MUMBAI: The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the largest annual global event for creative communications, is introducing this year a two-stage judging process to the Media Lions category which rewards excellence in tactical media planning and placement.

During the first round of voting to determine the shortlist, the jury, made up of 40 media specialists from around the world, will meet in Cannes spending three-days judging in eight sub-groups of five people each. One of the five members in each of the eight sub-groups will be part of the awarding jury. Jack Klues, chairman of VivaKi, who has been named as the jury president, will spend time with each sub-group but will not vote during this first round.

At the second voting stage, the shortlist will be judged by the awarding jury made up of the eight media industry leaders and the jury president. Over a further three days they will vote on the shortlist, discuss and award the Grand Prix, Gold, Silver and Bronze Media Lions. The awarding jury will comprise of the following members:

Jack Klues, chairman, Vivaki – jury president

Cheuk Chiang, chief executive officer Asia Pacific, OMG

Doug Ray, global president, Carat

Jim Elms, chief executive officer, Initiative Worldwide

Dominique Delport, chairman and chief executive officer, Havas Media

Melanie Varley, Global Chief Strategy Officer, MEC Global

Richard Dunmall, global chief executive officer, Naked Communications

Jim Vail, president, RJ Palmer, USA

Masaki Mikami, corporate officer, Hakuhodo-DY Media partners, Japan

“Winning a Lion is one of the highest recognitions in the industry and can be life-changing both for the individuals winning the award and for their company. We constantly consult with industry leaders and review the feedback from our jury presidents and jury members to ensure that our categories reflect changes in the industry and that our judging procedures uphold the huge honour of winning a Lion,” says Terry Savage, chairman of Lions Festivals.

The Media Lions jury's voting will be based on three criteria: Insight, Strategy and the Idea (35%); Media Execution (30%); and Results and Effectiveness (35%)

At all marking stages, a judge’s vote will not be counted for any entry submitted by his or her own company(ies) in his or her own country. Votes from judges with a regional or global role will also be removed accordingly. Entries in the charities and public services categories are excluded from winning the Grand Prix but are eligible to win the Grand Prix for Good.

Already announced are changes to the Media Agency of the Year award, which can only be won by a Media agency that accumulates the most points in Media Lions. Though advertising agencies and other agencies may enter and win Media Lions, they cannot compete for the Media Agency of the Year award.

Entries to Cannes Lions are open. Media Lions is one of 16 awards categories judged at Cannes Lions. For information of how to submit or register to attend, please visit www.canneslions.com

60th Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, 16-22 June 2013, Cannes, France: