Cannes Lions has seen an increase in the number of brands directly submitting entries to the awards (6%), while the number of media owners sending in their work is up by almost a third (31%).
The number of entries to the Innovation and Social & Influencer Lions categories have jumped significantly, by 52% and 21% respectively. The latter recorded the highest amount of growth in the category since it was launched at Cannes in 2018.
Entries into the Audio, Radio and Outdoor Lions categories were all up by 6%. Non-traditional areas that focus on solving business problems also saw impressive growth – including creative business transformation (8%), creative commerce (18%) and creative strategy (5%).
“This year we expanded the categories within the Social & Influencer Lions to better recognise and celebrate the pivotal role that content creators play in shaping and amplifying brand messages,” said Cannes Lions global director of awards Marion Brannelly.
“The dynamic influence these individuals have on audiences across social and digital platforms reflects the evolving nature of communication and branding in the modern era. Research from WARC also showed that global social spend is set to total $247.3bn in 2024, up 14.3% year on year, ahead of paid search.”
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Also discussing the Cannes Lions new use of humour category, Brannely added: “Work into the new Use of Humour category, which sits across 13 Lions, makes up 5% of all entries within those Lions, demonstrating a shift in tone and the rise of effective commercial work designed to entertain.
“As BBDO’s Andrew Robertson said on stage last year, ‘humour works’.”
Moreover, the inaugural luxury and lifestyle Lions saw just under a quarter of submissions coming directly from lifestyle and luxury brands.
Cannes Lions CEO Simon Cook added: “As a barometer for the global industry, this is when we see interesting shifts across the global landscape – we’ve seen continued growth in the Creative Effectiveness Lions, which has received the highest number of submissions since its launch in 2011, demonstrating that there’s a strong commitment to creativity as a growth driver.”
“The shift in the make up of companies is also interesting, with the number of brand submissions rising 6% and media owners are up a significant 31%, demonstrating the breadth of investment in creativity across the full spectrum of branded communications,” he continued.
“Our Juries are already curating a body of Lion-worthy work and we look forward to seeing the work that will set the benchmark for another year and show us the way forward.”
Overall entries were at 26,735 entries which was down by a minor 1% on last year.
