Nine South African creative experts will be joining the 387 judges at this year’s 63rd Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, which will take place between 18 and 25 June. Together this esteemed panel, who will be judging categories ranging from Design Lions, to Film Lions, to Outdoor Lions to Media Lions – and many more, will decide who receives the glory and the privilege of a Cannes Lions award!
Nathan Reddy, Suhana Gordhan, Rob McLennan, Marc Taback, Emma Carpenter, Jonathan Beggs, Eoin Welsh, Fran Luckin and Jenny Glover will be the local talent joining a global network of top creatives.
Nathan Reddy
Chief Creative Officer & Founder of Grid Worldwide Branding and Design, Nathan, has established an outstanding track record over the last 20 years. Grid has become the most awarded brand driven Design Company in South Africa, Africa and the Middle East. Nathan began his career at FCB and then worked his way up through various agencies. He has worked with Sasol, Telkom, Liberty South Africa, BMW, Ster-Kinekor and FNB, Qatar, Brand South Africa among many other esteemed brands. Nathan’s greatest source of inspiration is the positive transformation of the South African design industry.
Suhana Gordhan
Creative Director at FCB Africa, Suhana is the creative lead on Famous Brands’ Wimpy and Coca-Cola South African. She entered the advertising industry in 2001 and has worked on some of the country’s much loved brands at agencies like Ogilvy, Black River FC and Net#work BBDO. She is passionate about the art of copywriting and loves parenting an idea. A Hindu, Suhana learned very quickly that there are no sacred cows in advertising, a learning that led to one of her accolades – a Loerie Grand Prix. She sits on both the Loeries Board and The Creative Circle Exco. Suhana also writes an opinion column about advertising and marketing for Business Day. She will be judging the Direct Lions.
Rob McLennan
Rob is the Creative Founding Partner of King James II and has spent 30 years as a creative in the South African advertising industry. He was also voted as South Africa’s top creative three times and has been voted in the top five for the last 10 years. After working in international networks such as Lowe Bull, JWT, FCB and Net#workBBDO, Rob started his own independent agency King James II. He has received numerous awards including two Cannes Lions Grand Prix and over 30 Cannes Lions awards. Rob is an Exco member of the Creative Circle and his new agency was voted as “agency to watch” by the Financial Mail. He will be judging the Film Lions.
Marc Taback
With over 20 years of experience in the industry, Marc leads Initiative Media South Africa as its CEO. He is responsible for overseeing strategy and direction of the company’s South Africa operation, which in 2015 experienced its most successful financial year to date ever. The company’s leading brands include SABMiller, Investec, H&M, AVIS, Starbucks and Adcock Ingram. Marc was named in The Media Online’s Top 40 Under 40 list in 2012 and has served as a jury member at both the African Cristal Festival and Dubai Lynx. He will be judging the Media Lions.
Emma Carpenter
Emma is currently Creative Director at Accenture Interactive South Africa and has over 17 years of experience in the digital industry. She graduated with a traditional degree in graphic design in 1999, but joined the design world in London where she spent seven years learning her craft. In 2007 she abandoned the cold, dark winters and moved to Ogilvy Cape Town, bringing with her international digital agency knowledge. Two years later, she joined the purely digital agency Quirk as the Creative Director, spending six years growing their creative department and leading specialist teams of designers and copywriters as well as judging on a number of local and international awards juries. Emma joined Accenture Interactive in 2015, working closely with Strategists and Service Designers to define and describe the needs of everyday humans. She sticks to the core principle that all design should be empathetic, relevant and intuitive. She will be judging the Mobile Lions.
Jonathan Beggs
After studying law in Durban, the Chief Creative Officer for Saatchi & Saatchi began his career in advertising at Ogilvy Johannesburg. He worked there for 13 years as a copywriter, Creative Director, board member and occasional office party DJ. He worked on iconic and awarded campaigns for clients like Coco-Cola, BP, Channel O, BBC, History Channel, Unilever, DSTV and Greenpeace. Jonathan has received many local and international awards and has served as a judge at the Loerie Awards, the LIAA, Creative Circle and Dubai Lynx. He will be judging the Print & Publishing Lions.
Eoin Welsh
Eoin started out writing toilet supply brochures and ended up as Chief Creative Officer of Havas Worldwide Johannesburg. Along the way, he upgraded to banks, mobile operators, beer, fashion and a bunch of other famous brands (taking nothing away from toilet supplies of course – everyone needs ‘em), graced the halls of such agencies as Y&R, Ogilvy, FCB, Lowe and King James, and won a decent amount of awards (including Cannes & Loeries). Adland aside, he has four great loves – his wife, daughter, guitars and Arsenal Football Club.
Fran Luckin
Fran is the Chief Creative Officer of Grey Africa and was named as one of the top 10 most influential people in South African advertising in The Annual. She has judged at every major marquee award festival, most of which she’s been awarded at herself. Her career spans two decades, where she has worked with advertising legends like John Hunt and Gerry Human. Prior to joining Grey Africa, she spent two years as the Executive Creative Director at digital agency Quirk, honing her digital storytelling skills. She is an executive committee member of South Africa’s Creative Circle. She will be judging the Outdoors Lions.
Jenny Glover
Executive Creative Director for TBWA/Hunt/Lascaris, Jenny began her career with a degree in law but has worked at most of the big agencies over the years. As a writer, she has been awarded metal internationally over 40 times, including 19 Cannes Lions, nine of which have been gold, as well as a rare Cannes Grand Prix. She has four D&AD Yellow Pencils as well as a tidy stash of local awards. Jenny sits on the Creative Circle Executive Board and has two daughters, who she says help her maintain her incredibly chic under-eye rings. She will be judging the Radio Lions.
“The judges chosen from South Africa this year are going to be playing such a significant role at the international festival – the Cinemark team is so excited for them. We are also thrilled that they will be rubbing shoulders with creative greats like Simon Pegg, Mindy Karling, Anna Wintour and David Copperfield. This year’s festival is going to be incredible,” says Tshireletso Yvonne Diogo, Marketing Manager and Account Executive of Media Sales for Cinemark.