The Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity has announced more changes to its award categories ahead of the 2016 edition.
First, the Press Lions have been re-named the Print & Publishing Lions. First introduced as Press & Outdoor in 1992, Press was made a stand-alone category in 2002.
“By renaming it the Print & Publishing Lions, we are evolving the category, just as the print and publishing world itself is evolving, to recognize other forms of publishing, along with best uses of press and interactive press,” Simon Cook, director of awards at Lions Festivals, said in a press release.
The festival has also added a new Digital Craft Lion, split off from the Cyber and Mobile categories. Much like the Film Craft category, which was added in 2010, Digital Craft will focus on recognizing the technical creative skills and craftsmanship that goes into creating content and experiences across digital devices.
Terry Savage, chairman of Lions Festivals, said feedback from previous Cyber and Mobile juries pointed to a need for a dedicated jury of craft and UX-focused experts to evaluate the increasing number of entries in those areas. He added that it would also make judging the growing number of Cyber entries more manageable going forward. Cyber was the third-most popular category for entries last year.
The Festival also announced the Titanium & Integrated Lions are being separated, with each category now having a dedicated jury. A number of Lions have also had new categories added for 2016, with Service & Interactive Design categories added to the Product Design Lions; experience design added to, and social categories expanded in, the Design Lions; and digital categories added to the Outdoor Lions.
In October, Lions Festivals announced the new Entertainment Lions and Entertainment Lions for Music would be replacing the Branded Content & Entertainment Lions, and be the subject of a new “festival within a festival,” similar to Lions Health and Lions Innovation.
Last week, the U.K.’s Campaign reported that Ascential Group, the private holding company that owns Lions Festivals, had made a filing with regulatory body Companies House to create a public limited company called Top Right Group on Jan. 4, which was then renamed Ascential plc the following day. Though taking the company public is not certain, the filing positions Ascential, which was known as Top Right Group until December, to make an initial public offering.