Cannes: New PR Lions category from 2009
The international advertising festival in Cannes is introducing a new category for public relations next year with the PR Lions. The president of the first jury will be the Briton Lord Tim Bell. The winners of the first PR Lions will be honored on June 22 together with the winners of the Direct and Promo Lions.
The international advertising festival in Cannes is introducing a new category for public relations next year with the PR Lions. The president of the first PR Lions jury will be the Briton Lord Tim Bell. The PR Lions are intended to recognize creativity in "reputation management" and thus in the creation of trust between individuals, companies and their customers. Submitted projects will be judged and awarded based on strategy, creativity & originality, execution and results. The winners of the first PR Lions will be honored on June 22, 2009 together with the winners of the Direct and Promo Lions. Next year's 56th International Advertising Festival runs from June 21 to 27.
The introduction of the PR Lions does not come as a complete surprise. The opening of the new category has been on the radar of the management team in Cannes for some time, writes Festival Director Philip Thomas in a press release. However, like any new category, the introduction took time to guarantee the level of quality expected by the festival. But the time is now ripe and the festival is honored to have Lord Tim Bell as its first jury president.
Lord Tim Bell is one of the most famous figures in the British communications guild. He was involved in the founding of Saatchi & Saatchi in 1970 and built the agency into the largest agency network in the world by 1981. In 1979 and 1983 he led the British Conservative election campaign. In 1987, Margareth Thatcher personally turned to Bell when the Conservatives were in danger of suffering heavy losses in the elections. After an interlude in the British parliament at the end of the 1970s, he became deputy chairman of The Lowe Group in 1985. He is now Chairman and major shareholder of Chime Communications, which includes Bell Pottinger Communications (formerly Lowe Bell) and its sister agency VCCP.
The introduction of the PR Lions does not come as a complete surprise. The opening of the new category has been on the radar of the management team in Cannes for some time, writes Festival Director Philip Thomas in a press release. However, like any new category, the introduction took time to guarantee the level of quality expected by the festival. But the time is now ripe and the festival is honored to have Lord Tim Bell as its first jury president.
Lord Tim Bell is one of the most famous figures in the British communications guild. He was involved in the founding of Saatchi & Saatchi in 1970 and built the agency into the largest agency network in the world by 1981. In 1979 and 1983 he led the British Conservative election campaign. In 1987, Margareth Thatcher personally turned to Bell when the Conservatives were in danger of suffering heavy losses in the elections. After an interlude in the British parliament at the end of the 1970s, he became deputy chairman of The Lowe Group in 1985. He is now Chairman and major shareholder of Chime Communications, which includes Bell Pottinger Communications (formerly Lowe Bell) and its sister agency VCCP.
