South Africa dazzles At Cannes 60th Awards

The 2013 Cannes International Festival of Creativity saw South Africa’s talent going up against some of the best of the world – and coming out victorious.

‘South Africa showed a remarkable improvement in performance at this year’s Cannes Lions Advertising Festival,’ said Ryan Williams, Executive Head of sales at Cinemark. ‘Out of the 1032 Lions awarded last year, we brought 43 of those home. This year, a total of 1173 Lions were awarded and 63 of them were taken by South Africa.’

In the Promo & Activations category South Africa walked away with two silver Lions and one bronze Lion, which was three more than last year, while the Media category saw one silver Lion and one bronze Lion awarded.

In the Outdoor category South Africa won nine more awards than in 2012, including two silver Lions, six silver Lion campaigns and six Bronze Lion campaigns. The Design category saw an improvement of seven more awards compared to last year, including four silver Lions and three Bronze lions.

Winning five more awards compared to last year, the Press category saw South Africa walk away with 17 Silver Lion campaigns and one silver Lion, while in the Radio category four gold Lion campaigns, two silver Lion campaigns and nine bronze Lion campaigns were awarded.
In the Branded Content category, South Africa won one gold Lion and one bronze Lion and the Film category saw South Africa earn two bronze Lion campaigns, one award better than in 2012 for each.

‘There are categories where there has been good improvement, namely the Promo & Activations and Design categories where no Lions were awarded last year. This year South Africa received three out of the 95 Lions awarded and seven out of the 141 Lions awarded in these categories respectively,’ commented Williams.

South Africa once again performed consistently well in the Radio category. Williams explained that this year a total of 166 ads were shortlisted and 30 South African radio ads made the selection. Out of those selected, 15 were awarded a Lion.

While South Africa’s improvement at this year’s festival shows how indicates that the local creative industry is growing, there are some areas that need work in order to compete for the spotlight against countries such as the UK, USA and Germany as well as upcoming contenders Brazil and China. ‘Creative Effectiveness, Film Craft and Titanium & Integrated categories require special attention since we have not been shortlisted in the last two years. Compared to previous years we also under performed in the Direct, Media, Mobile and PR categories at the last two festivals,’ explained Williams.

The 2013 Cannes International Festival of Creativity has highlighted the immense potential South Africa has as well as the ability to compete against some of the best, brightest and most talented in the world. Congratulations to all of the local participants!

PIC: Ryan Williams, Executive Head of Sales Cinemark.