CANNES – The Cannes Lions Young Marketers Academy (YMA) returned to the International Festival of Creativity for a fifth year with Dentsu Aegis Network as its new sponsor.
The YMA picked 30 participants under 30 years old from across the globe. Two (2) Filipinos and Dentsu Jayme Syfu (DJS) clients — Cat Trivino of Jollibee and Justin Kingsu of Coca Cola Philippines, qualified to join the academy. The brief they worked on was for the UN Share the Meal App.
The week-long course was designed for young marketers working for client companies, and focused on four key themes: The case for creativity; communication strategy excellence; best-practice agency- client relationships; and the modern brand.
The course was led by Jim Stengel, former global marketing officer of P&G, with Suzanne Tosolini, an independent consultant focused on all aspects of brand strategy, and Serfi Altun, founder and idea chef at Idea Bakery, serving as academy tutors.
Three mentors from Dentsu Aegis were chosen: Merlee Jayme, Chairmom and Chief Creative officer, DJS, Philippines, who also gave a talk on “Inside the Mind of a Creative Director”; Simon Gill, Isobar Chief Creative Director, London; and Dave Snyder, Chief Creative Director/Partner, First Born, USA. The program was headed by Jean Lin, Isobar Global CEO, and Nick Bass, Global HR & Development Manager, Isobar London.
Benefitting from an unrivaled environment that allowed for a true immersion into learning and creativity, the YMA took advantage of the main Cannes Lions content program alongside its own tailored agenda of bespoke sessions given by senior industry figures from the likes of Coca-Cola, Facebook, Google, Wunderman, Eyeka, and Resource.
Dentsu Jayme Syfu Chairmom and Chief Creative Officer Merlee Jayme with Isobar Global CEO and Digital Craft Lions Jury President Jean Lin
The events in the evening allowed for industry networking, which enhanced the attendees’ experiences while building their contacts. As a result, young marketers are expected to return to their roles better equipped with the skills and best-practices needed to develop their careers.
The YMA participants were inspired by a content program that also included exclusive classroom lectures from industry legends, a visit to the jury room, guided tours of the awards exhibition, exciting guest speakers and peer-to-peer learning. Through a series of workshops and exclusive experiences, they encountered the latest innovations and thought leadership from Google, Facebook, Tencent, alongside CMOs of the world’s biggest brands and award-winning creatives.
Since it launched in 2011, over 300 star marketers from companies like Google, S.C. Johnson, Red Bull, Dell, Estee Lauder, P&G, Unilever, Kraft Heinz, Ülker, Ancestory.com and many more have taken their seat in the YMA.
