26 June 2015 – Lions Innovation has drawn to an end following two days immersed in inspirational data, tech and ideas.
The importance of collaborating for the future has permeated the Festival, which successfully brought elements of the innovation ecosystem together in Cannes for the first time. A diverse group of brands, start-ups, VCs, coders, scientists and storytellers were drawn to Lions Innovation to learn from each other, connect and, it emerges, do business.
Festival Director, Rob Dembitz, said that several of the start-ups who had taken part in the accelerating initiatives at Lions Innovation had been drawn into closed conversations with global brands over the last two days that would be continued outside of the Festival.
“The branded communications equation has been completely transformed by the addition of start-ups, and we’ve showcased how creatively-rewarding such 3-way partnerships can be through Lions Innovation. But the Festival has also created a fertile ground for forging these new relationships. It’s been exactly the kind of environment from which the next big thing will emerge.”
At the Awards Ceremony which concluded the event, this year’s Innovation Lions and the inaugural Creative Data Lions were also presented.
From 226 entries this year, 8 Innovation Lions were awarded including the Grand Prix to What3Words, London for “3 Words to Address the World”, which replaces traditional addresses with a unique three-word combination based on geographical co-ordinates for each 3m x 3m square of the planet. The system has particular applications in the developing world and was cited by Jury President, Nick Law, Global Chief Creative Officer, R/GA as an example of systematic, Silicon Valley thinking – relevant, he said, because, “As a jury, we were very concerned about problems to be solved.”
The Creative Data Lions received 609 entries from which 28 Lions were awarded, though not a Grand Prix. Jury President David Sable, Global Chief Executive Officer, Y&R, described the role of the jury as “creating a bar which will be raised again next year, and the year after,” and that there was such strong diversity in the first year’s entries it had made identifying an overall winner challenging. “We feel that every Lion we awarded was tight, clear, representative of its sub-category, but we felt that it was inappropriate at this stage to choose one to represent the totality.” Though Lions Innovation has now drawn to a close the action continues inside the Palais with the final day of Cannes Lions 2015 tomorrow. Winners of the Branded Content, Film, Film Craft, Titanium and Integrated Lions will be announced, along with the LionHeart Award, Lion of St. Mark and Special Awards, including Agency of the Year and Network of the Year.