Four young creatives will represent the UAE at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in June, following a fiercely competitive 24-hour challenge that saw 52 teams tackle the visibility crisis facing women’s football in the region.
Nouran Osama Mohamed Said Elwishy and Alaa Nour from Publicis Middle East claimed Gold in the Digital Category, while Maria Nabil Bitar and Muskaan Manoj Bhojwani from Initiative MENA secured Gold in the Media Category, delivering campaigns that transformed cultural hesitation into cultural pride for Banaat FC, the UAE’s first girls-only football club with an Arabic name.
The UAE Young Lions Competition is organised by Motivate Media Group and Motivate Val Morgan Cinema Advertising Company, the official UAE representative for Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. This year’s competition was powered by Getty Images and supported by Banaat FC.
The challenge
This year’s brief came from Banaat FC, which despite partnering with Nike and competing in the UAE Women’s Football League, faces a fundamental challenge: women’s football receives minimal media coverage, creating a cycle where lack of visibility prevents cultural conversation, family support, and institutional investment.
Digital teams were tasked with developing a digital campaign that makes women’s football visible, celebrated, and impossible to ignore.
Media teams needed to create a media strategy that transforms the sport from invisible to unmissable — making it a source of cultural pride that attracts participation, attention, and institutional support.
The brief was presented during the morning briefing where Sahal Valliyot, Deputy Manager Marketing and PR at Motivate Val Morgan, welcomed teams and presented the technical brief.
The competition brief was delivered by Budreya Faisal, Founder and President of Banaat FC, while Zephoraah Lutchmaya, Account Manager at Getty Images, introduced teams to Getty Images’ complimentary image library and AI image generation tool available exclusively for the competition.
UAE Young Lions Digital Gold: ‘The True Sponsors’
Publicis Middle East’s winning campaign tackled a sharp insight: in the UAE, women’s football is built on community, not corporate backing.
Their solution? Replace traditional brand logos on Banaat FC jerseys with the social handles of UAE female pioneers and influencers.
“The True Sponsors” turned every jersey into a platform for visibility, with social handles changing with each match to create living social ledgers.
The campaign shifted influence from brands to the people who actually show up—today’s pioneers and tomorrow’s stars.
UAE Young Lions Media Gold: ‘Her First Fan’
Initiative MENA’s Gold-winning ‘Her First Fan’ addressed the visibility gap in women’s football by shifting the spotlight from the player on the pitch to her supporters in the stands.
Built on the insight that visibility and pride are interdependent, the campaign identified a missing catalyst in the ecosystem: visible family pride that legitimises girls’ participation in football.
Instead of promoting athletes alone, the strategy positioned fathers and families as the visible champions of the movement, turning private support into public cultural proof.
Media activation placed visible family support across multiple touchpoints—from radio and television to social media and match-day activations — using real supporter reactions and family storytelling to make the first fan visible across football culture.
By activating the ecosystem around the player, the campaign transformed spectatorship into participation — proving that when pride is seen, participation follows.
Silver and Bronze winners
In the Digital Category, Francesco Negri and Mayank Shewale from FP7 McCANN took Silver with “Teams for Teams,” bringing Banaat FC matches to Microsoft Teams to reach decision-makers where they work.
Bronze went to Gabriel Gomes and Ana Júlia de Oliveira from Saatchi & Saatchi for “The IPO of Potential,” which reframed women’s football as an investment opportunity.
The Media Category Silver was awarded to Leon Mardini and Elio Kassab from WPP Media for “Banaat Virtual Cup,” a digital-first school football league.
Seher Ariff and Jad Jabri from Zenith claimed Bronze with a campaign that brought spontaneous football moments into high-footfall city spaces.
Strong field
The competition, held on February 7, brought together teams from across the UAE and Qatar. Following the 24-hour creative sprint, judges from leading agencies including WPP, Publicis, and Omnicom evaluated entries before shortlisted teams presented their work at a deliberation meeting on February 11.
Several teams made it to the final presentation round, demonstrating the high calibre of work across both categories.
The Digital shortlist featured Jessieleigh Dudley and Jack Mcara from Memac Ogilvy, and Amina Aldelbary and Manahil Azeem from Edelman. In Media, Ramzi El Tabch and Antariksh Nadkarn from UM Qatar, and Marguerita Hajji and Skandar Naaman from Spark Foundry presented compelling strategies.
Next stop: Cannes Lions
The four Gold winners will compete at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in June, representing the UAE against the world’s best young creative talent.
