David Jones to chair Cannes Creative effectiveness jury

Mainardo de Nardis named Media jury president; Iain Tait to lead Cyber jury

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | February 3, 2012

Cannes Lions has announced the appointment of three more jury presidents for this year's event taking place from June 17-23. David Jones, Global CEO of Havas, Global CEO of Euro RSCG Worldwide and Co-Founder of One Young World, will lead the judging of the Creative Effectiveness Lions category, which launched last year.

At the forefront of the next generation in advertising, Jones is the youngest global CEO in the history of advertising. In his role at Havas, he is responsible for all creative, marketing, media and design companies throughout the network of more than 16,000 people.

Jones was the driving force behind the hugely successful 'Tck Tck Tck' campaign for Kofi Annan for the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Summit, with 18 million people signing up as climate allies. He co-founded One Young World, the premier forum for young leaders across the globe. He worked closely with David Cameron and the UK Conservative Party from 2007 up to and including Cameron's election as prime minister in 2010.

"Over the past decade creativity has emerged as one of the most significant competitive advantages in business," said Jones. "Today you can no longer buy attention, you have to earn it. And in a world of more and more messages, shorter and shorter attention spans, and smaller and smaller screens, powerful creative ideas that cut through have never been more important. I'm delighted to chair the effectiveness jury that will reward the truly brilliant creative thinking that has driven proven profitable growth."

The Media Lions category will this year be chaired by Mainardo de Nardis, CEO of OMD Worldwide. An internationally recognised thought leader in media innovation and trends, de Nardis has led OMD since 2009.

During his tenure, OMD has twice been named Global Media Agency of the Year by Adweek, and US Agency of the Year by Advertising Age, while also earning top local honours in many of its 140 offices across 80 countries. In 2011, OMD was named the world's top ranked media agency for the third consecutive time by RECMA. OMD has also been recognised as the world's most creative media agency for an unprecedented five consecutive years by The Gunn Report for Media.

Prior to joining the Omnicom group, de Nardis was global CEO of Aegis Media and before that he ran Mediaedge:cia worldwide. In 1993 he published "The European Media Map", one of the first books on the development of the European and global media scene.

Commenting on the value of awards in today's challenging business environment, de Nardis said, "Beyond the aspirational and inspirational value, awards are also a critical key performance indicator for agencies, measuring our ability to deliver creativity and innovation that drives brand demand and transactions."

Iain Tait, Global Interactive Executive Creative Director of Wieden+Kennedy, will be jury president of the Cyber Lions jury. His most recognised piece of work is the Old Spice 'Responses' campaign where 'The Man Your Man Could Smell Like' created real-time video responses to fans. The campaign has been recognised around the world not only for its innovation but also for its effectiveness.

Iain's work has been awarded at Cannes Lions, The One Show, the Clio Awards, Art Directors Club, D&AD, Creative Circle and the Andy Awards. Media Age magazine named him the most influential person in new media in the UK in 2009. He's also included in the 2010 and 2011 Creativity 50, Ad Age's 25 Media Mavens and is one of Fortune Magazine's 2010 '40 Under 40'. In 2011 AdWeek named him one of the ten most creative minds in digital. He was recently inducted into the AAF Hall of Achievement. He's also a member of the World Economic Forum Council on the Future of Entertainment.

"I'm excited to guide a Cyber Jury that brings together the best talent from around the globe to recognise the greatest work in the world. There's so much change taking place so rapidly in our space that it's going to be tough to make sense of it all. But I'm confident we'll prove this category is where creativity is vibrant, thriving, and shaping the industry," commented Tait.

Philip Thomas, CEO of Cannes Lions, said about the appointments, "The recognition of fresh ideas and the successful use of creativity advance the industry paving the way forward for the future. We are honoured to welcome such eminent authorities as David, Mainardo and Iain to steer their juries to debate and award the most ground-breaking work in their respective categories."

Entries for Creative Effectiveness Lions can be submitted until February 17. Entries are open for all other categories.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

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