Seasoned Colleen DeCourcy,Chief Creative Officer, Wieden+Kennedy has been confirmed as the President of the Jury of the Titanium Lions this year. As far as I can remember, this is the first time a Woman takes the chair in this category.
But this is not the only first in a revamped Cannes Lions Festival that will say goodbye to Terry Savage at the end of its 2018 edition.
Not only ad creative leaders
A total of 26 Presidents will guide specialist juries within the nine Awards Tracks. In addition to creative leaders drawn from across the spectrum of creative services, this year’s President line-up includes Fernando Machado, Global Chief Marketing Officer at Burger King and Mark D’Arcy, VP and Chief Creative Officer at Facebook.
For the first time in Festival history, Apple will participate in the juries with Tor Myhren, VP Marketing Communications appointed as Innovation President.
Jose Papa, Managing Director of Cannes Lions, said: “This year’s Jury Presidents represent a mix of world-renowned creative leaders as well as some incredibly well-respected names from the brand and technology worlds. It’s a real honour to welcome each of this year’s Presidents to the Festival community.”
Nine out of 26 juries are women, but few in tech and innovation categories
In the 2018 edition of the Festival, woman jury presidents take 9 out of 26 chairs (a 23%), among them those at Entertainment Lions and Entertainment Lions for Music.
But leaving aside the selection of Jean Lin for the Digital Craft chair there’s still no trace of any woman jury president in the tech, digital and innovation categories.
Goodbye to Savage
Savage who has been associated with Lions for 33 years, initially as the representative for Australia, then as CEO, and for the last decade as Chairman will leave the organisation of Cannes Lions Festival at the end of the 2018 edition.
“Creativity has been central to everything I believe in and having spent a large part of my career involved with Lions I leave in the knowledge that creativity in all of its varied forms will continue to thrive and be centre stage at Cannes Lions. The Festival has always evolved, and I am certain it will continue to evolve as the industry changes, and thrive as it has for 65 years,” Savage said.
And he continued, “Post Cannes, through the business opportunities I have before me, I will continue to ensure that the profound commercial and social impact of creativity takes a preeminent place in organisations around the world, and look forward to helping others achieve a like-minded position.”
Philip Thomas, CEO of Ascential Events, commented, “Terry has been a huge figure in the history of Cannes Lions for decades – those who know him will know he is a big personality with a big passion for creativity and for the Festival he has worked on for so long. He leaves with our best wishes for the future, and we look forward to working with him as closely as ever in the run up to the 2018 event.”
The Festival opened for entries las 18th January with a first deadline of 22 March. Final entry deadline is 20 April.
The 2018 edition of Cannes Lions will be held at Cannes (France) from 18th to 22th June.
Image over the headline.- © Cannes Lions.
Related external links:
To know more about Cannes Lions 2018 jury presidents, click here
Related Eastwind Marketing links:
