Lynx Advertising Awards launched in Dubai

Terry Savage, the Executive Chairman of the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, was speaking at the Media City at the launch of the Dubai Lynx Awards.

Organised and presented in association with the International Advertising Association and supported by Media City, the new awards are set to clone the Cannes Lions on a regional basis. It's a celebration and recognition of advertising excellence in the Middle East and North Africa. Lynx might not be on Cannes global scale but the judging will be just as rigorous.

This event will have everything that Cannes has in terms of output. It's all about lifting the bar and inspiration. Judging standards will be as exacting as those in Cannes because we're bringing everything to Dubai, says Savage. "Fifty per cent of the judges will be international and the other 50 per cent will be local judges. It's an opportunity for the local market to mix with the best in the world. Our only interest is that the best people win the awards on 19 March 2007."

Already leading the Cannes and Eurobest Festivals and Awards, Savage and his team will be directly involved in all aspects of the Lynx Awards.

"We understand the brand values that we have at the other events and it's important that they are present here. Neutrality will be one of our key brand values for this event and premium execution will be the other. I think our role be it here or in Cannes is to lift the creative bar. Our role is to filter the cream from the ordinary so there's a cross section of work that is inspiring to the people of the region; gives them targets to aspire to in terms of improving great creativity. The key to that is not just about showing the creative community the ability of great creativity to cut through. It's also about showing the marketing directors and the brand managers that sometimes you have to take risks in an area which is an industry that is procurement driven. Creativity is still the great differentiator which is not driven by procurement."

To the west, advertising in the Middle East might seem to be restricted by certain cultural mores and standards but Savage does not see that as an obstacle.

"Great creativity is about thinking outside of the square. In certain cultures there are restrictions that you have to work with but the mindset is that that can give you opportunities as well. In fact it's an even greater reason why standards have to be lifted because you do have the opportunities within the culture that you operate in to be creative."

And the advertising industry is not that old especially if judged against the fact that the Cannes Lions are now in their fifties. But once again Savage sees no problem.

"It's quite clear to us that the centres of excellence are increasing. We can no longer just assume that all the award winners are just going to come out of London, New York or Hamburg. Increasingly we're seeing awards going to countries all over the world and I see no reason why that should not happen in this region. Lynx give us the opportunity to reflect the cultural values within the creative output and it helps confidence in terms of the cultural values in that output. Thailand is one of the creative powerhouses (in terms of advertising) in the world. In ten years they've come from nowhere to achieve that. Part of that process has been reflecting their unique cultural values which have created new, fresh and original ways to look at work which appeals globally and not just in the local market. I think our greatest hope is that within the next five years we will sit back and have the same sort of view as it relates to the work that we see at Dubai Lynx."