GLOBAL – LONDON, UK, NOVEMBER 18, 2010 – The organizers of Cannes Lions today announced that the event will be changing its strapline from "The International Advertising Festival" to "The International Festival of Creativity". The move reflects the transformation of Cannes Lions over the last few years from being a celebration of creative excellence in advertising to now reflecting creative excellence in all forms of communication.
"If you view the work and listen to the conversations taking place at Cannes Lions, you realise very quickly that the event has evolved way beyond pure advertising," Philip Thomas, festival CEO, explains.
"Apart from the welcome attendance of Design, Media, PR, Activation and other professionals from all forms of communications, the winning work at Cannes can no longer be described as being simply ‘Advertising’. Many of the Grands Prix are now being awarded to experiences, technologies, social media, user-generated content, services, events – the options for marketers now are rich and diverse, and we need to embrace that change. It’s important that Cannes Lions offers a global event that is relevant to the industry, and having listened to feedback from many industry leaders, we feel that now is the right time to truly reflect what the Festival has become."
Launched in 1954 with only TV and Cinema ads being judged, the Festival has changed significantly in recent years to embrace communications in the broadest sense. In 2011, the international juries will award Lions in thirteen distinct categories: Film, Press, Outdoor, Cyber, Media, Direct, Radio, Promo & Activation, Design, PR, Film Craft, Titanium & Integrated and Creative Effectiveness.
The change is not without its critics. The renaming has been talked about for months after this year’s event. If advertising is too narrow a term for the communications the Festival celebrates, creativity is perhaps too broad for the kind of work it encompasses.
