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Bolaji Alausa Joins Cannes Lions 2021 Jury


Cannes Lions has announced its jury line-up of global experts selected to shortlist world-class creative work and benchmark excellence this June. For the 3rd year, Nigeria is being represented in the jury with the appointment of Bolaji Alausa, Executive Creative Director, Noah's Ark, Nigeria as member of the Brand Experience & Activation Lions Shortlist Jury.


Nnamdi Ndu, Chief Executive Officer, CHINI Africa and Cannes Lions representative in Nigeria says: "We've followed Bolaji's rise and success story from winning the National Young Lions Competition in 2009 to shooting up to number 13 on the Lurzer's Archive Global Creative Director Ranking to helping his team clinch a 2-time win as Pitcher Awards Advertising Agency of the Year and are happy to see him join other experts from around the world to judge work at the highest and most prestigious awards in our industry."


Bolaji began his career at Rosabel Leo Burnett in 2006, he moved to DDB Lagos and during his five-year stint won the Young Lions competition in 2009 and represented Nigeria in Cannes. He moved to Noah’s Ark in 2011 as Associate Creative Director.


At Noah's Ark, he led his team to win several awards, notably Grand Prix at the 2015 and 2017 LAIF (Lagos Advertising & Ideas Festival). Their Airtel ad ‘Lost’ won Gold at the Epica awards in Berlin late 2017. In 2018 at African Cristal festival, Noah’s Ark emerged agency of the year in Africa with Airtel’s ‘Amin’ spot winning the Grand Prix in Marrakesh. In 2019, Noah’s Ark also won the Grand Prix at the Pitcher Awards and became the Agency of the Year in 2019 and 2020.


He has been privileged to be on the jury of New York Advertising Festival, The Loeries award in Durban and Ad Stars in Busan, where he gave a talk about how culture influences creativity in Africa in 2018.


He is the first Nigerian to be awarded two Cannes National Diplomas in 2013. He won Nigeria's first Epica award also in 2013 and is currently ranked 13th most published Creative Director in the world according to Lurzer’s Archive.


In 2018, Adweek listed him on their annual Creative 100, a list of the most influential creative people in the world. A first for a West African.


Bolaji is an alumnus of Yaba College where he majored in Painting, Miami Ad School where he studied Campaigns, Pan Atlantic University where he studied Digital Media, and the Berlin School of Creative Leadership where he received an EMBA in Creative Leadership in 2017.


55 countries are represented in Cannes Lions 2021 jury. Members from the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Ghana, Lebanon, Egypt and Latam - Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Colombia and Argentina – are joined by a significant number of industry experts from across the Asia Pacific region - China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Japan, India, Singapore, Taiwan, Philippines, Australia and New Zealand – alongside members from Europe, the UK and the USA.


The Lion-winning work will be announced, awarded and celebrated during Cannes Lions Live, a fully digital experience, running from 21-25 June 2021, which all LIONS members will receive complimentary access to.


The Cannes Lions shortlist juries are formed of elite experts from every corner of the industry, and comprise 52% female jurors this year, the highest on record.


Simon Cook, Managing Director, LIONS, says: “Lion-winning creative work is not bound by location, it emerges from all corners of the world to compete and benchmark excellence on the global stage. So, it’s incredible to welcome this truly global line-up of jury experts. Every year, our juries grow more diverse. This is part of our ongoing commitment to appoint elite talent from across the full breadth of our global community.”


Philip Thomas, Chairman, LIONS, comments: “Our jury members represent every region in the world and illustrate the global scale of the Lions awards. Cannes Lions Live, our fully digital experience in June, will enable our entire community to join us - throughout the globe - to celebrate Lion-winning creativity.”


Thomas adds: “After pausing the awards last year, our juries will be shortlisting Lions across two years’ worth of work, which is an unprecedented opportunity to set the global creative benchmark for two years of outstanding creative work.”


The Lions’ shortlisting juries will take part in remote judging from their home locations worldwide. Speaking about the process, Susie Walker, VP Awards & Insight, LIONS, explains: “Shortlist jury members play a vital role in conducting the first round of judging, which creates the shortlist in a number of Lions. We’re committed to delivering a world-class judging experience of the standard we’re known for, and crucially, every piece of creative work will be given the time and discussion it deserves.”


Full list of the shortlist jurors for 2021 is as follows:



Brand Experience & Activation Lions Shortlist Jury


Stephen Herold, Design Principal, IBM iX, Switzerland


Masato Mitsudera, CEO / Executive Creative Director, FACT ADK, Japan


Vidya Manmohan, Founder & Creative Chairwoman , V4 Good Advertising, United Arab Emirates


Karl Waters, Creative Partner, Folk Wunderman Thompson, Ireland


Victor Petri, Partner, Head of Activation, Robert/Boisen & Like-minded, Denmark


Kwint De Meyer, Creative Director, DDB Brussels, Belgium


Bolaji Alausa, Executive Creative Director, Noah's Ark, Nigeria


Martin Schlumpf, Creative Director, Joe Public, South Africa


Chanatthapol Tiensri, Executive Creative Director, TBWA\Thailand


Bruno Vohwinkel, Deputy Executive Creative Director, Havas Milan, Italy


Dmitry Vtulkin, Creative Director, BBDO Moscow, Russia


Eva Hasson, Trendspotting Director & Creative Strategist, BBR Saatchi & Saatchi, Israel


Diego Lanzi, Executive Director & Chief Creative Officer, FCB Dos Puntos Crea, Guatemala


Maciej Twardowski, Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy Social.Lab Poland


Gian Carlo Lanfranco, Co-Founder / Chief Creative Officer, L&C NYC-LIMA, Peru


Luis Ribó, CEO, Isobar & dentsumcgarrybowen, Mexico


Jaime Duque, Executive Creative Director, MullenLowe SSP3, Colombia


Martine H. Flatlie, Chief Marketing Officer, Legevisitt, Norway


Pancho González, Chief Creative Officer, Inbrax, Latam


Charlene Chua, Creative Director, BBH, Singapore


PG Aditya, National Creative Director, Dentsu Webchutney, India


Heather Chambers, Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett, Canada


Zoha Zoya, Creative Director - Head of Experience Design, R/GA, EMEA


Jennifer Hu, Chief Creative Consultant, Ogilvy, Taiwan


Lucille Marie Essey, SVP, Executive Creative Director, Jack Morton Worldwide, USA


Jason Williams, Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett, Australia



Design Lions Shortlist Jury


Liza Enebeis, Creative Director, Studio Dumbar, Netherlands


Thanyaluck Pongachayaluck, Creative Director, GreynJ United, Thailand


Sachin Kamble, National Creative Director, Leo Burnett, India


Olaf Cuadras, Creative Director, DDB Spain


Sheng Jin Ang, Executive Creative Director, MullenLowe Singapore


Shelley-Ann Atkinson, Partner, Murmur, South Africa



Direct Lions Shortlist Jury


Laura Kim, Executive Creative Director, Independent, Canada


Kimberley Ragan, Group Creative Director / Head of Brand Experience, Colenso BBDO, New Zealand


Clara Uddman , Art Director, Save–Our–Souls, Sweden


Juan Jose Posada, President / Chief Creative Officer, Grey, Colombia


Satoshi Chikayama, Executive Creative Director, TBWA\Hakuhodo, Japan


Alfredo Alquicira, Executive Creative Director, McCann Worldgroup, Mexico


Jolien Tuyteleers, Creative - Copywriter, Wunderman Thompson Antwerp, Belgium


Bridget Johnson, Executive Creative Director, The Riverbed Agency, South Africa


Thomas Li, Executive Creative Director, Leo Burnett Shanghai, China


Valentina Maksyakova, Executive Director, AVM Media, Russia


Friso Ludenhoff, Executive Creative Director, Publicis Groupe Netherlands


Satit Jantawiwat, Chief Creative Officer, Cheil, Thailand


Alex Pineda, Creative Director, TBWA\Raad, United Arab Emirates


Nicolas Zarlenga, Partner & Chief Creative Officer, The Juju, Argentina


Nicolas Courant, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy Singapore


Andrea Auz, Creative Director, PAPER, Ecuador


Ayse Aydin, Chief Creative Officer, Publicis Groupe, Turkey


Signe Zacher Carlsen, Chief Creative, Advice, Denmark


Ricardo Chadwick, Partner / Chief Creative Officer, Fahrenheit DDB Peru


Judite Mota, Chief Creative Officer, VMLY&R, Portugal


Stefanie Golla, Creative Director, Accenture Interactive, Austria



Film Craft Lions Shortlist Jury


Devin Kennedy, Executive Creative Director, King James Group, South Africa


Marcus Svanberg, Director, Bleck film, Sweden


Sneha Iype, Executive Producer / Partner, Nirvana Films, India


Alba Barneda, Head of Production, CANADA, Spain


Thasorn Boonyanate, Executive Creative Director, Wunderman Thompson Thailand


Rodrigo Garcia Saiz, Director, Central Films, Mexico


Yael Staav, Director, Animals (Canada) / Furlined (USA), Canada


Pejman Fakharian, Filmmaker | Creative Director, 2012 Studio, Iran


Jonathan Chong, Director, Photoplay Films, Australia


Nadine Baltes, Head of Production, Havas Düsseldorf GmbH, Germany


Amy Wertheimer, EVP, Group Executive Producer, BBDO NY, USA


Sariyanti Sannie, Executive Producer, Six Toes TV / TBWA Singapore


Jo Lumb, Head of WAS Studios, We Are Social, UK


Valentina Fronzoni, Founding Partner & Executive Producer, the BigMama s.r.l., Italy


Anh-Thu Le, Director of Production, TBWA\Chiat\Day LA, USA


Kacper Sawicki, Executive Producer, Papaya Films, Poland


Loren Bradley, Executive Producer, FINCH, Australia


Elsa Rakotoson, CEO, Founder, Executive Producer, Frenzy Paris, France


Adam Isidore, EVP, Director of Integrated Production, FCB NY, USA



Film Lions Shortlist Jury


Marloes van den Berg, Chief Production Officer, 180 Amsterdam, Netherlands


Alice Chou, Chief Creative Officer, Dentsumcgarrybowen Taiwan


Thomas Pries, Executive Creative Director & Partner, The Unicorn, Denmark


Wuthisak Anarnkaporn, Film Director, FACTORY 01, Thailand


Dora Pruzincova, Chief Creative Officer, DDB Prague, Czechia


Jens Mortier, Chief Creative Officer, mortierbrigade, Belgium


Graham Drew, Chief Creative Officer, Grey Malaysia


Giovanni Bedeschi, Owner / Director and Executive Producer, bedeschifilm s.r.l., Italy


Andreas Putz, Chief Creative Officer, Jung von Matt Donau, Austria


Brett Morris, CEO, Nahana Communications Group (part of the FCB Network), South Africa


Yinbo Ma, Executive Creative Director, BBH, China


Nuno Jerónimo, Founder and Executive Creative Director, O Escritório, Portugal


Kalle Widgren, CEO, TBWA Stockholm, Sweden


Axel Grimald, Global Executive Creative Director, Publicis, Global


Lilian Luethi, Head of Production, frame eleven + partners AG, Switzerland


Serena Abi Aad, Head of Content, Havas Worldwide, United Arab Emirates


Diana Triana, General Creative Director, McCann Colombia


David Douglass, Executive Creative Director, Anomaly Toronto, Canada


Hira Mohibullah, Executive Creative Director, BBDO Pakistan


Jessica Apellaniz, Chief Creative Officer Latam, Ogilvy, Latam


Camilla Bjørnhaug, Creative, TRY, Norway


Ali Ali, Film Director, Good People, Egypt


Pallavi Chakravarti, Executive Creative Director, Taproot Dentsu, India


Kris Kyoungju Lee, Global Executive Creative Director, Cheil Worldwide, Global


Phil van Bruchem, Executive Creative Director, BWM Dentsu, Australia


Sue Higgs, Joint Executive Creative Director, dentsuMB, UK


Adrian Miller, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy Indonesia


William John, Creative Director, Saatchi & Saatchi, UK


Damian Hanley, Creative Director, In the Company Of Huskies, Ireland


Natasha Wellesley, Executive Producer, Ventureland, USA


Kim Pick, Executive Creative Director, VMLY&R New Zealand



Health & Wellness Lions Shortlist Jury


Dick Dunford, Executive Creative Director, TBWA\Worldhealth, UK


Michel Motta, Executive Creative Director, Triunfo Sudler Brasil


Joanna Lojko, Managing Director / Board Member, Rak'n'Roll Cancer Foundation, Poland


Emanuele Tragella, Executive Creative Director, Havas Life Italy


Gustavo Pratt, Owner & CEO, Asterisco Healthcare Communications, Mexico


Todd Henwood, EVP, Executive Creative Director, GSW, Canada


Tuesday Poliak, Chief Creative Officer, Wunderman Thompson Health, USA


Gerrard Malcolm, Director, Insight AU, Australia


Mandi Fine, CEO, F/NE, South Africa


Manuel Frank, Global Creative Chair, Health & Chief Creative Officer Germany, Edelman, Global


Sinéad Murphy, Creative Director, Independent, UK



Industry Craft Lions Shortlist Jury


Ton Hollander, Chief Creative Officer, Optimist Inc, Europe


Nic Adamovich, Head of Design, Host/Havas, Australia


Lasse Vintersbølle, Creative Director, Hjaltelin Stahl, Denmark


Celine Mornet-Landa, Creative Director, Sid Lee Paris, France


Abi Aquino, Chief Creative Officer, Mullen Lowe Treyna, Philippines


Masayoshi Kodaira, Designer / Art Director, FLAME inc., Japan



Media Lions Shortlist Jury


Joost Hoppe, Global Media Lead, Heineken, Global


Motoko Nakao, Media Division Lead, TBWA Hakuhodo, Japan


Susanne Persson, Country Manager, Verizon Media, Sweden


Oliver Schönfeld, Managing Director, TWmedia, Switzerland


Carlos Rojas Girao, CEO, IPG Mediabrands Peru


Natalia Kiryanova, CEO, Wavemaker, Russia


Pascal Crifo, CEO & Founder, Blue449, France


Camilla Halleraker, Managing Director, Starcom, Norway


Begoña de la Sota, CEO, Mediacom, Spain


Carolina Sandoval Villamil, Media Director Latam, GSK Consumer Healthcare, Latam


Tanya Schreuder, Group Managing Director, Media Brands Dentsu, South Africa


Sandra Onofri, Group Strategy Director, Havas, Germany


Gauthier Elslander, Managing Director, Initiative, Belgium


Charu Aggarwal, Chief Strategy Officer, Havas Group, South East Asia & India


Benjamin Condit, CEO, Mindshare, China


Asad Rehman, Director Media & Digital Transformation, Unilever, United Arab Emirates


Juan Pedro McCormack, CEO, Media dentsu Latam, Dentsu, Argentina


Caroline Moul, President, PHD Canada


Gina McKinnon, Managing Director, Fuse @ OMD, APAC


Vaishali Verma, CEO Initiative India


Jessica Roberts, Chief Client Officer, OMD EMEA



Outdoor Lions Shortlist Jury


Rafael Reina, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy De La Cruz, Puerto Rico


Anna Salonen, Art Director, Nord DDB Stockholm, Sweden


Lili Jiang, Group Creative Director, Cheil Worldwide, Hong Kong


Emilio de Haan, Founder/Creative Director, HERC, Netherlands


Angie Tijam-Tohid, Creative Director & Head of Content, Ace Saatchi & Saatchi, Philippines


Huelander Escalante, Chief Creative Officer, McCann San José, Costa Rica


Katrina Encanto, Global Creative Director, MullenLowe London, Global


Ioana Zamfir, Executive Creative Director, MRM, Romania


Sebastien De Valck, Creative Director, BBDO Belgium, Belgium


Gabriela Paredes Olguin, VP Creative, Agencia i, Mexico


Rene Baquero, Managing Director & Chief Creative Officer, HOY by Havas, Colombia


Davi Sing Liu, Regional Chief Creative Officer, Great China, Grey, China


Gary Steele, Executive Creative Director, DDB Aotearoa New Zealand


Sarah McGregor, Executive Creative Director, Communicado, Australia


Francisco Bledel, Creative Director, Publicis, Argentina


Mel Routhier, Chief Creative Office, WPP Walgreens Team, VMLY&R, USA


Fabio Silveira, General Manager, Havas Creative Middle East, United Arab Emirates


İlkay Gürpınar, Chief Creative Officer, TBWA\Istanbul, Turkey


Torgbor Mensah, Executive Chairman, DDP Outdoor Limited, Ghana


Sara Phillips, Creative Director, Wieden+Kennedy, USA


Billy Faithfull, Chief Creative Officer, Engine Group UK



PR Lions Shortlist Jury


Victor Ng, Executive Creative Director, Edelman Singapore


Reona Onoue, Operating Officer / PR Planner, Inoue Public Relations Inc., Japan


Alexandre Faure, Managing Director, Edelman, France


Janet Tsai, Global Lead, China Brand Practice, Ogilvy, Global


Hafida Abahai, CEO, Weber Shandwick, Netherlands


Neha Mehrotra, Executive Vice President, PR & Client Centricity, Avian WE, India


Natasha Romariz Maasri, Executive Creative Director, Leo Burnett, Lebanon


Amy Brill, Head of PR, M&C Saatchi, United Arab Emirates


Babette Kemper, Co-Founder & Managing Director, achtung! Mary, Germany


Krista Webster, President & CEO, Veritas Communications and Vice Chair, MDC Partners, Canada


Mandarva Stenborg, CEO & Partner, Abby Priest, Sweden


Ludi García, Managing Director, Hotwire Public Relations, Spain


Michael Maslov, General Director, Partner, Ketchum, Russia


Higinio Martínez, General manager & Consejero Delegado Omnicom PR Group, Spain & Portugal


Charlie Coney, Executive Creative Director, West Coast Region, Golin, USA


Clarisse Berggårdh, CEO, Pohjoisranta BCW OY, Finland


Oana Bulexa, Managing Partner, MSL The Practice, Romania


Beatrice Agostinacchio, Managing Director, Hotwire Italy


Vanessa Ho Nikolovski, Chief Client & Growth Officer, Asia Pacific, Weber Shandwick, APAC


Ruth Allchurch, Managing Director, WE, UK


Skye Lambley, Group Managing Director, Herd MSL, Publicis Groupe, Australia



Social & Influencer Lions Shortlist Jury


Pierre Duquesnoy, Executive Creative Director, Belle, France


Anna Lichnog, Executive Creative Director, Jung von Matt NEXT ALSTER, Germany


Akanksha Goel, Founder & CEO, Socialize, Middle East, Africa & India


Joakim Khoury, Partner & Senior Creative, Åkestam Holst NoA, Sweden


Alberto Pachano, Managing Director, We Are Social, Spain


Max Sardella, Social Media & Influencer Marketing Manager, Red Carpet, Italy


Johanna Calic, Head of Creative Effectiveness, Google, Latam


Jordan Schmid, Partner & President, No Fixed Address, Canada


Shivani Maharaj, National Head of Content & Partnerships, Wavemaker, Australia


Shirin Majid, Deputy Executive Creative Director, VCCP, UK


Vibeke Nannerup, CEO & Founder, Liquidminds, Denmark



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