History
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is considered the largest gathering of worldwide advertising professionals, designers, digital innovators and marketers. Every year in June, around 9,000 registered delegates from 90 countries visit the Festival, to celebrate the best of creativity in brand communication, discuss industry issues and network with one another.
Thousands of ads from all over the world are showcased and judged. In 2011, a record 28,282 entries were received, after two years of declining entries following the global economic crisis.
Inspired by the International Film Festival, staged in Cannes since the late 1940s, a group of cinema screen advertising contractors belonging to the Screen Advertising World Association (Sawa) felt the makers of advertising films should be similarly recognised. They established the International Advertising Film Festival, the first of which took place in Venice, Italy, in September 1954, with 187 film entries from 14 countries. The lion of the Piazza San Marco in Venice was the inspiration for the Lion trophy.
The second festival was held in Monte Carlo, and the third in Cannes. After that, the event alternated between Venice and Cannes before settling in the latter in 1984. New categories have been awards in recent years: the Press & Outdoor Lions competition in 1992; the Cyber Lions in 1998; Media Lions in 1999; Direct Lions in 2002; Radio, and Titanium Lions in 2005; Promo Lions in 2006; Design Lions in 2008; PR Lions in 2009; Film Craft in 2010; and Creative Effectiveness in 2011. However, in recent years there have been calls from within the industry for the Festival to simply the entry categories to better reflect the current state of the modern communications world.
In the 1990s, the Festival also added a programme of learning in the form of seminars and workshops. Over the years, this side of the Festival has grown considerably and, in 2011 featured nearly 90 sessions over 7 days. These included talks from will.i.am, Patti Smith, James Murdoch, Facebook's Carolyn Everson, Piers Morgan, Aaron Sorkin, David Simon and Eric Schmidt.
In 2004, British publisher and conference organiser EMAP plc purchased the festival from French businessman Roger Hatchuel - who had started managing it in 1987 - for a reported £52 million.
Philip Thomas is the chief executive officer. Terry Savage is the current chairman of the festival.
The 59th Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is scheduled for 17–23 June 2012.
Read more about this topic: Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival
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