Noorings: Cannes Lions@70: The Ride From Classic To Everything

It was not very long ago that the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity had different categories to represent the different media and the big highlights of the festival were Film Lions, Outdoor Lions, Print & Publishing Lions and Radio & Audio Lions. Some of these even attracted the highest number of entries at the festival.

Now much of that has become part of the ‘Classic Track’, one among nine different tracks that comprise the Cannes Lions and are representative of how the world of creativity is changing. The other tracks include Craft, Engagement, Entertainment, Experience, Good, Health, Strategy, and Titanium. And these are also the categories that are seeing more work coming in, showing the shift of creative ideas and execution.

The trend in the last four years has been a bit of a steady decline for the categories both in terms of entries and awards given in comparison to the period prior. Many argue that this is reflective of the changes in the industry but many creative leaders reiterate that these are some of the toughest media to crack and still pack a punch when it comes to making a difference.

Some of the Grand Prix on day one of Cannes Lions do back this claim. Even as India has had a slow start to the festival, Cannes Lions 2023 is once again playing home to a slew of exciting work that leaders at home too can take away more from.

The Print & Publishing Lions Grand Prix, awarded to Lebanon’s AnNahar newspaper, was a rare feat and something that can inspire media publications in India as well. Needless to say, the UAE winning a Grand Prix on the global stage is rare and Impact BBDO had this distinct honour. 

It is now all eyes out on Day two to see how many Lions India brings home this year.