Cannes Lions 2024 set to commence from today; India eyes new metals record

Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2024 is all set to commence from today (12.30 am on June 18 as per Indian Standard Time). Over the five days of the festival, the focus will be on the global advertising excellence and trends, and of course, the Lions Awards.

Cannes Lions has confirmed 26,753 awards submissions for 2024, reflecting the broad spectrum of creative marketing, growth areas include Creative Effectiveness, Creative Business Transformation, Creative Commerce and Creative Strategy.

The number of brands submitting entries is up 6%, while media owners are up 31%, with Social & Influencer and Innovation Lions seeing high growth.

Some of the Lions outside the traditional disciplines, which have seen growth include Creative Business Transformation (+8%), Creative Commerce (+18%) and Creative Strategy (+5%). Work in these Lions is showcasing the broad spectrum of creative marketing that is being used to solve business problems.

Elsewhere, the Social & Influencer Lions have grown by 21%, seeing the highest number of entries since the Lion launched in 2018.

In its first year, just under a quarter of submissions have come directly from brands in the inaugural Luxury & Lifestyle Lions – launched to provide a global benchmark in the luxury space.

This year, Indian agencies have sent 826 entries. Of these, over 30 entries have already been shortlisted across categories. India’s highest metals score at Cannes Lions was in the year 2022, when Indian agencies won 47 metals. Will India beat this record in 2024? That is something that the Indian advertising industry is hoping for.

In a release issued, Simon Cook, CEO, LIONS, said, “As a barometer for the global industry, this is when we see interesting shifts across the global landscape – we’ve seen continued growth in the Creative Effectiveness Lions, which has received the highest number of submissions since its launch in 2011, demonstrating that there’s a strong commitment to creativity as a growth driver. The shift in the makeup of companies is also interesting, with the number of brand submissions rising 6% and media owners are up a significant 31%, demonstrating the breadth of investment in creativity across the full spectrum of branded communications. Our Juries are already curating a body of Lion-worthy work and we look forward to seeing the work that will set the benchmark for another year and show us the way forward.”

About the growth, Marian Brannelly, Global Director of Awards, LIONS, said, “This year we expanded the categories within the Social & Influencer Lions to better recognise and celebrate the pivotal role that content creators play in shaping and amplifying brand messages. The dynamic influence these individuals have on audiences across social and digital platforms reflects the evolving nature of communication and branding in the modern era. Research from WARC also showed that global social spend is set to total $247.3bn in 2024, up 14.3% year on year, ahead of paid search. The growth of this Lion coincides with the timely launch of the new LIONS Creators Pass, providing further evidence of a sector evolving at a rapid pace.”

Discussing the new Use of Humour category, Brannelly added, “Work into the new Use of Humour category, which sits across 13 Lions, makes up 5% of all entries within those Lions, demonstrating a shift in tone and the rise of effective commercial work designed to entertain. As BBDO’s Andrew Robertson said on stage last year, ‘humour works’.”

Reflecting what’s happening in the market, as outlined in Dentsu’s latest Global Ad Spend forecast, other areas of growth include in the Outdoor Lions, which are up 6% YOY, reflective of a medium that is evolving at pace, with the adoption of data engagement and emerging technologies to help brands think beyond traditional billboards. The Audio & Radio Lions are up 6%, while the Innovation Lions – are up by a huge 52%.