- There are lots of blogs and articles written by previous entrants about their experience that you can find from a quick Google search.
- Make sure you know exactly what you need to submit for the Irish competition. Details of this are available on the Competition page.
- Young Lions competition briefs always focus on charitable, not for profit and CSR objectives.
- Time is precious at Cannes! You only have 24 hours to answer the brief, so be prepared in advance. We are running our competition over a weekend in 2023 to help prepare you for this.
- Familarise yourself with the types of briefs that will be given. Past international examples can be found here>>
- Have a look at what other countries have done for their entries over the past year or two.
Any entry that does not comply with the entry requirements and T&Cs will not be accepted. So make sure you have read these before you start any work.
Hints and Tips from the Jury Room
Think Twice - We have often had ideas that were common across certain entries – Interruption/Disruption ideas for Epilepsy Ireland / Muddled Letters- Illegible Text for Suas. However, the problem with that is when the jury members see 3 or 4 versions of a similar popular approach to a problem then unfortunately they start to discount it because it means that idea was not unique enough. We want to send a team that will come up with something that stands out so the jury’s advice to you would be to think of the problem and come up with a solution but if it seems too easy or too obvious then bear in mind that other teams may also have come up with that approach.
Push your idea – Think it through! Often when shortlisted and being questioned in the room, some teams came up with excellent additional content or ideas – especially when prompted by a Creative Director to push their idea a bit further – so think everything through yourself FIRST! See how far you can go….
Show Creative Thinking - This is especially relevant for the Media category - the mechanism and plan for all channels and the distribution on them can be great but the jury members have to see some creative thinking – a little bit of copy – what would people see/hear etc. The messaging. What is the content that you are creating your media plan for?
Don’t Reiterate the Brief - It’s also important (and this is a trap that many fell into) that you don’t need to use any of your slides presenting the brief back to the jury members. The task, the target audience etc. They set the brief and they know this - so you can use your slides to sell your idea – the solution!
Present with Confidence - If shortlisted, don’t be afraid to do something different that captures the essence of your idea and speak more directly to the judges. Some of the winning teams last year didn’t rely on their slides and presented verbally. Project confidence in your idea when you walk in the room. The jury members are buying into the team as a whole and need to feel that you will work well together in Cannes and present well under pressure from the Cannes jury.
You need to be coming into the room to compete – present yourself like you really want it and are passionate about it so that the jury members can feel that energy and enthusiasm from you. And Best of Luck!