Young Lions Finland 2023

Cannes Young Lions Competition challenges young creatives from every corner of the marketing and communications industry. If you are 30 years old or younger, the Young Lions Competition is one of the best ways to celebrate your creativity on a global stage.

Young Lions Finland is a local competition, arranged by Marketing Finland, and the winning teams from each of the 7 competitions will be awarded with a pass to join the international Cannes Young Lions Competition and the Cannes Festival of Creativity in Cannes, France in June 2024.

The next Young Lions Finland competition will be held in the early 2024.

If you are interested in a nomination for the jury or the steering group or establishing a partnership with our competition, please contact: maarit.aarrekangas (@) marketingfinland.fi, +358 50 435 5613.

 

All shortlisted competitors pictured together at the Young Lions Finland 2023 Awards Ceremony at A-lehdet (Picture: Niklas Meltio)
The winning teams of the Young Lions Finland 2023 competition (Picture: Niklas Meltio)

Shortlist announced (March 27 at 14.00)

Timeline 2023

  • February: inviting the jury
  • February 13: pre-registration opens
  • March 13: pre-registration final deadline ADDITIONAL TIME UNTIL WEDNESDAY 15.3. at 13.00
  • March 15  at 16-17.30: info webinar guiding through the entry and competition process
  • March 17  at 16-20: brief from NGO and the competition time (24h or 48h, depending on category) starting at 22.00
  • March 20-23: online judging for shortlists
  • March 27: announcing the shortlists
  • March 28-29: closed judging for Design, Film and Print Competitions
  • March 30-31: presentations of shortlisted work for Digital, Marketers, Media and PR Competitions
  • April: announcing the winners
  • April 28th 2023: winners registered to the globalCannes Young Lions Competition
  • May: lunch and sparring session for the winning teams
  • June 19th-23rd 2023: Young Lions Competitions and Cannes Lions Festival in Cannes, France

We reserve the right to make changes to timeline, if needed. Participants will be notified of all changes.

Introducing the Steering Group

Meet the Jury Members

 

The Briefing from:

 

 

 

 

Read more about Aamu Säätiö

See the competition brief

 

Competitions 2023

Design

Calling all designers: It’s time to create a design in response to a brief. Show the whole creative communications industry your design skills. After a briefing from a charity or NGO, you’ll have 24 hours to build solution. It’ll need to perfectly capture information about the product or service, the client organisation and its aims, and the specific goals of the campaign.

Who is it for?

  • All Creatives, for example Graphic Designers/Specialist Designers/Art Directors/Photographers
  • Full-working professional (freelancers included) aged 30 years old or younger

Digital

Calling all digital creatives: It’s time to build a digital-led campaign that uses both the platform and the technology behind it. Show the whole creative communications industry your skills. You’ll be briefed by a charity or NGO about their digital challenge. Then there’s just 24 hours for you to come up with a creative insight and explain how your digital solution uses a maximum of three social media platforms in new and exciting ways to move the brand forward.

Who is it for?

  • All Creatives, for example Social media managers/Creative technologists/UX designers/Digital producers/Digital designers
  • Full-working professional (freelancers included) aged 30 years old or younger

Film

Imagine having only 48 hours to film and edit a 60-second commercial. You’ll be briefed by a charity or NGO about their communication challenge. Then you’ll have 48 hours to come up with an original idea in response to the brief, film your footage and edit it into a captivating ad.

Who is it for?

  • All Creatives, for example Art directors/Producers/Film makers/Creatives
  • Full-working professional (freelancers included) aged 30 years old or younger

Sponsor Partner for Film competition:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marketers

Original, engaging creative work starts with a strong brief. This is a chance to go head-to-head against fellow brand marketers. After a briefing from a charity or NGO, you’ll have 24 hours to build a creative brief. It’ll need to perfectly capture information about the product or service, the client organisation and its aims, and the specific goals of the campaign – the kind that will clearly act as a creative springboard for an agency.

Who is it for?

  • Marketing managers
  • Brand managers/Category/Product managers/Client services managers/Channel marketing managers
  • Full-time working professional under the age of 30 years old
  • Brand Marketer working in-house for a single client (not an agency)

Media

We’re challenging the brightest professional minds working in media agencies to demonstrate their strategic thinking and innovative approaches to solving an important marketing challenge. After a briefing from a charity or NGO, you’ll have 24 hours to demonstrate how to create Media presentation and exploit the value of emerging media with consumer insights to drive effective communication strategies. You’ll need to show how your strategic idea would work across channels to craft a compelling communications strategy.

Who is it for?

  • Media planners/Media strategists/Media buyers/Media managers
  • Full-working professional aged 30 years old or younger

Sponsor Partner for Media competition:

Channel Factory logo

 

 

 

PR

Calling all PR professionals: It’s time to create an innovative PR strategy. Show the whole creative communications industry your skills. After a briefing from a charity or NGO, you’ll have 24 hours to demonstrate how to create engagement and exploit the value of emerging media with consumer insights to drive effective communication strategies. You’ll need to show how your strategic idea would work across channels to craft a compelling communications strategy.

Who is it for?

  • Publicists/PR specialists/Social media managers/Copywriters/Communications Specialists
  • Full-working professional aged 30 years old or younger

Print

Calling all creatives: Could you come up with an amazing print advertisement and bring it to life in just 24 hours? That’s the challenge of the Young Lions Print Competition. After a briefing from a charity or NGO, you’ll need to produce a stand-out, captivating and unique print ad. We’re looking for an idea that leaps out and captures an audience, motivating and moving them towards the cause.

Who is it for?

  • All Creatives, for example Art directors/Producers/Film makers/Creatives
  • Full-working professional aged 30 years old or younger

Entry fee 200 € / entry (+vat)

Eligibility

All Young Lions taking part in the Young Lions Finland 2023 competitions must be 30 years of age or younger, born on or after 23 June 1992. You must enter as a team of two. Team members do not have to be employed by the same company. Each person can only enter in one team. Teams can enter once in one or several competitions. Entrants must be full-time working professionals or freelancers within the advertising/marketing/communications industry.

How to enter

Stage 1: Pre-registration between February 13 – March 13 for info webinar on March 15th and the briefing events to be held online on March 17th 16:00 – 20.00 pm. Pre-registration will be closed on March 13 at 23.00.

Pre-register your team here!

NOTICE! After the briefings, you can make the final decision of which categories your team will enter.

Stage 2: on March 17, right after the briefing session, we will open the competition platform, where all information, eligibility, guidelines and entry forms will be available. The competition will be run completely online. The link to the platform will be added here later.

Questions and Answers

Need for more information?

Maarit Aarrekangas, maarit.aarrekangas (@) marketingfinland.fi, tel. +358 50 435 5613

 

The Award package for the winning teams

All winning teams (7 teams, 2 persons in each) will be rewarded with a package of:

  • flights Helsinki – Nice, France – Helsinki
  • accommodation for the competition week in Cannes, France (or in the nearby area)
  • Young Lion Competitor pass (value 1495€+vat)
  • contact person available during the competition week in Cannes
  • lunch and sparring session in May to get ready for the Cannes competition and Festival

Competition rules

By entering the competition, you agree to accept the terms and conditions

The Roger Hatchuel Student Academy

The Roger Hatchuel Student Academy on Cannes Lions -perheeseen kuuluva, luovien alojen valmistumassa oleville opiskelijoille tarkoitettu 6-päiväinen ainutlaatuinen oppimisen ja ammatillisen kehittymisen sekä oman asiantuntijaverkoston kasvattamisen paikka. Academy kokoaa 30 tarkoin kriteerein valittua opiskelijaa yhteen Cannes Festival Creativityn aikana kesäkuussa 2023 Ranskan Cannesissa.

A unique learning experience designed to help students interested in pursuing a creative path in advertising launch their careers.

The Roger Hatchuel Student Academy is a 6-day global learning experience at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity designed for students approaching graduation. Since 2003, the Academy has been inspiring the next generation of creative leaders by giving them the tools, knowledge and connections they need to explore different creative avenues and launch their careers in the advertising and creative communications industry.

Who are we looking for – The Ideal Student Profile

  • 18-23 years old and graduating in 2023
  • Interested in pursuing advertising and creative communications 
  • Personality: Evidence of being a creative thinker, curiosity, a leader, entrepreneurial nature, storyteller, culturally in tune with society, the industry and current affairs
  • Community impact / solving problems in the community, schools or families  
  • Diversity: The Cannes Lions School aspires to be a talent incubator of creative potential that is fully representative. We strive to create a learning environment that is not just diverse by country, but also diverse in thought, gender, experience, culture, and socioeconomic status.
  • Fluent English speaker: Able to confidently contribute to class discussions in English
  • Permission to attend the full course (Sun 18 – Fri 23 June 2023

Possible Areas of Study

  • Advertising
  • Communications
  • Planning/Strategy
  • Media
  • PR
  • Business
  • Technology
  • Writing
  • Entertainment
  • Film
  • Art
  • Design

Timeline

  • 26th January 2023: deadline for applications
  • month of February 2023: judging
  • 17th-31rd March 2023: winners notified
  • 1st April 2023: RHSA class of 2023 announced
  • 18th – 23rd June 2023: RHSA course in Cannes

Benefits of Attending

  1. Customised Programme: The Academy program is led and curated by industry experts. The sessions and topics students will explore are designed to help them launch their career and get a head start in the industry.
  2. Hands-on Learning: The program includes workshops and interactive activities designed to bring learning to life and leave students with practical takeaways.
  3. Exclusive Environment: An opportunity to learn first-hand from major industry luminaries in a private classroom setting. Students will ask them their burning questions and learn how they got to the top.
  4. World-Class Discussions: Students will gain new perspectives and unpack each session as they participate in daily debriefs guided by their Programme Leaders
  5. Festival Access: Complete access to the Cannes Lions Festival where they will be inspired by award-winning work, hear from premier speakers, and can attend the awards shows and networking events

Course Leader:

Serfi Altun, Founder & CEO of Idea Bakery

Serfi is the Founder & CEO of Idea Bakery, a boutique global consultancy and training company with HQ in Atlanta and network members around the World. At Idea Bakery, she has been baking creative strategies with bespoke recipes for her blue chip global and regional clients for 13 years.

Serfi began her career almost 30 years ago at Procter & Gamble Turkey. She led brand strategy & communications for North America, Europe, Middle East, and Africa for P&G’s 8 billion-dollar brands to award-winning critical acclaim. She became the first Training Head for Central Eastern Europe Middle East Africa for P&G and later the Training Head for North America where she led training curriculum, content, and delivery for all Marketers for a total of 6 years. After she left P&G, she continued her passion at the Young Marketers Academy of Cannes Lions as a Tutor four years in a row.

Serfi has taken on many jury member roles like the Euro-Effies over the years. She is a regular speaker at some of the world’s most respected brand-strategy forums, universities, and events. Serfi is a contemporary art collector who is recently into crypto art. She loves to bake her Mom’s apple pie with her daughter Alara, and enjoy it with some Turkish coffee, when she is not baking ideas for global brands and local gems.

Expectations for the Students

The Roger Hatchuel Academy is an intensive learning programme and students are expected to give their all to maximize their takeaways from the experience. 

An Roger Hatchuel student needs to be:

  • Punctual: Arrive on time, prepared and focused
  • Driven: motivated to succeed, willing to try new things and able to ask great questions and self-reflect
  • Enthusiastic: positive demeanour 
  • Inclusive: accepting of others and able to work with and value people from different backgrounds

Arrangements

The scholarship package for the chosen students will include

  • flights Helsinki – Nice – Helsinki and transfers to and from Cannes
  • accommodation 18.-23.6.  in Pierre et Vacances Cannes Villa Francia
  • meal costs provided 50 €/day

Judging Criteria

Students will be judged on their:

  • Creativity (25%)
  • Suitability for course (level of English, personality, understanding of RH values) (25%) 
  • Video (presentation, editing, flow) (25%)
  • Story / storytelling (25%)

Video Tips

We’ll be reviewing hundreds of applications from all over the world.  How can you stand out from the crowd?  Your video should show us who you are and how you’re creative. 

Be memorable. Show us your personality, your passion and your creativity.  Tell us why you deserve the golden ticket to Cannes Lions.

  • Be creative (video format, storytelling, design & edit)
  • Tell YOUR story and make it PERSONAL
  • Tell us WHY you should attend the Academy 
  • Be bold, challenging, humble, smart and inspiring. 
  • Research and understanding of the RHSA values is a plus! 

How to apply

As part of the application, you must upload:

  • A CV
  • A 2 minute video showing us who you are, how you are creative and why you deserve a space at the Academy
  • A photo to feature on our website if you are selected

Send your video application with the attachments before 26.1.2023 to: maarit.aarrekangas (@) marketingfinland.fi.

Cannes Lions Awards 2023

Marketing Finland is the official Cannes LIONS Representative in Finland.

Cannes Lions Awards 2023

The Awards were celebrated at Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity during June 19-23.

You can find all the shortlisted and awarded work here: https://www.lovethework.com/en-GB/cannes-lions

 

 

In 2023 Cannes Lions is introducing a new Entertainment Lion for Gaming, as well as a focus on DE&I, Sustainability and Impact.

Nine tracks encompass 30 specialist awards which reflect the breadth of disciplines across the global branded communications industry.

Dates and fees

  • Entries Open / 19 January 2023
  • First late fee applies / After 9 March 2023
  • Second late fee applies / After 23 March 2023
  • Third late fee applies / After 6 April 2023
  • Final deadline / 13 April 2023

If you are concerned that you won’t meet the final deadline on 13 April 2023, please get in touch.

The full list of entry fees by all categories can be found here

Eligibility timeframe slightly changed

The entry has been submitted exactly as published/aired/released to the public, has not been modified for entry into the 2023 Cannes Lions Awards and must have ran for the first time between 21 February 2022 and 23 April 2023.

Full entry rules, terms and conditions

will be available from January 19th, 2023. The summary is available here.

Entry Kit

A selection of handy materials has been put together to guide you through the entry process. Whether you’re a first timer or a seasoned pro, this is everything you need to enter Cannes Lions 2023. Download the Entry Kit here

Need help for your entries?

The Cannes Lions dedicated Awards Experts are on hand to offer guidance on eligibility dates, which categories you can enter your work into, material requirements or any Lion-specific queries you may have.

Get in touch: awards (@) canneslions.com

 

Read articles about Cannes Lions on our MRKTNG media (only in Finnish)

If you have questions regarding the Cannes Lions Awards or the Cannes Lions Festival in France, pop me a message: maarit.aarrekangas (@) marketingfinland.fi