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posted on Mar. 06, 2025 at 8:40 amMar 6, 2025

UAE Cannes Young Lions judge: ‘It’s about solving problems, not just ‘cool’ ideas’

posted on Mar. 06, 2025 at 8:40 amMar 6, 2025

Landor's Lara Assouad shares her two cents of advice after judging the Digital Category of the 2025 UAE Cannes Young Lions competition, organised by Motivate Media Group and Motivate Val Morgan.

UAE Cannes Young Lions Judge Lara Assouad, Executive Creative Director, Landor on calls on young creatives to solve problems and serve a purpose

Lara Assouad, Executive Creative Director, Landor

I was recently invited to judge the Digital Category of the 2025 UAE Cannes Young Lions competition, organised by Motivate Media Group and Motivate Val Morgan, the official representatives of Cannes Lions in the UAE, and powered by Getty Images.

The challenge was to develop an innovative digital campaign that addresses a specific brief with the focus on using digital platforms and tools to create engaging campaigns with measurable results. Contestants were judged for creativity, originality, insights, presentation skills, and how well the campaigns hit their goals. The kind of challenges our industry faces every day.

Beyond the judging criteria, the experience gave me a glimpse into how

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Tags:Advertising branding brief communication Competition cool ideas digital digital campaigns engaging campaigns Executive Creative Director Insights Judge Landor Lara Assouad mindset Motivate Media Group Motivate Val Morgan solving problems UAE Cannes Young Lions

the authorAnup Oommen

Anup Oommen is the Editor of Campaign Middle East at Motivate Media Group, a well-reputed moderator, and a multiple award-winning journalist with more than 15 years of experience at some of the most reputable and credible global news organisations, including Reuters, CNN, and Motivate Media Group. As the Editor of Campaign Middle East, Anup heads market-leading coverage of advertising, media, marketing, PR, events and experiential, digital, the wider creative industries, and more, through the brand’s digital, print, events, directories, podcast and video verticals. As such he’s a key stakeholder in the Campaign Global brand, the world’s leading authority for the advertising, marketing and media industries, which was first published in the UK in 1968.