National CineMedia, the US representative to the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, has announced the winners of the 2024 US Young Lions competition. More than 500 teams of young professionals across the advertising, digital, media, creative and public relations industries registered for the competition this year, up 20 percent year over year. There were 333 official competition entries, an increase of 17 percent compared to last year. The five winning teams were named and honored by NCM at the Team USA Winners Announcement event, hosted by Initiative, with all 25 finalist teams in attendance.
The winners will compete in person as Team USA in the global Young Lions competition at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the world’s leading celebration of creative marketing and communications, taking place from June 17-21 in Cannes, France.
The 2024 US Cannes Lions Young Lions winning teams are:
Digital: Jessica Nugent, TBWA\Chiat\Day LA & Rachel Findlay, TBWA\Chiat\Day LA
Film: Emma LeMay, Weber Shandwick & John Chavez, Weber Shandwick
Media: Cara Miller, Initiative & Christian Savino, Initiative
PR: Morgan Biles, Weber Shandwick & Lena Church, Weber Shandwick
Print: Chloe Bayhack, FCB New York & Victoria Rocha, FCB New York
Participants were tasked with crafting an innovative campaign to propel the 2024 Young Lions Non-profit Partner, Gold House, and their seminal A100 List, to new heights, with a focus on captivating Gen Z audiences. The A100 honors the 100 most impactful Asian Pacific leaders across industries and distills their contributions to changing culture and society. For the first time, the Young Lions Non-profit Partner has committed to utilize competition work in-market. Gold House will be implementing elements of the campaign idea from3rd place Digital Team, Riya Gupta and Payton Cianfarano, both of Burrell, in their A100 marketing strategy this May.
This year, NCM announced Team USA Advisors, a new mentorship program that will provide the US winners with personal guidance in advance of the global Young Lions competition. The chosen executive leaders each have a unique connection to Cannes Lions and a commitment to advising the next generation of the industry’s rising stars.
The 2024 TEAM USA advisors are:
Digital: Laura Maness, Global CEO, Grey
Film: Jonathan Johnsongriffin, Vice President, Global Brand & Creative, Google
Media: Jaclyn Ruelle, Vice President, Head of Brand, Papa Johns
PR: Chaucer Barnes, Chief Marketing Officer, Translation
Print: École Weinstein, Global Creative Lead, Delivery, Uber
Global CEO of Grey and Team USA Digital Young Lions advisor, Laura Maness said, “Winning is a mindset. It requires self-belief, grit and focus on progress. More than half of the competition will come down to framing the challenge and preparing for the unexpected. I’m looking forward to helping my Digital team get ahead by getting them mentally ready — as Honest Abe would say, ‘give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe’."
Following two years of investment and redesign of the US Young Lions program, NCM will be formally launching the US Lions Community at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity this June. With the vision to bring together, inspire and educate young creatives and established industry leaders alike, the US Young Lions program now includes a Mentorship Program with webinar content from a wide variety of agencies and brands, the Team USA Advisors program with one-to-one guidance to support the competition winners, an application process to become a US Young Lions juror, along with a growing number of partnerships, sponsorships and special events. The US Lions Community will offer ongoing value as a vital hub of networking, thought leadership, and career growth opportunities to US brands, agencies, media companies and other organizations within the advertising industry.
“We redesigned the Young Lions competition experience two years ago to raise awareness, drive greater participation, and deepen industry support to help advance and amplify young, diverse talent in advertising. This growing community brings together past and present competitors, jurors, partners and sponsors,” said Amy Tunick, CMO at NCM. “We are thrilled to see the impact of this effort and the value it brings to the entire US Lions Community, which includes professionals at all phases of their career.”
National CineMedia www.ncm.com