The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has introduced a two-stage judging process to the Media Lions category.

A first round of voting to determine the shortlist will be done by a group of 40 media specialists from around the world. Judges from the first group have not yet been announced.  The group will meet in Cannes, spending three days judging in eight sub-groups of five people. One of the five members in each sub-group will be part of the awarding jury. Jack Klues, Chairman, Vivaki has been named as the jury president and will spend time with each of the sub-groups, but will not vote during the first round.

The second voting stage will see the shortlist judged by the Awarding Jury made up of the eight media industry members and Klues, the jury president. Over another three days they will vote on the shortlist, discuss and award the Grand Prix, Gold, Silver and Bronze Media Lions. The Awarding Jury will be comprised of the following members:

– Jack Klues, Chairman, Vivaki – Jury President
– Cheuk Chiang, CEO Asia Pacific, OMG
– Doug Ray, global president, Carat
– Jim Elms, CEO, Initiative Worldwide
– Dominique Delport, Chairman and CEO, Havas Media
– Melanie Varley, global CSO, MEC Global
– Richard Dunmall, global CEO, Naked Communications
– Jim Vail, president, RJ Palmer, USA
– Masaki Mikami, corporate officer, Hakuhodo-DY Media Partners, Japan

Judging of the Media Lions will be based on: Insight, strategy and the idea (35%), media execution (30%) and results and effectiveness (35%).

“Winning a Lion is one of the highest recognitions in the industry and can be life-changing both for the individuals winning the award and for their company,” said Terry Savage, Chairman of Lions Festivals in a release. “We constantly consult with industry leaders and review the feedback from our jury presidents and jury members to ensure that our categories reflect changes in the industry and that our judging procedures uphold the huge honour of winning a Lion.”

The Festival has also announced changes to the Media Agency of the Year award, which can now only be won by a media agency that accumulates the most points in Media Lions. Advertising agencies and other agencies can compete and win Media Lions, but they can’t compete for the Media Agency of the Year Award.

Entries are now open for the 2013 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The Festival takes place from June 16 to 22.