Colleen DeCourcy, former President and Chief Creative Officer of Wieden+Kennedy, will receive the Lion of St. Mark award for a lifetime of service to creativity in communications at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2022, which takes place 20-24 June 2022, in Cannes, France.
Cannes Lions announced this precisely today, when it is celebrated the International Women’s day worldwide.
Commenting on receiving the Lion of St. Mark, Colleen DeCourcy, says: “I’m drawn to the fact that creativity – regardless of who or where it comes from – can change this industry and our world. If I’m proud of anything, it’s that I’ve been able to create space for people to unlock their own creative potential, showing there is room for all of us here.”
After Mary Wells (2020), DeCourcy is the second female Lion of St.Mark ever in the history of cannes Lions.
Alongside receiving the Lion of St. Mark in 2022, DeCourcy will represent the Festival as Jury President for Glass: The Lion for Change, the award that celebrates culture-shifting creativity. At previous festivals, she has stood as the Titanium Lions Jury President (2019), Jury President for the now-retired Cyber Lions (2017), as well as serving on both the Titanium Lions jury and the Cyber Lions jury across multiple years.
Philip Thomas, Chairman, LIONS, commented: “Colleen DeCourcy is not only a hugely influential creative leader, she has been vital to the Lions, bringing her immense creative prowess to the jury rooms and Festival stages, over many years. Under Colleen’s creative leadership, Wieden+Kennedy has delivered brave, boundary-breaking, multi-Lion-winning work. Her creativity has truly inspired the global industry to raise the creative bar. We’re absolutely delighted to present Colleen DeCourcy with the Lion of St. Mark at the Festival.”
Not only responsible for a golden creative epoche at Wieden+Kennedy
DeCourcy first joined Wieden+Kennedy as global executive creative director in 2013 and announced her retirement from the agency and the advertising industry in 2021. DeCourcy has spent her career leading innovative companies and advocating for a more equitable industry. She was named one of Fast Company magazine’s Most Creative People in Business, honoured with the Fearless Voices award by the organisation She Runs It, and in 2019 was selected as the creative leader of the decade by AdWeek magazine.
Since 2013, Wieden+Kennedy and its network of global offices has amassed 149 Lions at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, one of W+K’s most successful eras. This includes five Grands Prix: four for W+K’s seminal creative work with Nike, including the epic ‘Nothing Beats a Londoner’ campaign by Wieden+Kennedy London, winning the inaugural Social & Influencer Lions Grand Prix in 2018; and in 2020/21 Nike’s lauded ‘You Can’t Stop Us’ by Wieden+Kennedy Portland, was awarded a highly coveted Film Lions Grand Prix.
Susie Walker, VP Awards & Insights, LIONS, commented: “We’re thrilled that Colleen DeCourcy will be honored with this year’s Lion of St. Mark. A creative pioneer, she has advocated for parity in the industry throughout her influential career, demonstrating creativity as a driver for change. We would also like to thank Colleen for bringing her creative expertise to one of the festival’s most vital awards, Glass: The Lion for Change, as Jury President this year.”
Image over the headline.- Colleen DeCourcy at the Advertising Week 2014. Image © The Advertising Club of New York.
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