Nick Brien, President/CEO of the Interpublic Group’s Mediabrands who was named Advertising Age Media Maven in 2008, will be the 2009 Cannes Lions Media Jury President.
In his role at Mediabrands, Nick has overall management for IPG’s independent media agencies. These include global networks Universal McCann (UM) and Initiative, centralised marketplace analysts and negotiation entity Magna, media barter group Magna Trading, dedicated Johnson & Johnson agency J3 and a host of diversified agencies. Before joining Mediabrands, Nick served for three years as Worldwide CEO of Universal McCann. Under his leader-ship, UM won the Cannes Media Lions Grand Prix in 2006 for its Lynxjet work and UM Sydney was named the 2006 Cannes Media Agency of theYear.
Philip Thomas, Festival CEO said, “Nick is not only passionate about the media business; he is passionate about how creativity can transform communications. We’ve worked closely with Nick and other industry leaders to adapt and develop the Media Lions in 2009 so that they continue to reflect the changing media landscape and remain the global standard for outstanding media thinking. We are delighted to have Nick as our President.”
Prospective media entrants should also note changes in the competition. To quote the Cannes organizers’ release: “In consultation with Nick and other Media agency leaders, a number of changes will be introduced to the Media Lions section for 2009. These include a revision of the categories and the written submission that entrants are required to complete, and a restructuring of the way the Media Lions will be judged to reflect the three crucial elements of a piece of media work and to place more emphasis on the outcome of each media case. Therefore the judging will now be based upon:
• Insight, Strategy and the Idea (35% of the jury’s vote),
• Creative Execution (30%),
• Results and Effectiveness (35%).
Finally, the way that credits are displayed will be changed to ensure the Media agency for each entry is always acknowledged, regardless of which agency or company submits the entry.”
