Nick Brien, President and CEO of IPG’s Mediabrands, will be the 2009 Cannes Lions Media Jury President.
In his role, Nick oversees Mediabrands’ independent media agencies, including global networks Universal McCann and Initiative, centralised marketplace analysts and negotiation entity Magna.
Before joining Mediabrands, Nick served for three years as Worldwide CEO of Universal McCann, based in New York. Under his leadership, Universal McCann won the Cannes Media Lions Grand Prix in 2006 for its Lynxjet work and Universal McCann Sydney was named the 2006 Cannes Media Agency of the Year.
A highly-regarded industry expert, Nick received the prestigious accolade of Advertising Age Media Maven in 2008, has served as keynote speaker at various preeminent advertising industry events and holds a number of industry board positions.
Commenting on his role as Media Lions Jury President, Nick Brien said, “Media, it’s personal now. It’s exciting, it’s dynamic, and it’s changing every day. No longer a world defined by pushing one-way messaging focused on generating awareness, rather a world of creating real-time conversations able to drive brand advocacy and consumer engagement, made possible through the growing influence of digital media.
“For those blessed with the necessary curiosity and passion, I believe that media today is the most exciting area of marketing communications. This important discipline has changed fundamentally, moving from a world focused on productivity and efficiency to one of communications strategy and innovative ideas.”
After consultation, a number of changes will be introduced to the Media Lions section for 2009. These include a revision of the categories and the written submission that entrants are required to complete, and a restructuring of the way the Media Lions will be judged to reflect the three crucial elements of a piece of media work and to place more emphasis on the outcome of each media case. Therefore the judging will now be based upon:
• Insight, Strategy and the Idea (35% of the jury’s vote),
• Creative Execution (30%),
• Results and Effectiveness (35%).
Finally, the way that credits are displayed will be changed to ensure the Media agency for each entry is always acknowledged, regardless of which agency or company submits the entry.
