What’s New for Cannes Lions 2025?

Each year we review the Awards to ensure they reflect the current landscape, while also paving the way forward.

Below is a summary of the changes we've made for 2025. If you have specific questions or want to learn more get in touch with our Awards experts today.

Redefining Glass: The Lion for Change

On its 10th anniversary, we’re redefining Glass: The Lion for Change. In 2025, we’re expanding the scope beyond gender to celebrate creative excellence that promotes more equitable representation for a broader range of communities – from disability and race to sexuality and social inequity. Entrants will be asked to identify the specific community that the work is aiming to represent, explain the problem it’s trying to address and demonstrate how it’s having a meaningful and long-lasting impact on that community.

Broadening the Design Lions

We’ve updated the Design Lions to reflect the current priorities and evolving practices of design. The new Transformative Design section will celebrate innovative, forward-thinking work that demonstrates how design can shape behaviour, advance social and environmental goals and set new standards for creativity and impact. These new sub categories recognise work that not only stands out but also drives real progress and innovation, celebrating design’s power to effect change in a variety of contexts – from creating accessible, inclusive spaces to using technology in original ways that redefine how people interact with the world.

Advancing the Creative B2B Lions

We’ve introduced a question within the Creative B2B Lions to help clarify the type of work submitted. Entrants will specify if the work is for a traditional B2B model where one business sells directly to another, a model involving a partnership between businesses to reach consumers or work aimed at attracting consumers as a way to engage a business customer.

Expanding the Creative Business Transformation Lions

The Creative Business Transformation Lions exist to celebrate work that drives businesses forward. To reflect the end-to-end journey of a transformation project, we’re introducing two new sub categories in this Lion: Transformative Strategy and Employee Experience. These categories will recognise both the original insights and strategic vision that launched the transformation, as well as the creative ways the organisation engaged their team to build support and advocacy internally.

Introducing a new Long-Term Brand Platform sub category

To recognise enduring brand platforms, we’re introducing a sub category that celebrates brands demonstrating how continuous, effective and consistent investment in creative strategy can help deliver meaningful business results. This sub category will sit across multiple Lions, and work must show long-term effectiveness in building brand equity, fostering loyalty and delivering measurable business results through continuous, creative communication efforts.

Platforms must have been in the market for a minimum of three years to be eligible.

Introducing a Retail Media sub category

To acknowledge the rise of retail media, we’ve introduced a dedicated sub category for it in the Media Lions and Creative Commerce Lions. Work entered into this category must demonstrate the effective use of retail media as a strategic channel to engage consumers and enhance brand relevance.

Introducing an Excellence in Image Description sub category

We’ve introduced a new sub category that celebrates the use of image description and alternative text - i.e. text that sits alongside online image descriptions to help people with impaired sight visualise pictures. This sub category has been added to the Digital Craft Lions and the Industry Craft Lions to celebrate copy that elevates accessibility and user experience, while expressing creativity and brand voice. Work entered into this category should demonstrate impactful, finely crafted image descriptions that convey key information, evoke a mood and communicate brand essence for blind and partially sighted people.

Updating the written submission

Understanding how the creative idea helped a brand achieve its goals is a key factor in Jury discussions. So, we’ve included a dedicated question in the written submission that asks for the objectives of the work. This is a compulsory element on each entry and will provide essential context when the Jury evaluates the work.