Young creatives bound for Cannes?

Malaysia - Tony Savarimuthu, vice president of the 4As, said there are plans to sponsor and send some young Malaysian creatives to the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival this year.

In a talk yesterday entitled 'Learn To Win', Terry Savage, the chairman of Cannes Lions, shared how almost every young creative from Brazil who won awards in the Cannes were participants in the country's young creatives programme launched since 1995. He hopes that a similar industry effort could be launched in Malaysia, and that there will be more participation in the Titanium & Integrated category.

Cannes Lions has also appointed The Sun as its representative in Malaysia to promote its work and events. According to a spokesperson from The Sun, the newspaper will look into increasing the participation of Malaysians in the Cannes and to find sponsors.

On whether there will be a drop in participation in the Cannes due to fears of recession in the US, Savage replied that he does not expect the number of submissions to drop for 2008 because the work was done earlier. He said it may be a different story in 2009 and at this point, he is not be able to comment on it.

In 2007, Cannes Lions received 10,000 delegates and 27,000 entries. In 2003, 40 marketing organisations attended, and participation rose to 260 organisations. This year, Robert Murdoch will be a key speaker, and 47 seminars and 25 workshops are scheduled to be held.