Tahaab Rais

Agency Producers: Karol Akl, Darine Kanj Maalouli

Regional Head of Strategy: Tahaab Rais

GM - Business Unit: Nima Askari

Senior Account Director: Vicky Kriplani

ECD: Oliver Robinson

Creative Director: Mark Williams

Singer: Brittin Lane

Songwriter: Tahaab Rais

Composer: Joe Dickinson

Set Art Director:  Tibi Hristu 

Construction Coordinator: Alex Gherghe 

Wardrobe Stylist Brandusa Ioan 

1st AD: Cristi Ciurea 

Focus puller: Ionut Perianu 

Gaffer: Gabi Sora 

Key Grip: Cristi Toader 

Editor: Theodora Penciu 

Colourist: George Bodrug 

Graphic Department: Mihaela Magopat, Anca Adascalitei, Razvan Dit, Lucian Prorocu 

Dailies & Data: Cristi Sandu 

Post-production Producer: Loredana Moise 

Production Manager: Liviu Gherghe 

Producer: Costin Rantes 

ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller, the region’s leading public relations consultancy, has won ‘Best Campaign – Middle East/Africa’ for its 9th Annual ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey at the 2018 PRWeek Global Awards held in London on Tuesday night.

The ground-breaking study, which provides evidence-based insights into the attitudes of Arab youth, is based on data from 3,500 face-to-face interviews with young Arab men and women aged 18-24 in 16 countries across the Arab world, and is widely considered to be the most important piece of research on the region’s largest demographic. The PRWeek Global Award recognition comes one week after the findings of the 10th edition of the annual ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey were launched.

Sunil John, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller and President – Middle East of Burson Cohn & Wolfe (BCW), said: “The PRWeek Global Awards recognise the best of the best, and we are thrilled to have earned this award for our work on the 9th Arab Youth Survey. This international level of recognition from our peers fuels our commitment to deliver excellence for the benefit of our clients and our industry in the Middle East.

“The Arab Youth Survey is a real passion project that ignites our spirit as an agency. It has long served as the biggest platform to echo the voices of this region’s largest and most influential demographic – Arab youth. Winning the Best Campaign award for the Middle East and Africa only adds to our commitment to delivering more ground-breaking campaigns,” John said. 

This year, the PRWeek Global Awards received a record number of entries across a total of 28 categories. The awards provide a platform to celebrate campaigns, agencies and professionals who are producing the best work in PR globally. This year’s judging panel was made up of leading industry peers from across the world and chaired by Lisa Jedan, the Global Head of Brand PR and Corporate Communications at Bacardi-Martini.

In total, ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller received nine nominations across seven categories, including three in the Best Campaign Middle East / Africa category.  

Since its founding in 2000, ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller has been a pioneer of public relations in the Middle East. With five dedicated practices – Brand Communications, Enterprise & Technology, Financial, Public Affairs and Corporate – and 10 wholly-owned offices and seven affiliates across 15 countries in the Middle East and North Africa, ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller is today the agency of record for regional businesses, governments and multinationals alike.

If you believe ads are becoming more invasive, you're not alone.

In a survey of US internet users by Kantar Millward Brown, 71% of respondents said that ads are more intrusive now than they were three years ago. A similar number indicated they’re seeing more ads overall, and even more agreed that ads are now appearing in more places.

Part of the reason people may feel like they’re seeing more ads is because they’re spending more time consuming media. eMarketer forecasts that US adults will spend an average of 12 hours, 5 minutes with major media this year, up from 11 hours, 52 minutes in 2015.

And not only are people spending more time with media, but the usage of second screens is increasing. We predict that 186 million US adults will, at least once per month, watch traditional TV while simultaneously using a digital device to browse the web in 2018. In 2015, by contrast, there were just 159 million simultaneous internet and TV users.

Consumers who feel ads are becoming too invasive are taking actions that advertisers should take seriously. eMarketer projects that three in 10 US internet users will use an an ad blocker this year. And according to a survey of over 39,400 ad blocking users worldwide by GlobalWebIndex, respondents were most likely to block because they find ads annoying, too numerous and too invasive.

The pushback against intrusive ads and companies using data in invasive ways has ratcheted up in recent weeks. The #DeleteFacebook movement has been trending due to the social network's ongoing scandal with Cambridge Analytica, in which data was collected without people's permission for voter targeting purposes. Facebook recently shut down its Partner Categories, a product that enables third-party data providers to offer their targeting directly on the platform, but tea leaf readers believe Facebook may be reconsidering that move.

New York Festivals International Advertising Awards® competition celebrated the 2018 award-winners at the New York Show℠ gala held on May 17th at the renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York City. 

The annual event celebrating the World’s Best Advertising℠ was hosted by actress and TV personality, Debi Mazar and kicked off with a cocktail reception followed by the awards ceremony and an after-party to honor trophy-winners. The spotlight was on the 2018 award-winners as they celebrated with advertising creatives, Executive/Grand Jury members, press and guests from around the globe. 

The 2018 Executive Jury of Global and Chief Creative Officers, in addition to NYF’s Film Craft Executive Jury, comprised of some of the most creative, technically advanced filmmakers in the industry today, selected the World’s Best Advertising award winners from the Shortlist chosen by the NYF’s 300+ Grand Jury members. The combined 2018 Executive Juries deliberated and awarded Best of Show, 9 prestigious Grand Prize Awards, 76 First Prize Awards, 111 Second Prize Awards, and 216 Third Prize Awards.

For a complete list of the 2018 award-winners, please visit: HERE.

The coveted 2018 Best of Show Award was awarded to “Fearless Girl” McCann New York for client State Street Global Advisors’ SHE fund: an investment fund for companies with more women in leadership. The statue of a fearless young girl standing up to Wall Street’s Charging Bull became a symbol of female empowerment, the icon of International Women’s Day, a piece of city art, and a social media phenomenon. People across the world emulated her stance as an expression of personal empowerment. “Fearless Girl” was in the winner’s circle taking home 3 Grand Trophies and an impressive 9 First Prize Awards.

“We are thrilled that Fearless Girl had caught the world's attention and that gender diversity in the corporate world had a visible champion,” said Devika Bulchandani, president of McCann New York. “To be recognized by your peers for the continued impact she is having with the Best of Show honors is exhilarating and humbling.”

Procter & Gamble Corporation, the American multi-national consumer goods corporation was recognized with the New York Festivals 2018 Brand of the Year Award for their commitment to creativity and innovation. Saatchi & Saatchi New York’s “It’s a Tide Ad Campaign,” for client Procter & Gamble, earned 2 distinguished Grand Awards and 4 First Prize Awards.

McCann Worldgroup was in the spotlight; the network was honored with the title of 2018 Network of the Year. The prestigious award is presented to the agency network that achieves the most awards and produces the finest caliber of work. The network earned, along with the 2018 Best of Show and 3 Grand Awards, a staggering 18 First Prize Awards, 19 Second Prize Awards, 21 Third Prize Awards, and 96 Finalist Certificates.

“We can’t thank our clients enough for partnering with us on brave ideas that end up having a huge impact on culture. Winning Network of the Year is a huge honor, especially with so many other agencies and networks doing incredible things. It is a testament to the resiliency of the people of McCann Worldgroup, all around the world.”—Rob Reilly, global creative chairman, McCann Worldgroup

The Regional Agency of the Year Award is awarded to an advertising agency that earns the highest score for entries in all competitions across all mediums. The 2018 Regional Agency of the Year Awards honor the following agencies: Europe - Jung von Matt, Germany; North America - McCann New York; South American - AlmapBBDO Publicidade e Comunicação LTDA, Brazil; Mena - FP7 Egypt and Asia Pacific - Cheil, Hong Kong.

The Independent Agency of the Year, based on total points earned, is given to the non-networked agency that obtains the highest score for entries in all competitions across all mediums, irrespective of whether these have been entered by the agency or another party. Jung von Matt, Germany is the 2018 Independent Agency of the Year.

“It is a big honour for Jung von Matt to win the prize of Independent Agency of the Year of the New York Festivals and we welcome this in particular as it strengthens again the non-networked-agencies. In addition, we are very delighted, that it is a joint achievement of various Jung von Matt agencies in various locations for different clients,” said Doerte Spengler-Aherns, Chief Creative Officer, Jung Von Matt /SAGA Germany.

The Film Production Company of the Year Award is based on total points scored, irrespective of whether these have been entered by the production company, advertising agency, or another third party. The 2018 Film Production Company of the Year Award goes to Rattling Stick for their award-winning work for Saatchi & Saatchi New York’s “It’s A Tide Ad Campaign”.

“It’s an honor to be recognized by New York Festivals as Production Company of the Year for “It’s a Tide Ad”.  On behalf of Rattling Stick and Traktor, a huge thanks to Saatchi NY and P&G for the opportunity and collaborative efforts that created a transcendent campaign. Every day we strive to elevate the ideas that come our way and it’s truly special when all of the components come together as perfectly as they did for Tide,” said Jeff Shupe, Executive Producer, Rattling Stick, Santa Monica & London.

New York Festivals honored two of New York City’s iconic theatre organizations, The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing with the New York Festivals Lifetime Achievement Award. Their commitment to fostering awareness of the theatre industry and their co-sponsorship of the Tony Awards, theatre’s highest honor, make them deserving recipients of this distinguished award. Heather Hitchens, President & CEO of the American Theatre Wing and Charlotte St. Martin, President of the Broadway League accepted.

The 2018 Executive Jury awarded the following prominent agencies with Grand Awards for their exceptional entries:

ACTIVATION & ENGAGEMENT: McCann New York, USA “Fearless Girl” State Street Global Advisors.  

AVANT-GARDE: McCann New York, USA “Fearless Girl” State Street Global Advisors.

DIRECT & COLLATERAL: FF Paris, France “Libe des refugies” Libération.

FILM - CINEMA / ONLINE / TV: Saatchi & Saatchi New York, USA “It’s a Tide Ad Campaign” Procter & Gamble - Tide.

INTEGRATED: Colenso BBDO Auckland, New Zealand, “The Child Replacement Programme” Mars / Pedigree.

MEDIA: Saatchi & Saatchi New York, USA “It’s a Tide Ad Campaign” Procter & Gamble - Tide.

OUTDOOR / OUT of HOME MARKETING: McCann New York, USA “Fearless Girl” State Street Global Advisors.

PRINT: Akestam Holst NOA Stockholm, Sweden “IKEA Pee Ad” IKEA Sweden.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS / COMMUNICATIONS: FF Paris, France “Libe des refugies” Libération.

New York Festivals, in partnership with the United Nations Department of Public Information, appoints a UN panel to select public service work that exemplifies the aims and ideals of the United Nations. The 2018 UNDPI Jury honored the following entries: Jung von Matt AG Germany “The Gender Pay Gap Experiment” for TERRE DES FEMMES earned the UNDPI First Prize Award; Kolle Rebbe GmbH Germany “Misereor Micro Meals” for Bisch fliches Hilfswerk MISEREOR e. V. was awarded the UNDPI Second Prize Award; and Grey Germany “Open your eyes” for TERRE DES FEMMES was honored with the UNDPI Third Prize Award. 

To view a showcase of the 2018 New York Festivals World’s Best Advertising trophy-winning entries please visit: HERE.

More than 1.7 billion Muslims around the world will observe this time of fasting, gratitude, giving back and connecting with family and friends. We’ve put together a few special experiences across Google to help, from relevant information right in Search to a new way to share Ramadan greetings, made using virtual reality technology.

Searching for... prayer times, recipes and entertainment

During Ramadan, information needs change, from people wanting to know when to start and end their fast, how to prepare Ramadan dishes, and when restaurants and places open during Ramadan . To make it easier to find everything you need, we’ve created a special tool in the Middle East and North Africa and Indonesia that appears when you search for “Ramadan” on Google. You’ll find customized, locally relevant information—everything from tips and prayer timings to the most popular recipes —all right in your Search results.

Given people are fasting all day, and large families gather during Iftar, preparing delicious food for the people that matter in our lives takes on a new importance. During Ramadan, searches for recipes spike 50 percent higher and watch times on YouTube for cooking videos peak at almost 30 percent higher. You can now explore top recipes and YouTube cooking videos directly through the Ramadan search experience.

Cooking videos aren’t the only content people look for on YouTube. Ramadan is the key entertainment season in the Middle East and North Africa and users go to YouTube to catch up on their favorite TV drama or comedy shows. YouTube watch time for “TV series” rises a staggering 151 percent in Ramadan compared to any other period in the year. This Ramadan, you can keep up with the latest Ramadan dramas and comedies directly through Search.

Searching for the Qibla anywhere in the world

Millions of Muslims around the world turn to Mecca every day for prayer. To help you answer another top question, “What’s the direction of the Qibla?”, last year we launched Qibla Finder, a web app that uses augmented reality to show you the direction of the Qibla wherever you are in the world. We’ve now enabled offline usage and a shortcut to add Qibla Finder to your Android homescreen, so you can locate Mecca when you’re on the move.

Searching for greetings

Ramadan and Eid greeting cards are the top trending searches before, during and after Ramadan, with queries like “How to wish someone a happy Ramadan” and “How to make an Eid greeting card.“ So to help you create beautiful personalized messages to share during Ramadan, we’re launching Qalam from Google.

For centuries, writers and artists have created calligraphic art—ranging from ceiling art and intricate passages to everyday items like cups. Now Qalam brings this timeless heritage of calligraphy online. We collaborated with nine artists from around the world to create more than 35 unique digital Ramadan and Eid greetings (with hundreds of customizable artwork possibilities) using Tilt Brush, a virtual reality app. You can customize and share your own 3D Ramadan card now at g.co/Qalam.

Featured artists include the internationally renowned eL Seed, whose designs incorporate calligraphy with graffiti (“calligraffiti”), Tolga Girgin from Turkey who mixes calligraphy and typography to challenge the sense of perspective with clever shading and Soraya Syed, one of the first female calligraphers in Pakistan. She’s created a classic Arabic calligraphy piece which places the traditional art form in a contemporary context. We’ve been inspired by what we’ve seen so far, and we’ll continue working with more artists to add more creations to Google Qalam over time.

Be sure to come back to Google Search every day to find new ways to celebrate Ramadan. And remember to customize and share your own unique greeting card at g.co/Qalam. From all of us at Google, Ramadan Kareem!

Written by Yonca Dervisoglu,VP of Marketing, EMEA