With the annual Cannes Lions Festival only five months away, IAPI has launched its drive to encourage more Irish advertising agencies to take part in the week-long event.
Earlier this week, IAPI held a briefing event for agencies which was hosted by Head of Entries Development at Cannes Lions, Simon Cook who gave a lowdown on the Cannes Lions. The key topics for discussion were practical but varied and covered everything from how to craft an award winning entry, to how to find the best place to stay in Cannes.
The briefing follows a continued concerted drive by IAPI to increase the number of entries from Irish agencies. Last year, Rothco carried the flag for Ireland by winning a coveted Cannes Lions award for its work with Daintree and the Yes campaign in the referendum on same sex marriage.
Last year, IAPI launched a three-year strategy to boost Irish entries and attending delegates to position Ireland as a creative hub. To that end, IAPI recently scooped the Cannes Lions 2015 New Rep of the Year after a 34% increase in entries to Cannes Lions from Irish agencies last year and a 170% overall increase in Irish delegates attending the event.
On the back of last year’s success, IAPI is once again hosting its “Young Lions” competition in association with Google and Shutterstock. This year will see six young creatives representing Ireland at the festival.
The Young Lions contenders were recently briefed to respond with a campaign for 2016 charity partner the Peter McVerry Trust. This year the Young Lions film winners will get the opportunity to work with Oscar-nominated director of Room, Lennie Abrahamson, who will shoot the winning script from the new Young Lions film category. The winning campaign will be shot by production company Pull the Trigger before being aired in Irish cinemas later this year.
According to Tania Banotti, CEO of IAPI; “The festival awards creative brilliance and attracts global brands eager to see who is producing the best work. Irish agencies are still losing out on work to UK and European agencies. As the Irish advertising industry continues to recover, now is the time to showcase our work to global brand leaders and for our industry to be seen to be competing amongst the best in the world.”
Simon Cook, Head of Entries Development at Cannes Lions said: “Entries for Cannes Lions 2016 opened worldwide this month. Ireland’s presence at the Festival grew exponentially in 2015, and last year’s entries increased by 34% against 2014. There’s no doubting the creative talent is here – the challenge now is for Irish agencies to win. So I’m delighted to be in Dublin meeting leading agencies, providing tips on how to craft a strong entry and giving advice about the different categories.”
