In what could be described as yet another historic feat, the Managing Director & Chief Creative Officer of Nigeria’s leading creative advertising agency, Noah’s Ark Communications Limited, Mr. Lanre Adisa, has emerged the first Nigerian to make the list of Juries for the world’s biggest Adverting Festival-the Cannes Lions Festival.
Adisa who was recently announced as a member of the Brand Experience and Activation shortlist jury for the 2018 edition of the prestigious Cannes Lions Festival would be working with 413 other jury members from around the world to prepare the shortlist for the main festival scheduled to hold in Cannes, France between 18th and 22nd of June 2018.
According to Lisa Berlin, the Jury Director, International Festival of Creativity, mostly known as Cannes Lions, Mr. Lanre Adisa would be joining other jurors selected across the world to conduct the first round of the judging process in advance of the festival which would create the shortlist for the final judging process.
“We are delighted to confirm your appointment as a member of the Brand Experience & Activation jury at Cannes Lions 2018. It goes without saying that all jurors will be of an equal, world-class standard regardless of their contribution to the judging process,” said Berlin.
This year’s juries are composed of individuals from 50 countries, including for the first time, representatives from Nigeria, Georgia, Kenya and Sri Lanka. “Continuing the drive for a more diverse mix within the jury room, this year jury composition includes 46% female jury members, as well as a wide mix of creative agencies, brands, media owners and production companies,” Berlin explained.
Berlin noted, “In the meantime, let us take this opportunity to thank you upfront for all the hard work you will be putting into judging over the next couple of weeks, which ultimately will become the greatest work of 2018. We have no doubt it will be a great experience and one that you will come away with a lot richer for on a professional basis”.
In his comments, Jose Papa, Managing Director of Cannes Lions said that “the job of the Cannes Lions jury is to act as the custodians of creativity and celebrate work that demonstrates the value of creativity in all its forms. We are committed to ensuring that our juries include a diverse range of people from across the branded communications ecosystem.”
Terry Savage, Chairman, Cannes Lions, explained that since last year’s edition of the Festival, new Lions categories have been announced with the introduction of a new Awards architecture to better reflect and support the fast-moving creative industries. These Lions include Creative eCommerce Lions, Brand Experience & Activation Lions, Social & influencer Lions, Sustainable Development Goals Lions and the Industry Craft Lions.
“An overall reduction in the number of categories within individual Lions refined the focus, while new categories were introduced to reflect how creative companies are operating,” Savage stated.
“Cannes Lions is now in its 65th year and in that time the industry, and the organisations operating within it, has changed dramatically. These new specialised Lions require a broader range of skills and experience which will ultimately help expand our perspective of creative excellence. The Lions are constantly evolving, just as the industry is, and our jury members are fundamental to ensuring that we keep creativity at the core of what we do,” Savage explained.
Speaking on the development, the Managing Director & Chief Creative Officer, Noah’s Ark Communications Limited, Mr. Lanre Adisa described his appointment as the beginning of great things for the Nigerian Advertising Industry having taken this long for any creative not only from Nigeria, but also the West African sub-region, to be considered for such an exalted appointment.
“Coming shortly after the African Cristal African Agency of the Year feat, this is a watershed year for us as an agency. It means that in truth we are living out our vision of being in the league of the most successful brand builders out of Africa. We could not have asked for a better 10th anniversary gift. Now we have to push even harder. There’s a lot more ahead of us,” said Adisa.
Dedicating the achievement to the concerted efforts of the Noah’s Ark Team and her clients, Adisa stated “we owe it to ourselves and our future not to relent in pushing for new frontiers for every new opportunity we are given by our clients.”
Prior to his appointment as juror for 2018 Cannes Lions, Lanre Adisa has served on the jury of many globally acclaimed festivals and was the jury president in the Heritage category of the 2018 Pitcher Awards. He has also presided over Young Lions creative jury in Nigeria for several years.
Mr. Lanre Adisa is amongst the few heads of creative advertising agencies with a background in the creative department. He has close to 30 years, working on some of the most visible local and multinational brands in Nigeria with thriving firms in advertising, public relations and content/production.
It would be recalled that Adisa’s advertising agency recently emerged Agency of the Year at the 2018 African Cristal Awards winning 9 medals including 2 Grand Prix, 1 Gold, 4 Silvers and 3 Bronze.
The agency also emerged Best Agency of the Year in 2017 at Lagos Ideas Festival (LAIF), beating all other Nigerian agencies.
