The evolution of PR at Cannes Lions
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is the meeting place for the global creative marketing community and a celebration of the world’s most excellent and effective work. It’s where insights from iconic thought leaders, ideas from innovative companies, and inspiration from every corner of the creative marketing community come together in a week of global networking, world-class learning, and benchmark-setting Awards.
Since 2009 PR has been spotlighted and celebrated at Cannes Lions through the PR Lions, the Awards that celebrate branded communications and creative reputation management.
Over the years the PR Lions have been updated and refreshed a number of times to ensure they continue to accurately celebrate and reflect the PR industry. Some of the bigger changes include a comprehensive review of the Lion which was undertaken in 2019 to highlight and celebrate the shift in PR towards a more strategic function, and in 2024 a new section, ‘Excellence in PR Craft’, was added to provide a dedicated space for work entered specifically by independent PR agencies or companies owned by a PR network or independent PR network.
In evolving the PR Lions we’ve been able to give more of a platform and shine a bigger spotlight on the PR agencies themselves, and in 2024 we saw a PR agency take home the Grand Prix for the first time. The 2024 Jury President, Kat Thomas, One Green Bean’s founder and chief creative officer, said about this: “Since the PR Lions first launched, there has been the same speculation every year – will a PR agency pick up the Grand Prix.I could not be more delighted that 2024 is the year that history will be made. There were some outstanding campaigns that won gold this year – work that was discussed over several hours of deliberation. However, the jury felt that The Misheard Version over delivered against every evaluation benchmark we set ourselves, from standout earned-first creativity to cultural relevance, right through to meaningful commercial impact.”
Other trends noted last year were AI, which whilst it didn’t dominate, it certainly showed up. Mainly as a story telling vehicle… bringing back voices from the past, issuing a warning from the future and highlighting bias and inequity. Women’s Football – it felt like a breakthrough year for brands throwing support behind the 2023 Women’s World Cup, especially sponsors and partners. A positive signal that they’re levelling up, in terms of investment and support. In a step change around purpose, we also saw ‘Purpose with Personality’ with so many great examples that prove purpose-led campaigns can be both meaningful AND joyful, with a noticeable uptick in work that was uplifting, positive and even humorous.
As we move towards June, we’re looking forward to understanding the shifts and trends that have dominated the PR industry over the last 12 months – and with over 1,500 entries into the PR Lion received from across the world every year, we are in a unique position to understand the landscape from a global perspective. Full details of the PR Lions can be found on the Cannes Lions website, and anyone wishing to submit work or discuss the Awards can email awards@canneslions.com.
Cannes Lions takes place in Cannes, France, from 16-20 June 2025.
Dan O’Conner, Awards Partner at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.