After an intense competition and judging period, IAPI is delighted to announce the 14 Young Lions selected to represent Ireland in the Young Lions global competition at Cannes Lions Festival in June 2023, commonly known as the ‘Oscars of Advertising’.
Cannes Young Lions is a creative competition that provides young talent in the advertising, marketing and communications industry the opportunity to compete at the national, and then global level against their peers. As the Festival Representatives for Ireland, IAPI (Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland) manage the Irish Cannes Young Lions competition and each year hundreds of talented young professionals take part.
Each team of two had 48 hours to respond to a brief for one of three charities selected this year and their submissions were then scored by five judges remotely. The charities issuing the briefs were GOAL, Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, and Dyslexia Ireland.
“I extend my congratulations to the winners of the Irish Young Lions competition, especially since the competition was as fierce as ever this year! I particularly love this programme aa, not only does it give young talent the opportunity to rise up, it also provides our chosen charities with a plethora of ideas and concepts that will help them engage with their audience and raise much needed funds.” says Charley Stoney, CEO, IAPI.
The winning entries will get to show case their work in the real world and see it to fruition in the months to follow. Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind one of the charities chosen this year will see their film produced pro bono, courtesy of Pull the Trigger and aired for free, courtesy of Sky Ireland. GOAL will see the winning press ad come to life in print, courtesy of the Business Post. The third charity, Dyslexia Association of Ireland, has also obtained a range of PR and Digital concepts to help them plan their communications this year.
“We were deeply impressed by the creativity, ambition, and courage of the ideas from the winners. They exemplified - in the best possible way - the power of companies in Ireland to make a difference in supporting GOAL's aim of creating a more sustainable, resilient, and inclusive world. It was a brilliant opportunity for our team to see the creativity that the entrants brought to the GOAL brief - it has certainly reinvigorated our out-of-the-box thinking”, said Salina Janzan, Corporate Partnerships Manager, GOAL
“Very well-researched, demonstrated strong presentation skills, and displayed great creativity with their digital campaign. The campaign concept is an excellent way to simulate dyslexia, driving both empathy and awareness, and most importantly generating lots of traffic to the dyslexia hub in line with the brief”, said Rosie Bisset from Dyslexia Association Ireland talking about the Digital and PR category winners.
Niamh Wingate from Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, said “The winning entries were particularly striking. They portrayed a fun approach to encouraging people to donate and highlighted the need for real people to be the connection needed for the pups, which was a unique approach to achieve our goals.”
None of this would have been possible without the support of our competition sponsors this year. Thank you for providing the time, support and funds necessary to bring this to fruition - Pull the Trigger, Sky Ireland, PRII/PRCA, Smurfit Kappa, The Business Post, Meta, LadBible Ireland, and Droga5 Dublin.
Huge congratulations to our winners. We will be celebrating the young lions over a glass or two of Rosé at the Winners Showcase in Whelans on the 20th of April where they will take to the stage to showcase their winning work. IAPI invites each and everyone of you to join us for this celebration event. A great opportunity to meet the Young lions, other shortlisted candidates and young creatives from industry. To read all about the Showcase event and Register head to Events page here>>
The 2023 Cannes Young Lions winners revealed below, photographed by Patrick Bolger.
- John Aherne & Cathy Lambert - Bord Gáis Energy, winners of the Young Marketers category
- Eva Redmond & Anthony McDonagh, Core, winners of the Media category
- Shane O'Hare, Bloom & Daragh Griffin Connelly Partners winners of the Print category
- Meabh O'Mahony & Katie Dumpleton,150 Bond winners of the PR Category
- Nico Dagdag , PHD & Carolyn McMorrow, OMG winners of the Digital Category
- Nadine Kennedy, ACNE & Conor Marron, Boys + Girls winners in the Film Category
- Robin Winchester & James Stedmond, In the Company of Huskies winners in the Design category.
Here's what our judges had to say about the winning entry...
"Immediately taken with the ‘PinEmOn’ entry as for me it was a standout example of how to tackle the brief using a multifaceted approach. The team managed to elegantly incorporate near field technologies within the wonderful Badges/Pins to sustain the relationship with the donor in a very engaging and simple manner.
The overall visual presentation of the concept from both the digital UI and the 3D rendering of the collection boxes was excellent and worthy of the bold creative idea." said Jamie Helly, Executive Chairman at Dynamo.
Here's what our judges had to say about the winning entry...
Super-smart idea that is clear, simple and has the potential to be emotional and motivating. I like that it empowers people to make a difference to both GOAL communities as well as make a measurable difference to the big, hairy issue of climate change. said Bridget Johnson, Executive Creative Director.
Here's what our judges had to say about the winning entry...
"It was a brilliant opportunity for our team to see the creativity that the entrants within the Print category brought to the GOAL brief - it has certainly reinvigorated our out-of-the-box thinking
When faced with the challenging task of selecting a winner, 'Let Hope Live On' ticked all of the boxes for us: it was clear, compelling, and has great potential to encourage viewers to leave a lasting legacy in their will and support the vulnerable communities GOAL works with worldwide." said Salina Janzan, Corporate Partnerships Manager, GOAL
Here's what our Judges had to say....
"This deserved to win because… it was bloody fantastic. One of those ideas that I’d be proud to have come up with myself. I watched it a few times and laughed every time. The idea, the bots, the scenarios, the comedic timing, the music - loved it all. Love that the bots have so much potential to be a very unique, ownable and eye-catching brand asset to basically use anywhere." said Aoife McCleary, Senior Creative Copywriter, In the Company of Huskies.
Here's what our Judges had to say....
"Excellent research. Really nice link to gamers. Loved the cheat codes. Loved the flexibility that this can be adapted to future games as they come into the market. Fantastic partnership."
"This for me was the winning campaign for a number of reasons. It was simple and easy to understand. The insight and strategy were strong and the team went above and beyond by contacting EA Sport and enquiring re possibility of this campaign. They were so professional and presented excellently. I have full confidence that they will represent Ireland really well at Cannes – well done! "Caroline Kelly, Managing Director, Teneo
Here's what our Judges had to say....
" It focuses on (and increases!) the JOY someone feels – themselves - when they give to others (so it’s entirely positive!) . It takes something that is tricky to fully comprehend – i.e. leaving something for others to benefit from once you’ve died – and makes it as clear and relatable (and fun!) as ‘buy now, pay later’ .
Makes a difficult undertaking – creating a will - easy (‘dead easy’) . Gets scale via media and PR … and takes things global and long term with the development of an online ‘own now, pay later’ shop" said Alan Weetch, Chief Planning and Strategy Officer at Mindshare.
Here's what our Judges had to say....
"Every year PRII and PRCA Ireland are ambitious for the team who represent us on the global stage at Cannes Young Lions – not least because we won Silver in 2021! This team from 150Bond, Meabh O’Mahony and Katie Dumpleton, has demonstrated just the right skill sets to make it in Cannes.
They know how to read a brief, really understand the client organisation needs, combine research with insight, add a spark of clever creativity, and present their ideas clearly. We are looking forward to adding to the Cannes trophy this summer!" said Martina Byrne, Chief executive, PRII/PRCA
