By A Correspondent

Cannes Lions, the International Festival of Creativity, has announced the 413 jury members chosen to award and celebrate the best creative work from around the world.This year’s juries are composed of individuals from 50 countries, including for the first time representatives from Georgia, Nigeria, Kenya and Sri Lanka.

Sadly only 10 jury members across nine categories are from India and as many as 17 categories have no representation from India. There are of course people from Indian origin or folks who have worked in India in the past (like Ravi Rao, Rupen Desai etc), but then they aren’t from an Indian agency.

Said Jose Papa, Managing Director of Cannes Lions: “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.”

Last year the Festival announced new Lions 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 and Activation Lions, Social and 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.

Added Terry Savage, Chairman, Cannes Lions:“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.”

The 2018 Cannes Lions Awards will be presented at ceremonies taking place each evening throughout the Festival from June 18 to 22.

So here’s the list of folks from Indian organisations who will be part of the juries at Cannes Lions 2018:

Brand Experience & Activation Lions

Brijesh Jacob, Chief Creative Technologist, DDBMudra Group, India

Design Lions

Lulu Raghavan, Managing Director, Landor, India

Direct Lions

Prateek Bhardwaj, National Creative Director, McCann Worldgroup, India

Film Lions

Senthil Kumar, Chief Creative Officer, J. Walter Thompson, India

Media Lions

Rajni Menon, CEO, Carat, India

Outdoor Lions

Pallavi Chakravarti, Executive Creative Director, Taproot Dentsu, India

Pharma Lions

Lyndon Louis, Senior Creative Director, Havas Live Sorento, India

PR Lions

Valerie Pinto, CEO, Weber Shandwick, India

Ishteyaque Amjad, Public Affairs & Communications, Coca-Cola, India & South West Asia

Product Design Lions

Darshan Gandhi , Head of Design, Godrej Consumer Products, India

Creative Data Lions, Creative eCommerce Lions, Creative Effectiveness Lions, Digital Craft Lions, Entertainment Lions, Film Craft Lions, Glass: The Lion for Change, Health & Wellness Lions, Industry Craft Lions, Innovation Lions, Mobile Lions, Entertainment Lions for Music, Print & Publishing Lions, Radio & Audio Lions, Sustainable Development Goals Lions, Social & Influencer Lions, Titanium Lions:

Koi Nahi. இல்லை (Illai). No one!