IAPI would like to say well done to all the teams that had their heads down, thinking caps on, and got their entries in on time for the Cannes Young Lions competition 2019.

This year we saw the highest number of entries ever (which we're thrilled about!) and each team received the brief on Friday 22 February in the Convention Centre. Each briefing was presented by the charity and sponsors specifically selected for their category.

The categories this year are: Print (sponsored by INM), Film (sponsored by Wide Eye Media and Pull the Trigger), Design (sponsored by JCDecuax), Young Marketers (sponsored by Core), Digital (sponsored by DMG: Media), Media (sponsored by Choose Radio) and PR (sponsored by PRII/PRCA).

Once briefed, each team were given just 48 hours to showcase their creative and strategic skills by coming up with a campaign to wow the judges - before Midnight on Sunday 24 February.

Only 7 teams will be selected to go through to compete on a global level at the Cannes Young Lions Competition - the most prestigious international awards in advertising and communications - so we'd like to wish each participant the very best of luck!

#CYLIreland

Highlights from the Convention Centre
Highlights from the Convention Centre

Claudia Gichuhi from ENAR Ireland gave a powerful presentation on the current state of racism in Ireland. Detailing personal experience Claudia's emotionally charged speech gave the entrants in the Film and Young Marketers categories the urgency needed to create compelling campaigns to combat racism as “to ignore racism is to allow racism.”

From left to right: Martina Byrne, PRII/PRCA, Cianan Clancy, INM, Lisa-Nicole Dunne, CMRF, Dr Paul Oslizlok, Crumlin Hospital

Gemma with her 5-year old son Alfie spoke about their journey with cystic fibrosis and how Crumlin Medical & Research Foundation has helped them since her son's diagnosis. Alfie's story was incredibly inspiring to those in the Print and PR categories who were presented with a brief working towards supporting children in Ireland who receive lifesaving treatment through CMRF.

Sara Montoya from a co-operative coffee growers community that is a part of Fairtrade inspires the Design category with a reminder that behind every cup of coffee and bunch of bananas we purchase, there's a community relying on Fairtrade to keep families in poorer countries in business.

Design category sponsor Pat Mannion from JCDecaux Ireland asked entrants to spend their weekend doing something important to make a difference in the world - not just to win a place at Cannes! The work in the Design category will be activated across numerous JCDecaux platforms later this year.

Ian Power from SpunOut.ie introduced entrants to the benefits of Crisis Text Line - an innovative new text support service. The Media and Digital categories are working to create plans that can be used for the services launch later this year.

Thank you to all the sponsors...
Thank you to all the sponsors...

So now the teams wait! Work has been submitted and is being sent for shortlisting by our panel of judges. We'll be back in touch with all teams the week commencing 11th March and shortlisted teams will be invited to present to the panel on the 20/21/22 March.

Congratulations to everyone that took part - the work created over this weekend will make a real difference to these four charities and the impact of what you've created will be lasting. We hope you enjoyed the new weekend format and got a real taste for what the 24 hour pressure of Cannes will be. For seven lucky teams they'll get to do it all again in June and we can't wait to see who will be on Team Ireland 2019.