Canadian agencies are on a strong trajectory at this year’s Lions Festival, picking up two Golds last night, and increasing its total awards count to 19.
Klick Health has led the way, picking up a Gold in the Pharma category for its “Voice 2 Diabetes” campaign for KVI Brave Fund. The life-saving tool that Klick is advertising for KVI can detect if someone has type 2 diabetes from having a person speak into a smartphone.
Canada’s other Gold Lion on the first day of the festival was awarded to Rethink’s “Coors Lights Out” campaign. The campaign turned a broken spot in a Coors Light ad, caused by a foul ball hit by international superstar MLB player Shohei Ohtani, into a full-blown campaign. Rethink has also picked up the most shortlist nominations of any Canadian agency this year, a current total of 44.
Canada’s 19 Lions bring it closer to last year’s record for the country of 51.
On Tuesday morning, Canada added 34 more shortlist nods to bring its total to 163. Only one more category shortlist remains to be announced, meaning Canada will fall short of the 202 shortlists it recorded in 2023. Among its latest shortlist noms, Canada was most prolific in the Film category with 13 nods, and Creative Strategy with 12.
Later today, the Gold and Grand Prix winners for the Entertainment Lions, Entertainment Lions for Gaming, Entertainment Lions for Music and Entertainment Lions for Sport categories, as well as Design, Industry Craft, Film Craft and Digital Craft will be revealed.
Lions Nominations and Wins (By Category)
Audio & Radio: 0
Brand Experience & Activation: 14 shortlists
Creative Business Transformation: 3 shortlists
Creative B2B: 1 shortlist
Creative Commerce: 3 shortlists
Creative Data: 1 shortlist
Creative Effectiveness: 2 shortlists
Creative Strategy: 12 shortlists
Design: 1 silver, 1 bronze 10 shortlists
Digital Craft: 2 silvers, 3 shortlists
Direct: 11 shortlists
Entertainment: 1 silver, 1 bronze, 5 shortlists
Entertainment for Gaming: 0
Entertainment for Music: 1 bronze, 1 shortlist
Entertainment for Sport: 2 bronze, 8 shortlists
Film: 13 shortlists
Film Craft: 1 silver, 1 bronze, 7 shortlists
Health & Wellness: 1 silver, 2 bronze, 7 shortlists
Industry Craft: 1 silver, 3 shortlists
Luxury & Lifestyle: 1 shortlist
Media: 21 shortlists
Outdoor: 1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze, 11 shortlists
Pharma: 1 gold, 3 shortlists
PR: 14 shortlists
Print & Publishing: 0
Social Influencer: 9 shortlists
Lions Nominations & Wins (By Agency)
Klick Health: 1 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze, 15 shortlists
Rethink: 1 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze, 44 shortlists
Edelman: 1 silver, 11 shortlists
Critical Mass: 1 silver, 10 shortlists
VML: 1 silver, 8 shortlists
Broken Heart Love Affair: 1 silver, 2 shortlists
FCB: 1 bronze, 15 shortlists
Bensimon Byrne: 1 bronze, 6 shortlists
Cossette: 1 bronze, 4 shortlists
Sid Lee Montreal: 1 bronze, 2 shortlists
Leo Burnett: 1 silver, 1 shortlist
Kid Studio: 1 bronze, 1 shortlist
Ogilvy Toronto: 11 shortlists
Dentsu: 9 shortlists
Angry Butterfly: 5 shortlists
Courage: 5 shortlists
LG2: 4 shortlists
Zulu Alpha Kilo: 4 shortlists
No Fixed Address: 2 shortlists
Publicis: 2 shortlists
Citizen Relations: 1 shortlist
Lifelong Crush: 1 shortlist
Tank Worldwide: 1 shortlist
Country Lion totals
Gold: 2
Silver: 8
Bronze: 9
Shortlists: 163
