Masters of Creativity debuts at Cannes

1 Apr 2015

CANNES, FRANCE: Masters of Creativity, a five-day professional qualification, will launch at this year's Cannes Lions. The training programme will help talent working in the creative communications industry make the transition into senior management. Eight world-class 'masters' will lead it.

Live brief for candy launch

Delegates enrolled on the programme will work on a real brief from Mondelez International to reinvigorate its Bubblicious gum brand. "The brand is a sleeping giant," said Stephanie Wilkes, President Global Gum and Candy at Mondelez International. "Partnering with the Lions Masters of Creativity programme is an opportunity for us to work with a new generation of creative thinkers and brand activation experts to identify untapped opportunities and potentially help increase the brand's market share in key territories."

Each team will work throughout the week on a strategy to revive the brand before pitching to the jury, which will be chaired by Keith Reinhard, Chairman Emeritus, DDB Worldwide and include senior marketing officials from Mondelez International.

Keith Reinhard, Chairman, Lions Masters of Creativity said, "Why am I so excited about the new Lions Masters of Creativity programme? Well, at the hands of an all-star faculty - we have some of the industry's most prominent figures representing all the key disciplines - participants will get a chance to hone their skills at strategic and media planning and multi-platform creative execution. They will learn how to sell a great idea and how to measure its effectiveness and they will be working on a live client brief to bring new life to a brand that has lost its salience. I can't wait to see the results."

Masters present modules

The programme will be presented in eight modules, each lasting two hours. A 'master', a truly outstanding industry expert, will draw on his or her knowledge, experience and insights, and present each module. Confirmed Masters include:

• Creativity: Mark Tutssel, Global Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett Worldwide
• Creative Effectiveness: Merry Baskin, Partner, Baskin Shark Ltd
• Creative Effectiveness: Gurdeep Puri, Co-Founder, The Effectiveness Partnership
• Data Master: David Shing, Digital Prophet, AOL
• Innovation: David Droga, Creative Chairman, Droga5
• Media: Barry Cupples, Global CEO, Investment, Omnicom Media Group

The winners will be celebrated and honoured onstage during the Cannes Lions Awards Ceremony on Saturday, 21 June. Anybody enrolled on the programme will also receive full seven-day access to Cannes Lions as part of their package.

The programme is open to everyone who works within marketing communications. There are no age or discipline restrictions and applications are welcome from all industries/sectors. For more information on how to enrol on the programme, email Steve Latham, Head of Talent & Training, at moc.snoilsennac@mahtalevets or go to www.canneslions.com.