Dubai Lynx is one of the premier marketing events and awards of the year for the MENA region. With 2020 to be a significant year in developing newer approaches and perspectives for a new decade for marketers and brands, the festival’s sessions and awarded work should be seen as a precedent for upcoming work.
To help set that precedent are this year’s Jury Presidents, who will determine the winners of this year’s 19 categories, including the new Creative Strategy Award.
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As the sister festival of Cannes Lions, and a major marketing event in MENA, Dubai Lynx’s influence on the region is significant, making the jury presidents’ jobs an exciting opportunity to help push the creative boundaries of the region through recognizing its top talents.
“As leaders in their field, our Jury Presidents play a fundamental role in ensuring Dubai Lynx honors the highest level of creative excellence from the MENA region, across the breadth of creative disciplines. We’re delighted to welcome such a dynamic and immensely talented group of Presidents to Dubai Lynx 2020, where the commercial value of creativity will be awarded to bolster brands and businesses across the region,” Philip Thomas, Chairman of Cannes Lions and Dubai Lynx in a statement about the announcement.
Dubai Lynx 2020 Jury Presidents To Watch
The Presidents represent the industry’s most esteemed global talent, bringing a diverse wealth of backgrounds, skills and experience to lead the Dubai Lynx juries and benchmark creative excellence and effectiveness for the MENA region.
For big marketing disruption aficionados, Burger King’s Global Chief Marketing Officer, Fernado Machado, will be leading the Creative Effectiveness and Creative Strategy juries alongside his talk on “Creativity as a source of competitive advantage.”
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His most recent BK campaigns have pushed the boundaries of creativity and technology, so expect his choices and talks to be one of the most exciting at the event. He has received more than 120 Lions in his career, including for his multi-award winning “Proud Whopper” and “Whopper Detour” campaigns.
Leading the Entertainment Jury will be Luke Southern, Managing Director of DRUM UK. Having also served for the Cannes Lions Entertainment Jury in 2018, Southern has led Omnicom Media Group’s award-winning content and creative agency through a period of sustained creative growth and international expansion.
When asked about his thoughts on joining Dubai Lynx as a judge, he told Think Marketing
“I’m hugely honored to be leading the Dubai Lynx Entertainment Jury this year at a time where the worlds of advertising and entertainment are at a closer intersection than ever before. I’ve not doubt that we are going to see some amazing work from the outstanding pool of creative talent in MENA and I’ll be looking to award stand out campaigns that leverage, and prioritizes, entertainment in order to cut-through and earn consumer attention. More specifically the Jury and I will be looking for entertaining and engaging campaigns that not only grow brands but also contribute something to the culture of our times.”
Leading the most juries is industry veteran, Kate Stanners, who is president of 5 out of 19 award juries at this year’s Dubai Lynx. Chairwoman & Global Chief Creative Officer of Saatchi & Saatchi Global, Stanners will lead the Film, Print & Publishing, Radio & Audio, Direct, and Integrated juries.
At Saatchi & Saatchi, Stanners oversees its creative output, the creative talent of the network and has driven the agency’s spirit of ‘Nothing Is Impossible’.
Presiding over Design and Industry Craft is Greg Quinton, Global Chief Creative Officer at Superunion, Global. Over his career, he has won over 250 awards including top honors at D&AD, Cannes Lions, Clios, New York Art Directors Club, Design Week, DBA Design Effectiveness and the New York Festivals awards.
Superunion’s website dubs him as the heart of this operation stating “creativity sits firmly at the heart of Superunion, and Greg is its champion.”
Imogen Hewitt, Chief Executive Officer of Spark Foundry Australia will be heading the Media Jury, bringing over 20 years of industry experience in both media and creative agencies to the table.
Speaking with Think Marketing, she told us
“It’s a great honor to be named President of the Media Jury for this year’s Dubai Lynx. These awards cover a particularly fascinating and dynamic part of the world. In my experience of Lynx, I’ve been struck by how much there is to learn, both about and from, the region. Unique circumstances, cultures and people have been shown to drive innovative and lateral ideas, and I’m delighted that I will again have the opportunity to immerse myself in the world of this work. With specific reference to the media awards, the jury and I will be seeking to reward work that balances insight and innovation; that understands the power the industry has to influence culture positively, and that does all of this through the lens of delivering results that cannot be argued with.”
Daniel Bonner, Global Chief Creative Officer of Wunderman Thompson Global, brings his experience as last year’s Experience Track Ambassador at Cannes Lions as the Jury President of Brand Experience at this year’s Dubai Lynx.
Daniel has a proven track record of producing award-winning work and was named No.1 Digital Creative Director by Campaign and “Influencer of the Year” by Creativepool.
The Film Craft jury will be led by Laura Geagea, Managing Director & Executive Producer at Sweetshop, China & Asia. Geagea was part of the Film Craft jury for Dubai Lynx before, as well as at Adfest.
When asked about what MENA had to offer, Geagea stated
“The Middle East and North Africa region is really evolving – the work we’re seeing is only getting stronger. Despite the market being relatively young and facing its fair share of challenges, the level of craft I’ve seen is great. Dubai Lynx offers such a unique mix of local and international creativity which challenges the industry to grow. I’m excited to see how craft both navigates and uses to its advantage the region’s complexities, challenges and opportunities.”
Leading the PR and prestigious Glass: the Award for Change is Valerie Pinto, Chief Executive Officer, Weber Shandwick India. Through her career, she has been rated as the top 40 under 40 media professionals to watch out for in Asia Pacific by Campaign Asia and being ranked as the top 10 women in Indian PR by Reputation India.
Last is Healthcare Jury President Matt Eastwood, Global Chief Creative Officer at McCann Health. Described by Campaign magazine UK as a “unicorn” in the communications industry, in 2019, Matt led McCann Health to win the coveted Healthcare Network of the Year at Cannes Lions, as well as bringing home the Festival’s Agency of the Year and the Pharma Grand Prix.
On the announcement of his role at Dubai Lynx, Eastwood told us “The Middle East has become one of the most dynamic and vibrant creative cultures in the world. Particularly in health, it’s a place where creativity is used as a tool to promote brands, to inspire change and, even better, to save lives. I’m excited to see the health and wellness work that lifts creativity, and indeed society, to a higher level.”
