Cannes Lions has announced the launch of a brand new award, launched with the active support of LeanIn.Org. Glass Lion: The Lion for Change follows on from the 2014 launch of “See It Be It,” the Festival initiative which aimed to accelerate creative women’s careers in advertising. It specifically recognises work that challenges gender bias and stereotypical male/female roles in marketing. The Festival has always believed that marketing actively shapes our culture, and the new award in just part of an on-going commitment to making a positive impact on the way women are perceived in the media. Entry for the Glass Lions opened yesterday (Monday 2 March) and closes on 27 March. Winners will be awarded on Tuesday 23 June 2015 at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes. Nominations for this year’s See It Be It programme, meanwhile, will be collected via the website from late March.
Philip Thomas
Taking the concept of breaking the glass ceiling of gender a step further, Cannes Lions plan to donate all proceeds from the Glass Lion entry fees and put them back into a new programme that promotes and enables the creation of a more gender-neutral media landscape. Details of this programme are sparse at the moment, but will be announced over the next few weeks. It is intended that the award will evolve and expand in future years to include other global, cultural and societal issues. Initially, however, entries for the award will need to promote more inclusive, gender-aware forms of brand communication in a highly creative and positive manner. It's a bold statement from such a respected source, and serves to underline just how progressive the creative advertising industry has become.
Cannes Lions has announced the launch of a brand new award that recognises work that challenges gender bias and stereotypical male/female roles in marketing
Lions Festivals CEO Philip Thomas, said the festival committee are “Humbled to be described as a global benchmark for creative excellence.” He believes that “Creativity has the power to change culture, and the wider world, in a deeply positive way, so rewarding creative work that fights to address the misrepresentation of gender in marketing communication” is something he hopes will eventually lead to real change across the industry, and society in general. Senta Slingerland, the festival's director of brand strategy, added that “To date, a predominantly male voice has informed the creation of a lot of the marketing messaging.” She feels that “Applying creativity to capture the hearts and minds of women; the largest consumer base in the world, will inform the financial future of the industry.” To achieve this, however, she admits that “This will require a more gender-balanced talent pool.”
Cindy Gallop
Sheryl Sandberg, founder of LeanIn and COO of Facebook, was one of the progenitors of the award, having struck upon the idea after witnessing the success of See It Be It. She thought it was about time the festival considered the launch of an award that sought to tackle gender misrepresentation, as the festival was not only the perfect platform for such a message, but had precedence in the sector. She said “You can’t be what you can’t see, and how we market to women is critically important.” By this she means that “If our messages portray equality, we will help create a more equal world.” She adds that “LeanIn.Org is thrilled that Cannes Lions is making the Glass Lion a reality so we can all applaud advertising that is more representative of the world as it should be.”
Cannes Lions plan to donate all entry fee proceeds and put them back into a new programme that promotes and enables the creation of a more gender-neutral media landscape
Founder and CEO of IfWeRanTheWorld/MakeLoveNotPorn and former founder of BBH New York, Cindy Gallop, has been appointed as the inaugural jury president for the first Glass Lions, and is a vocal supporter of the award. She “Couldn't be more thrilled about the introduction of the Glass Lion,” which she believes demonstrates the festivals “Commitment to ensuring that both our industry and the work we create not only more accurately reflects the world around us, but actively changes it for the better.” She is “Honoured to be Jury President,” and looks forward, together with the jury, to “Celebrating work that will set the gold standard for creative and sociocultural change.”
Image: David DiMichele, Broken Glass, 2011
