Business News

GUEST BLOG: Ireland wins first gold global award at Cannes Lions

By Business & Finance
28 June 2017
GUEST BLOG: Ireland wins first gold global award at Cannes Lions
Pictured (L-R): Kyle Schouw, Designer, RichardsDee; Emma Wilson, Senior Designer, RichardsDee; and Nanette Braun, Chief Communications and Advocacy for UN Women

By Tania Banotti, CEO of the Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland (IAPI)

2017 marked a watershed moment for Ireland at the Cannes Lions Festival. The largest contingent of Irish delegates travelled to the festival last week – 90 people out of a total of 17,000 delegates.

Irish delegates span the world of advertising, media companies, technology platforms and the world’s biggest advertisers in FMCG.

IAPI brought 14 ‘Young Lions’ to compete in every category: print, PR, social, film, media planning, design and young marketers. Young Lions are young people under 30 working in communication agencies. We ran a national competition to select seven teams to compete at Cannes Young Lions.

This year, we partnered with four charities to create briefs for the national heats. International jurors from London, Amsterdam and Milan judged the national competitions in March and selected the creative duos. This year is the first year that Ireland entered the Design competition.

In the wake of Brexit we think there are opportunities for Dublin as an alternative for big brands looking to do pan-European campaigns

Emma Wilson and Kyle Schouw, designers from RichardsDee Agency were awarded gold in the Design category of the Young Lions Competition. This is the first time that Ireland has taken home gold in the Young Lions Competition in its 23-year history.

The Irish duo won out against more than 20 other countries.

I’m massively proud of our young design talent. For Ireland to win at the biggest communications festival in the world is a big win for Creative Ireland. It’s also a calling card for Irish advertising and design agencies.

We are hungry to win more international clients. In the wake of Brexit we think there are opportunities for Dublin as an alternative for big brands looking to do pan-European campaigns. It’s also a confirmation of what we know already – we have brilliant young creative talent working in agencies

Tania Banotti

Tania Banotti

WORLD OF CREATIVITY

The team received a brief from UN Women and had 24 hours to create an award-winning campaign. Nanette Braun, Chief Communications and Advocacy for UN Women, advised the Irish team they will be working together to bring the campaign to life worldwide in the coming months.

Meanwhile the festival rolls on until Saturday. While diversity and gender equality remain big themes this year.

The increasingly complex world of data, tech and creativity is explored with a mind-bending variety of speakers as diverse as the actor Helen Mirren, IBM Watson, MIT Media Labs and the largest ad agencies in the world. Despite increasingly complex media world the main aim remains: how to create effective marketing communications that transform a business’ fortunes.


To find out more about the Cannes Lions Festival, click here. You can find information on IAPI and their role as official festival representative here and you can follow IAPI on Twitter here.