Dubai Lynx has today announced the Jury Presidents for this year’s Festival of Creativity, taking place from 8-10 March 2020.
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. The line-up includes a select group of distinguished female leaders, continuing the Festival’s commitment to promoting gender equality.
19 distinct Lynx Awards will be honoured at the Festival, including the new Creative Strategy Award. A new Realities & Voice Activation category has also been introduced, seeing all VR and new realities work judged together for the first time. A new Challenges & Breakthroughs section, added across seven Lynx Awards, celebrates work with a specific focus on local campaigns and cultural insights, as well as challenger brands and breakthroughs on a budget.
Philip Thomas, Chairman of Cannes Lions and Dubai Lynx, said: “As leaders in their field, our Jury Presidents play a fundamental role in ensuring Dubai Lynx honours 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.”
The Dubai Lynx 2020 Jury Presidents line-up is as follows:
Film, Print & Publishing, Radio & Audio, Direct, Integrated Jury President
Kate Stanners, Chairwoman & Global Chief Creative Officer, Saatchi & Saatchi, Global
Kate Stanners is Chairwoman and Global Chief Creative Officer at Saatchi & Saatchi. After joining Saatchi & Saatchi 15 years ago, Kate oversees its creative output, the creative talent of the network and has driven the agency’s spirit of ‘Nothing Is Impossible’. Stanners oversees global clients including: Toyota, Proctor & Gamble, Visa, HSBC and Deutsche Telekom.
Digital, Mobile, Brand Experience & Activation, Outdoor Jury President
Daniel Bonner, Global Chief Creative Officer, Wunderman Thompson, Global
Daniel Bonner is the Global Chief Creative Officer at Wunderman Thompson and is responsible for inspiring ambitious clients through the innovative application of creativity, data and technology. 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.
Media Jury President
Imogen Hewitt, Chief Executive Officer, Spark Foundry, Australia
Imogen is CEO of Spark Foundry, where she is tasked with delivering the merger of two of Australia’s most respected agency brands. Bringing over 20 years of industry experience in both media and creative agencies, Hewitt was listed on Campaign Asia’s ‘2017 Woman to Watch’ list and also recognised on the Women in Media Power List.
Creative Effectiveness and Creative Strategy Jury President
Fernando Machado, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Burger King, Global
Fernando is a global marketer with a passion for growing brands and businesses, having led hugely successful, multi award-winning campaigns such as “Proud Whopper” and “Whopper Detour”. Having amassed more than 120 Lions in his career, Fernando is known for pushing the creative boundaries to drive business growth and has been recognised as one of the top 10 most innovative CMOs by Business Insider.
Design and Industry Craft Jury President
Greg Quinton, Global Chief Creative Officer, Superunion, Global
As Global Chief Creative Officer, Greg is responsible for the creative output of the Superunion network. Over the course of his career, Greg has worked with a wide variety of clients including AirAsia, Jaguar, The Connaught, Ferrari, London Symphony Orchestra and The National Gallery. His reputation for creative excellence is evidenced by being honoured with 250 awards at leading industry shows.
PR and Glass: the Award for Change Jury President
Valerie Pinto, Chief Executive Officer, Weber Shandwick, India
One of the youngest CEO’s of an Indian network agency, Valerie works closely with clients to change traditional models of communication towards more integrated offerings. Her success has seen her 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.
Film Craft Jury President
Laura Geagea, Managing Director & Executive Producer, Sweetshop, China & Asia
Laura is Managing Director & Executive Producer of Sweetshop China, Asia. Fluent in English, French, Arabic, Mandarin and Spanish, Laura has worked all over Asia, both as a freelance producer and as Sweetshop Asia’s Executive Producer. In 2017, she opened the company’s office in Shanghai.
Entertainment Jury President
Luke Southern, Managing Director, DRUM, UK
Luke is Managing Director of DRUM, Omnicom Media Group’s award-winning content and creative agency that helps ambitious brands create their own cultural signals that cut through the
clutter. Luke has led DRUM through a period of sustained creative growth and International expansion. He is a regular commentator on branded content and entertainment, from BBC World News to serving on the Cannes Lions Entertainment Jury in 2018.
Healthcare Jury President
Matt Eastwood, Global Chief Creative Officer, McCann Health, Global
Matt joined McCann Health as Global Chief Creative Officer in January 2019. Formerly Worldwide Chief Creative Officer of J. Walter Thompson, Matt was 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.
The Jury Presidents will convene, with their jury members, at Dubai Lynx, taking place from 8-10 of March 2020. The winners will be announced at an exclusive Awards ceremony at the Madinat Jumeirah on 11 March. For information on how to enter this year’s awards visit https://www.dubailynx.com/awards-and-competitions