See it be it
for the next generation
of female creative leaders
An acclaimed initiative developed and funded by Cannes Lions
We want equality for women across the industry. Since we launched See It Be It six years ago, 72 women from 31 countries have participated in our week-long programme. But See It Be It doesn’t stop at the Festival.
We believe that equality is about access. Our global event series cultivates local community and support networks of women across the world. See it Be It has also reached 4,000 women through events held in London, New York, Toronto, Los Angeles, Sofia, Karachi, Lagos and Sydney. And our work won’t stop here either.
Now open for applications
We're inviting 15 applicants to join us in June at Cannes Lions 2020, for free. This group of women come to the Festival for a week-long programme that brings together learning and mentorship, exposure to industry leaders and a network of aspiring creative directors and insider’s access to the Festival.
See It Be It changes the lives of the people who take part.
Change happens through community
Our alums act as ambassadors for See It Be It. They take our vision across the world with inclusive, culturally relevant community events for people of all experience levels to learn, be inspired and meet allies in our global campaign for equality in our industry.
“Advertising and marketing have a stronger responsibility because of the images this industry creates. Because they shape what everybody sees… So, it is incumbent of this entire industry to lead the charge for other industries.”
Adrianne Smith
Founder and President, Cannes Can Diversity Collective
Work towards a better world
Equality isn’t just important for the people working in the industry. We need to make sure we’re producing work that reflects the world around us. This year at Cannes Lions, winning work in Glass: The Lion for Change showed us what it means to create culture-shifting work that sets out to positively impact ingrained gender inequality, imbalance or injustice.
The Last Ever Issue
A lack of formal sex eduation in Poland meant that generations of people learned about women and sex from porn. VMLY&R Poland teamed up with Gazeta.PL, Mastercard and BNP Paribas to take a stand. They bought Poland’s longest-standing pornographic magazine, Your Weekend, and launched ‘The Last Ever Issue’ on International Women’s Day.
Viva La Vulva
95% of women think their vagina is imperfect. A film from Essity combined creativity and humour to tackle an ingrained social shame, encouraging women to give the female anatomy the praise and power it deserves.
Visit The Work for more
First Shave
Advertising focuses heavily on cisgender stereotypes and men who don’t conform to traditional definitions of manhood rarely see themselves in advertising. A series of content from Gillette followed four transgender men as they a first step into manhood: shaving.
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