Cannes Lions receives record number of entries

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the world’s leading celebration of creative excellence in communications, has announced a record number of entries with 40,133 entries received across Cannes Lions (21-27 June), Lions Health (19-20 June) and Lions Innovation (25-26 June).

Philip Thomas, CEO, Lions Festivals, said that the level of entries showed an “industry that believes in the power of creativity as a driving force for business and for brands. The Lions are a proxy for great creativity, and it is exciting to see marketers globally pushing themselves and their agency partners to produce truly outstanding work, and having the confidence to bring it to Cannes Lions to compete on the world stage.”

Categories at Cannes Lions that have seen a notable increase are Creative Effectiveness which has doubled, Film (+8%), Branded Content & Entertainment (+18%) and Film Craft (+6%). “It’s particularly interesting to see such significant rises in these categories,” Thomas continued. “Creative Effectiveness has doubled, adding yet more evidence for creativity as a business driver, while categories like Film, Film Craft and Branded Content & Entertainment show how important these tools are for telling stories.”

“Two areas that have seen a decline are the Press and Outdoor categories. Although it does look as if the well-documented challenges of these media could be behind this decrease, we should be wary of drawing hasty conclusions from just one year’s data. For instance, the Radio category has been decreasing for a number of years, but this year has bounced back to very nearly its highest-ever entry number,” added Thomas.

Glass Lion: The Lion for Change, the Festival’s new category to address issues of gender inequality or prejudice, has received 166 entries in its launch year. All proceeds will go to a charity that will be chosen from a shortlist of ten by Cannes Lions delegates during the Festival.

Lions Health, the global creative Festival for healthcare communications, has received 1,862 entries in its second year, a 30% increase. Festival Director, Louise Benson, attributes this to “a growing creative confidence in an industry that has to work within restrictive frameworks.” She continued that “there was clear evidence that people are determined to push through these boundaries to embrace the challenges, largely because of the hugely personal and palpable results that can be achieved.”

Lions Innovation, the new Festival which will see data, technology and creativity intersect, has received 226 entries into the Innovation category and 619 entries into Creative Data. Japan, the UK, USA and Germany are the stand-out countries in terms of numbers. Terry Savage, Chairman, Lions Festivals, commented that it was “a very strong start for the Festival and symbolic of the industry shifts which see data and technology being used as necessary creative tools.”

Judging of the 2015 awards takes place in Cannes, France, where 366 global jurors will meet to debate, discuss and vote on the entries before awarding the elusive Lion trophies.