Young Lions compete to put out fires in the UAE

Twenty teams from all over the UAE competed, each consisting of a Copywriter and Art Director, all with their sights set on representing the UAE in the International Young Lions Competition at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in the south of France. It is the largest gathering of worldwide advertising and marketing professionals, as well as featuring advertising's most prestigious awards.

The teams had 9 hours to produce first class work by responding to a very topical brief form the Department of Civil Defence to educate the public on the dangers of warehouse fires. They had to produce a press advertisement or A3 poster to increase public awareness on the risks warehouse fires pose to life, property and the environment. The call to action was to be vigilant and educated about warehouse fire safety precautions and regulations.

Captain Pilot Othman Mohammed Ahli, Director of Al Quoz Fire Station, who was on hand to present the awards, said: "It is great to have the young creative minds of the UAE competing to raise awareness of this extremely important message. The quality of work was outstanding."

The prizes were also presented by the Managing Partner of the Motivate Group, Mr Ian Fairservice, with the winners being flown to the South of France as guests of the Motivate Group. In addition, the Motivate Group will also be sponsoring Ms Reem Captain, a UAE National and final year communications student, to attend the prestigious Roger Hatchuel Academy conducted by keynote speakers at the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival.

The winning teams were as follows:
GOLD: Rafael Rizuto and Tuline Malecki from Memac Ogilvy were the front runners, scooping the Gold award, and will proudly represent the UAE at the Cannes Competition in June.
SILVER: Timsy Vadhani and Karuna Murthy from Brandcom claimed the Silver prize.
BRONZE: Shaun Dean Thomas and Joanna Chakerof Fortune Promoseven were awarded the Bronze.

The excited winners will now plan their trip to Cannes in France where from the 15-22 June they will represent the UAE at the 55th Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. They will join at least 30 teams from around the globe and vie to win the prestigious Cannes Lions Young Creative Award.

For the 6th year running, Motivate Publishing and Motivate Val Morgan Cinema Advertising, the official Cannes Advertising Festival representative, hosted the event.

Sponsors who made this event possible were: The International Advertising Association premises for the venue and catering; Xerox for all colour printers and paper; Arab Business Machines Ltd (Apple IMC ME) for Apple Mac computers and monitors; Adobe for design software and Gallo Images/Getty Images for the image library.