Young Lions comp receives record entries – finalists to be announced May 4; winners May 17

News Limited, official Australian representative of the Cannes Lions 2012 International Festival of Creativity, today announced a record number of entries to the Australian 2012 Young Lions competition.

Entries to the 2012 competition were up by 18% across all categories, a record number in the history of the competition. These figures represent an 85% increase since the competition first ran in 2009.

Entries in the media category were up 30% on last year, with OMD having the highest number of submissions, Group M recorded the most entries from any agency group.

First round entry for the Australian Young Lions 2012 competition closed on 11 April 2012, with finalists to be announced on May 4. Winners will be revealed at a cocktail reception in Sydney on 17 May 2012.

The Australian 2012 Young Lions competition identifies the hottest young talent to represent Australia at the International Festival of Creativity in Cannes in June.

This year’s competition is the biggest yet, with the introduction of two brand new categories, Film sponsored by Foxtel and Young Marketer sponsored by CBA and Telstra in association with the AANA (Australian Association of National Advertisers).

News Limited’s director of sales Tony Kendall said that Australian media and creative is amongst the best in the world, and nurturing exceptional young talent is crucial to continuing that legacy: “It’s fantastic to be able to report that entries are up across the board, and I’m particularly proud that even in their inaugural year entries to the two new categories have been very healthy.

“Young Lions has become an important part of the calendar for the agency community, and I’m delighted that the competition is going from strength to strength. As Young Lions grows the standard of competition seems to get higher and higher, offering great exposure and career advancement opportunities to our brightest young creatives.”

National CEO of Ikon Communications Dan Johns added that Young Lions is now a permanent fixture on the Ikon training and development program: “The competition encourages people from all parts of our business to discover new skills and techniques outside their everyday roles.

“We support our entrants through a mentoring system from our more seasoned experts enhancing our culture of open collaboration and learning. This in turn develops new internal relationships which we have found to be extremely valuable to our business.”

Further competition details can be viewed online at the Oz Cannes website.

The 59th International Festival of Creativity will be held 17-23 June 2012 in Cannes.