The Comms Council announces the re-launch of the Cannes Young Lions competition

AUCKLAND, Thursday: 2023 marks the return of the Cannes Young Lions Competition to Aotearoa after a five-year hiatus, with the help of category sponsor Stuff and the NZ Commercial Communications Council.

The competition will consist of two categories: Media and Print.

The competition gives young ad hotshots an opportunity to represent Aotearoa in the Young Lions competition at the 70th Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. This festival will be held between 19 and 23 June.

Winning Aotearoa’s Young Lions competition is an impressive achievement. The winners will represent NZ at the Young Lions Global Competition, where they will compete against their international counterparts for the global crown.

But in order to get their hands on any of these perks, Young Lions entrants will first have to impress during the local competition (in one of the two categories) that has been moulded to those that occur at the official festival in Cannes.

After receiving a brief, the teams will have 48 hours to submit their response, which will then proceed on to be judged by industry experts in each field.

“Our members urged us to explore reviving the competition and we are very excited to be the Cannes Lions representative for Aotearoa.”

“We are so pleased to bring Young Lions back to Aotearoa,” said Comms Council ceo Simon Lendrum.

“It is a phenomenal opportunity for young talent to compete at a global level. Our members urged us to explore reviving the competition and we are very excited to be the Cannes Lions representative for Aotearoa.”

As the sponsor of the Media category, Stuff’s executive commercial director Matt Headland said: “As New Zealand’s market-leading media organisation with unrivalled reach across print and digital channels, we’re proud to partner with the awards to nurture and support fresh media and creative talent. I’m looking forward to hearing these young lions roar.”

Registrations are now open for teams to enter. To be eligible to enter both team members must be 30 or under, born on or after 23 June 1992.

The deadline to enter the competition is midnight on Wednesday 8 March.

Young Lions Competition Schedule

1. 2nd February – Registrations Open
2. 9th March – Online Briefing
3. 9th-12th March – Competition
4. 14th-21st March – Online Judging
5. 23rd March – Executive Judging
6. 30th March – Winners Announced

• Enter here: commscouncil.nz/younglions