Amidst chatter by Indian agency heads about the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity prioritising diversity targets over picking the correct jurors, Simon Cook, CEO, Lions, rubbished those claims stating that the jury is selected to represent society and not the industry.

In a chat with Manifest, he said, "Wow, that's something we have not heard. We want our jury to represent society rather than reflect the industry. So, we must have the right mix on every jury. That means we could have people who have won many Lions and have been in the industry for many years, but we also need to cater to other voices who have lived other experiences and that might mean younger people or people who have never judged awards before. The nature of the work is changing, so you need an increasingly diverse mix of people to judge it."

"So, it includes very senior and seasoned creatives, marketers and younger people. We have categories like ‘Social and Influencer’ and every person on that jury is not only bringing experience but a specialisation and a lived experience. It’s not just about the time spent in the industry or the Lions won, we have to consider several factors," he added.

Cook also stated that he's not worried about such claims.

"The comparison that I use is – over 10 years ago when we decided we would have gender parity on our juries, we had the exact concern. People raised doubts about having women on the jury who weren’t qualified. I don’t think anyone’s saying that anymore," said Cook.

Read our full interview with Cook in which we discuss India as a market and its performance at Cannes in the July issue of Manifest. Get your copy now!

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