The winners of the South African Young Lions competition are Kursten Meyer and Verona Singh from TBWA Hunt Lascaris in Johannesburg.

They were selected from more than 50 teams who took part in the competition sponsored by Independent Newspapers, the local Cannes Lions Representatives in South Africa. They will represent South Africa in Cannes in June this year where they will compete against over 100 countries from around the world for the prestigious Cannes Young Lions title.

Teams (a copywriter and an art director under the age of 28 years) were invited to take part in the competition to select a team to represent South Africa. A brief became available to the teams on Friday afternoon 18 April at 4pm, with each team required to submit their work, online, by the following Monday morning at 9am. A judging panel selected by the Creative Circle then had the tough task of selecting the winning campaign.

Rob Mc Lennan, Chairman of the Creative Circle said, “The brief in short was “You don’t have to become a criminal to survive”, which isn’t an easy brief, especially considering the relevance to our circumstances here in South Africa right now. The target market is therefore any person who is at that point in their life where a life of crime is a consideration for them. There were six judges from the Creative Circle and the winning team featured in all the judges top three.

The ads offer a positive spin on the skills it takes to be a criminal. There are such skills shortages in the country, so why not put your skills to a less risky, better, more profitable use. Michael Vale, marketing manager for Independent Newspapers was impressed with the large number of entries submitted for the competition as well as the high level of effort and creativity in the submissions.

As the winners of the local competition, Kirsten and Verona will travel to Cannes, courtesy of Independent Newspapers, where they will compete in the international competition. Teams from around the world will be given a brief the night before the competition and then have 12 hours (8am to 8pm) on 15 June to develop a print advertisement for a charity or non-profit organisation selected by the Cannes Lions Festival organisers.

The winners will be announced at the Press Awards function on 18 June. Entries submitted for the South African Young Lions competition can be viewed at www.younglions.co.za