Cannes Lions Jury Has Highest Representation Of Women In Festival’s History

Cannes Lions has confirmed its jury president line-up for the awards in June, with Bozoma Saint John, Merlee Jayme and Geoff Northcott completing the full line-up and joining the jury presidents initially appointed for the 2020 awards.

Philip Thomas, chairman at Lions, said: “We know that after the postponement of last year’s awards, our jury presidents are eager to get going.

They will be leading juries in a unique year, awarding Lions for both 2020 and 2021—no small job but one that will provide a crucial reflection and insight into the industry’s recent unprecedented journey. Happily, they’re an extremely talented bunch of individuals and more than qualified to take on the job of setting the world’s new creative benchmark.”

Cannes Lions, whose official representatives in Australia are B&T‘s parent agency, The Misfits, has been recognising and celebrating creativity since 1954.

Appointed as this year’s President of the Titanium Jury—the Lion that awards game-changing work that marks a new direction for the industry and moves it forward—Susan Credle, global chief creative officer at FCB, said: “Advertising at its creative best is one of the most powerful economic-driving, business problem-solving, culture-changing agents in the world.

“By celebrating the work at The Cannes Lions Festival, we are reminded of our potential and inspired to live into it.”

Credle joins a group of 16 female jury presidents, making the gender split 57 per cent female and the highest representation of female leaders in the Festival’s history.

Joining the president line-up, Bozoma Saint John, global chief marketing officer at Netflix, has been appointed President of the Glass: The Lion for Change Jury.

Saint John said: “I’ve seen it said that ‘the future is female’ but the reality is that women have made incredible contributions in the past, are making their impact known in the present, and will absolutely change the future.

“Therefore, we need to recognise the brands and advertisers who are driving positive progress and change in the world by reflecting an equal world.

“This is why the Glass Lions are so important—the awards will shine a light on work that has really impacted the issue of gender inequality. I can’t wait to see how brands are approaching this ongoing challenge in new and fresh ways this year.”

Judging of the Lions will take place during Cannes Lions in June.

Speaking about this, Simon Cook, managing director at Lions, said” “From our conversations with the jury presidents, we know that there is a shared hope that the judging will take place physically at the Festival in June.

“In the event that this becomes impossible, we have created a remote judging experience—successfully used at our regional awards—that’s as close to the physical judging as we can make it.

“It’s a crucial part of all of our Lions awards; a human experience but also a rigorous and robust process.”

Cannes Lions is scheduled to take place from 21 to 25 June 2021, and will incorporate the awarding of both the 2020 and 2021 Lions. Further information on the Lions can be found at canneslions.com

The 2021 Jury Presidents have been confirmed as follows:

Communication Track

Titanium Lions – Susan Credle, global chief creative officer, FCB, Global

Design Lions – Pum Lefebure, chief creative officer, Design Army, USA

Film Lions – Richard Brim, chief creative officer, adam&eveDDB, UK

Mobile Lions – Andrew Keller, VP, global creative director, Facebook, Global

Outdoor Lions – Luiz Sanches, chairman, chief creative officer and partner, AlmapBBDO, Brazil

Print & Publishing Lions – Liz Taylor, global chief creative officer, Leo Burnett/worldwide chief creative officer, Publicis Communications NA, Global

Radio & Audio Lions ­– Merlee Jayme, global president, dentsu mcgarrybowen/chairmom, Dentsu Jayme Syfu, Global

Craft Track

Digital Craft Lions – Jax Ostle-Evans, managing director, Stink Studios, UK

Film Craft Lions – Kerstin Emhoff, president, PRETTYBIRD, USA

Industry Craft Lions – Jayanta Jenkins, EVP, head of marketing, Disney+, Global

Entertainment Track

Entertainment Lions – Jae Goodman, CEO, Observatory (A Stagwell and CAA Company), Global

Entertainment Lions for Music – Wyclef Jean, president and chief strategy officer, Carnival World Music Group, USA

Entertainment Lions for Sport – Ben Hartman, chief client officer, International, Octagon, Global

Experience Track

Brand Experience & Activation Lions – Vicki Maguire, chief creative officer, Havas, UK

Creative Business Transformation Lions – Geoff Northcutt, global chief experience officer and managing partner, EMEA, AKQA, Global

Creative eCommerce Lions – Tiffany Rolfe, global chief creative officer, R/GA, Global

Good Track

Glass: The Lion for Change – Bozoma Saint John, global chief marketing officer, Netflix, Global

Sustainable Development Goals Lions – Eduardo Maruri, VP global creative board and president/CEO Europe, Grey Worldwide, Global

Health Track

Health & Wellness Lions – Tom Richards, global chief creative officer, 21GRAMS, Global

Pharma Lions – Anne de Schweinitz, global managing director, Healthcare, FleishmanHillard, Global

Innovation Track

Innovation Lions – Claudia Cristovao, head of Google Brand Studio, APAC, Google, APAC

Impact Track   

Creative Effectiveness Lions – Ann Mukherjee, chairman and CEO, Pernod Ricard NA, USA

Reach Track

Creative Data Lions – Maurice Riley, chief data officer, Digitas, Australia & New Zealand

Creative Strategy Lions – Suzanne Powers, global chief strategy officer, McCann Worldgroup, Global

Direct Lions – Reed Collins, chief creative officer, Ogilvy, Asia

Media Lions – Philippa Brown, worldwide CEO, PHD, Global

PR Lions – Gail Heimann, president and CEO, Weber Shandwick, Global

Social & Influencer Lions – Debbi Vandeven, global chief creative officer, VMLY&R, Global