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What's new for the 2019 Cannes Lions Awards

Every year, we consult with the industry to make sure the Cannes Lions Awards reflect the state creative marketing communications. We've made a number of changes this year to ensure the world's best ideas are honoured at Cannes Lions 2019.

New Lions

Creative Strategy Lions – celebrating the idea behind the idea; how strategic planning can redefine a brand, reinvent its business and influence consumers or wider culture.

Entertainment Lions for Sport – celebrating creativity that taps into fan culture and leverages the power of sports and eSports in connecting people to brands.

Entry cap – The six Lion limit

As in 2018, each of your campaigns can be entered into up to six Lions (entry limits within each Lion are different). New! Titanium is no longer counted within the six Lion Limit, so you can enter six Lions, plus Titanium Lions in 2019.

New categories

In 2019 we have a host of new categories as well as some updates, including:

  • A Culture & Context section, which appears across ten Lions – celebrating work with a specific focus on local campaigns and cultural insights, as well as challenger brands and break-throughs on a budget.
  • New categories that celebrate Business Transformation across three Lions.
  • Additions including Native Advertising in Radio & Audio, Voice-activation across multiple Lions and Promotional Content for Publishers & Networks – celebrating work made for and by media owners.
  • A change, which means you can now enter product design and innovation entries into new categories in Innovation Lions and Design Lions. Product Design has now been retired.

Live Judging

Shortlisted entrants for the Innovation Lions, Titanium Lions and Glass: The Lion for Change will be invited to present their work live to the Jury and delegates at Cannes Lions.

Charity work is judged separately

All charity and non-profit work is judged separately from brand-led work during the festival.

If you would like to talk to an Awards expert about any of the changes for 2019, drop us a line at awards@canneslions.com.

Our nine tracks reflect the breadth of disciplines across the global branded communications industry. With 27 different specialist Lions, it's easy to find the right home for your creative campaigns and ensure they are honoured at Cannes Lions 2019.