This week, Dubai Lynx, in partnership with Cannes Lions, hosted creatives in Dubai to share updates and submission strategies based on trends from the previous year’s awards.
The session opened with a welcome from Kamille Marchant, Director, Dubai Lynx, who explained Dubai Lynx’s new format for 2025.
Rooted in the pillars of connection, growth, and celebration, Dubai Lynx will now transform into a year-round stage—a living, breathing hub where creatives converge to share ideas, hone their craft, and gain recognition for their work.
Marian Brannelly, Global Director of Awards at Lions, then took the floor to present the Lions Digest and Steps to Success. She discussed the top trends that emerged from Cannes Lions 2024 and shared what’s to come for the 2025 edition of the awards. She also revealed strategies for submissions based on entries and juror insights from 2024.
What’s new for Dubai Lynx 2025
Updates to the Dubai Lynx Awards for 2025 have been introduced to reflect the evolution of the industry in the region..
The changes include an update to the Audio & Radio Lynx, with space to celebrate innovation and expansion within audio communication and the PR Lynx with a new “Excellence in PR Craft” section exclusively for PR agencies, exempt from entry limits.
The Social & Influencer Lynx now includes sub categories that recognise the vital role of content creators in amplifying brand messages, while the Digital Lynx has evolved to become the Digital Craft Lynx, celebrating technological artistry and the masterful execution of innovative ideas across diverse online platforms.
A new Use of Humour category has been added across all Cultural & Context sections to honour campaigns that creatively use wit and humour to engage and entertain audiences.
To provide juries with deeper insights, compulsory questions on objectives and cultural context have been added, alongside optional sustainability and DEI questions to spark meaningful discussions. Additionally, an AI disclaimer has been introduced, requiring entrants to disclose if, and how, AI was used in their campaigns, ensuring balanced assessments.
Submissions for Dubai Lynx are open, with the first fee increase set for 12 December and closing 28 January 2025. For support on category selection and resources for crafting a compelling entry, entrants can contact our Awards Specialists at [email protected]..
Updates to Cannes Lions 2025
When it comes to Cannes Lions 2025, Brannelly shared the latest updates to the Lions.
In 2025 Glass: The Lion for Change celebrates its 10th anniversary by broadening its scope beyond gender to celebrate work that promotes more equitable representation for a broader range of communities – from disability and race to sexuality and social inequity.
The Social & Influencer Lions have been redefined as the Social & Creator Lions, with five new subcategories highlighting the role of creators in shaping brand narratives.
The Design Lions now feature a Transformative Design section, honoring innovation that advances social and environmental goals, sets new standards, and effects meaningful change, while the Creative B2B Lions introduce a clarifying question for entries to distinguish between traditional B2B, partnerships, or consumer engagement models.
Two new subcategories have been added to the Creative Business Transformation Lions, Transformative Strategy and Employee Experience, recognising insights that drive transformations and internal engagement strategies.
A new Long-Term Brand Platform subcategory honors brands demonstrating sustained creative strategies over three years. A Retail Media subcategory acknowledges the strategic use of retail media in engaging consumers while in the Industry Craft and Digital Craft Lions a new Excellence in Image Description subcategory celebrates accessibility-driven copywriting for blind and partially sighted audiences.
Further refinements include compulsory English subtitles on all video content and a new mandatory question on each entry focusing on the objectives of the work, ensuring Juries have full context during evaluations.
