MAM
Cannes Lions entries invited
MUMBAI: Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has started accepting entries for all the 16 award categories.
The categories are: Branded Content & Entertainment Lions, Creative Effectiveness Lions, Cyber Lions, Design Lions, Direct Lions, Film Craft Lions, Film Lions, Press Lions, Media Lions, Mobile Lions, Outdoor Lions, Promo & Activation Lions, PR Lions, Radio Lions, Titanium & Integrated Lions, and the brand new Innovation Lions from today.
The deadline for Creative Effectiveness Lions entries is 1 March and for all other categories is 28 March. The Cannes festival this year will take place from 16 to 22 June.
This year will see the launch of the Innovation Lions category which has been designed to reward technologies and innovations. Lions will be awarded to such things as the most innovative platforms, apps, tools, programs, hardware, products, and radical software which allow brands and creatives to communicate with their customers in a new way, or which stand alone as significant innovations in their own right. The Innovation Lion will honour more than a campaign or communications idea. It could be SaaS (software as a service), a new mobile platform, or a revolutionary piece of software that enables a new kind of customer engagement.
The innovations that enter must have a proof of concept. Pre-development ideas/concepts are not eligible; entrants must clearly demonstrate the technology. “We are looking for technology that has already been developed, and is ready to be used as part of a creative execution or launched as a new product or service,” said Lions Festivals CEO Philip Thomas. Shortlisted entrants will explain and present their technology to the dedicated jury in Cannes, with all sessions being open for delegates to watch.
The Media Agency of the Year Award has been realigned so that only a media agency or media department of a full service ad agency will be eligible to win the award in the future.
Advertising agencies, clients, media owners and others can continue to enter and win a Media Lion but the involvement of the media agency or media department will become a mandatory field on the entry form. “The reality is that Media Lions should reward tactical media planning and placement and these changes will reflect that,” said Lions Festivals chairman Terry Savage.
From this year, the Palme d‘Or Award, presented to the best Production Company, will also take into account points accumulated for shortlisted and winning entries in the Branded Content & Entertainment category in addition to those earned in the Film and Craft Categories.
All of the winners will be revealed and announced across four Awards Ceremonies which will happen throughout the festival week:
- Monday 17 June – Creative Effectiveness, Direct, PR and Promo & Activation Lions Awards
- Tuesday 18 June – Innovation, Media, Mobile and Outdoor Lions Awards
- Wednesday 19 June – Cyber, Design, Press and Radio Lions Awards
- Saturday 22 June – Branded Content & Entertainment, Film, Film Craft, and Titanium & Integrated Lions Awards
All entries, across all categories, will be available to view in the Palais des Festivals at screenings and in interactive kiosks, providing delegates with an unbeatable opportunity to see over 30,000 pieces of creative advertising and communication from across the globe. All of the shortlisted and winning work will also be exhibited and screened throughout the festival offering an abundance of inspiration to all delegates.
Brands
Thomas Cook India, SOTC and Booking.com team up for smarter corporate stays
Global hotel choices meet Indian corporate controls for seamless business travel
MUMBAI: Business travel just got a major upgrade. Thomas Cook (India) and its group company SOTC Travel have joined forces with Booking.com to offer Indian corporates world-class accommodation options with a side of convenience.
The collaboration brings Booking.com’s vast global inventory, more than 31 million listings across 220 countries, straight into Thomas Cook and SOTC’s corporate booking platforms. From luxury hotels and resorts to homes and apartments, business travellers now have an unprecedented range of choices, all while staying within company travel policies.
Thomas Cook and SOTC president & group head of global business travel Indiver Rastogi said, “Today’s business travellers want more choice, flexibility and transparency. By linking Booking.com’s extensive inventory with our managed corporate tools, we’re delivering exactly that: policy control, price clarity and service support that businesses can trust.”
The offering is designed with the Indian corporate traveller in mind. Key features include transparent pricing with GST-compliant invoices, curated hotel options for SMEs to large enterprises, coverage across 2,500 plus Indian cities, verified traveller reviews, essential business amenities, and integrated policy control for approvals, budgets and credit limits.
Booking.com VP partnerships Mark van der Linden added, “Corporate travellers in India want the same seamless experience they enjoy in personal trips, with the right corporate guardrails. This partnership makes our global accommodation inventory enterprise-ready, combining choice, flexibility and localised support.”
With real-time booking access on desktop and mobile, enterprise-specific rates, loyalty benefits, and future integrations into Thomas Cook’s TravelOne platform, the partnership promises to make corporate travel smoother, safer and smarter than ever.
