Catch up on Cannes Lions 2018 Festival Highlights

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has confirmed that a total of 32,372 entries have been received into this year’s awards. Entries have come from 90 countries and have been made into 26 Lions. Early analysis of the numbers provides revealing insights to the creative communications industry, particularly around client engagement with the awards.
As expected, overall entry numbers are reduced due to the restructure of the awards and the Publicis 2018 pause. The number of brands entering is up 84% YOY, showing increased engagement from industry marketing leaders.
Philip Thomas, CEO, Ascential Events and Chairman-elect, Cannes Lions, commented, “Last year we made the decision to press the reset button on Cannes Lions. We closed three big Lion awards, and removed and combined many sub-categories. We did it knowing that this would mean a smaller volume of entries, but it was the right decision for the long term.”
Commenting on the effect of Publicis Groupe’s one year pause from the Festival, he added, “As we have seen, many clients have entered Publicis campaigns into the Festival this year to support their partnership and the work they do together. This shows how passionately they feel about the importance of creativity in their business. But obviously there has been an impact from Publicis’ temporary decision to step back, and we calculate that impact to account for an 8% drop in the Festival’s entry numbers.”
This year’s Cannes Lions programme features more brands than ever hot topic debates, power hours, gameshows, interactive sessions, creative legends on stage, five days of innovation and much much more. With 450+ speakers over five days of incredible content to pick from
it is a week of pure inspiration.
Since its first outing in 1954, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has been bringing the creative communications industry together every year at its one-of-a-kind event in Cannes to learn network and celebrate.
Global juries are currently convening in Cannes to judge and award creative excellence from across the world. The winners of the Lions will be announced at award shows throughout the Festival from 18-22 June. The 65th Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity culminates in a red carpet awards show to celebrate the world’s best creative work.
HIGHLIGHT VIDEOS: 

Day 1:

 Day 2: