1954
Inspired by the International Film Festival, which had been staged in Cannes since the late 1940s, a group of worldwide cinema screen advertising contractors (SAWA) felt that the makers of advertising films should receive similar recognition as their colleagues in the feature film industry.

In order to promote the cinema medium, SAWA established the International Advertising Film Festival. The first Festival took place in Venice in September 1954 with 187 film entries from 14 countries competing. The lion of Piazza San Marcos in Venice was the inspiration for the Lion trophy. The second Festival was held in Monte Carlo and then in Cannes in 1956.

After that, the Festival took place alternatively between Venice and Cannes. The films in the competition where split into two categories: TV and Cinema. They were judged according to technical crafts. There were, for example, categories for commercials of different lengths, live action and animation.

1967
The TV and cinema ads were split into product or service categories. This structure has been constantly updated to accommodate new products, services and marketing trends.

1983
The split between cinema ads and TV ads was abandoned to become film only – Film Lions.

1984
The French city of Cannes in the South of France became its permanent home.

1987
The Frenchman Roger Hatchuel, a former member of SAWA, started managing the Festival.

1990
Up until the first Gulf War in 1990, the worldwide advertising industry was prosperous. This is probably why the Festival maintained its original format of a film-only competition. In response to the advertising crisis at the time of the first Gulf War, the Festival added value to the event by complementing the showcase of all Film entries with a developing programme of high-profile seminars organised by some of the biggest names in the industry making Cannes Lions a unique learning experience.

1992
The International Advertising Film Festival became known as the International Advertising Festival. This change came about as the organisers broadened the event to reflect the multi-media approach of advertising campaigns, which incorporated both audio-visual and printed media. The Press & Outdoor Lions competition was therefore added. In the same year, the Young Creative Registration Package was introduced.

1995
The Young Creatives Print Competition was included in the Festival programme. Teams from different countries worldwide have 24 hours to produce an ad for a charity or non-profitable organisation.

1998
Online communications (websites, interactive campaigns and online advertising) were added to the event and the Cyber Lions were born.

1999
The Media Lions were launched, allowing media planners to join the Festival with their own competition celebrating creative use of media. The Young Creatives Cyber Competition was launched.

2002
The Direct Lions competition was added to honour creative direct marketing solutions.

2003
The Roger Hatchuel Lions Academy was introduced, aimed at providing one-week training and education to the best students who already study advertising, marketing, communications and design – an investment by Cannes Lions in the future of the industry.

2004
Emap Communications, the international B2B publisher and events organiser, acquired the Festival in the summer of 2004.

2005
Two new competitions were added: Radio Lions, aiming to raise the profile of radio creativity and Titanium Lions, honouring campaigns which achieve creative excellence across a range of communications and media channels, celebrating communication with risk and innovation. An idea so unique, new and pure that it cannot be labelled in a conventional way.

In the same year two new awards were introduced: Direct Agency of the Year and Interactive Agency of the Year. These new awards honour the top scoring agencies in the Direct and Cyber Lions competitions.

2006
The new Promo Lions competition, awarding creative excellence in the areas of sales promotion, including retail marketing, environmental design and in-store advertising, was added as well as the introduction of a separate Outdoor Lions Jury. Due to the incredible growth and success of Media Lions, Media Agency of the Year was added and the Media Lion trophy made way for Gold, Silver and Bronze Lions.

Further innovations in 2006 included the Young Creatives Film Competition, complementing the existing Print and Cyber competitions, with the ads being filmed on mobile devices. As well as the successful seminar programme, presented by industry keynote speakers covering a wide range of topics, half-day Workshops were added to allow for a more interactive learning experience in smaller groups.

2007
As the Festival continues to evolve to reflect what is happening in the advertising industry, further changes and additions have been introduced in 2007: The Content Showcase a dedicated exhibition area where content creators and providers across all media platforms can display their products and capabilities. A series of content-related Content Showcase Workshops complement the stands providing further information and education.

Titanium Lions has further evolved into Titanium and Integrated Lions, allowing the jury to award Integrated Lions to the best integrated campaigns using three or more different media, as well as awarding the most sought after Titanium Lion honouring breakthrough ideas.

Network of the Year will honour the most awarded network worldwide by assessing their agencies’ success across all categories.

To complement the existing Roger Hatchuel Lions Academy, a Student Delegate Registration Package has been introduced enabling business colleges and universities to send their marketing, communications and advertising students to take advantage of the many opportunities the Festival has to offer.