LIONS evolves global model to bring its expertise closer to creative and marketing communities worldwide
Regional platforms across North America, APAC, and MENA will provide greater year-round access to LIONS’ intelligence, learning, benchmarks, and global community
16 September 2026 - LIONS, home of Cannes Lions, Effie, WARC, and Contagious, is evolving its global model to bring more of its intelligence, learning, benchmarks, and networks closer to creative and marketing communities around the world.
Through a connected programme of regional platforms across North America, APAC, and MENA, LIONS will provide greater year-round access to the evidence, skills, and connections that help businesses build stronger creative and marketing capability – shaped around the cultural and commercial realities of each market.
Cannes Lions will remain the centre of the LIONS ecosystem: the place where the global industry comes together and the international benchmark for creative excellence is recognised. Regional platforms will complement Cannes Lions by making more of LIONS’ expertise accessible throughout the year, while creating stronger connections between local communities and the global stage.
Simon Cook, CEO, LIONS, said: “For more than 70 years, Cannes Lions has set the global benchmark for creative excellence, bringing together the world’s creative marketing community in an unparalleled concentration of people, disciplines, cultures, and ideas.
“We know, however, that access to evidence, skills and networks that help businesses produce effective, creatively excellent work remains uneven. We’re evolving our global model to make more of what LIONS knows is useful closer to where people work, while keeping Cannes Lions as the place where the world comes together.
“These platforms will be built with local communities, not simply for them. The exchange works both ways: global expertise becomes more relevant locally, while regional talent, work, and perspectives help shape what the industry encounters at Cannes Lions.”
North America
Insight to Impact debuts in Denver in October 2026 before moving to Nashville in 2027, bringing together Informa’s TMRE: The Market Research Event and Content Marketing World with expertise from across LIONS, including WARC, Contagious and Effie. The platform will connect consumer understanding, marketing effectiveness and creativity for the North American market. A major milestone in the evolution of the North American offering is VidCon – the world's largest celebration of digital culture and its creators – joining the LIONS family. From 2027, VidCon x LIONS Creators will become part of the Insight to Impact Festival, reflecting the increasingly central role the creator economy plays in how brands, audiences, and culture connect.
Asia-Pacific
After almost four decades of championing creativity across Asia-Pacific, Spikes Asia will evolve into LIONS Asia in September 2027, in continued partnership with Haymarket Asia. Featuring the Asia Lions Awards, the platform will combine Spike’s Asia’s regional heritage with LIONS intelligence, learning and community programmes. Programming will be shaped with communities across the region, ensuring Asia-Pacific's distinct perspectives and innovations help shape the global conversation on creative marketing excellence.
Middle East and North Africa
In December 2027, LIONS Riyadh will be introduced in partnership with Tahaluf – a joint venture between Informa PLC, SAFCSP and EIF – and the Ministry of Media. LIONS Riyadh will serve the local creative and marketing community by providing access to global benchmarks, intelligence, and learning, while creating opportunities for local talent and work to connect with the wider international industry. The platform is intended to include a strategic alliance with Athar, run by LIONS’ partner Motivate Media Group, complementing the established Dubai Lynx partnership across the region.
Year-Round Connection
As LIONS develops it presence internationally, its regional platforms will operate according to the principles that underpin the LIONS brand globally, including the independence and integrity of its Awards and the standards expected by the international community.
The regional model extends beyond Festivals and Awards. LIONS already delivers learning and community-led programmes around the world, including locally developed Brand Marketer Academy programmes in North America, and the CMO Accelerator City Editions across five global cities, and See it Be it Connect programmes around the world.
Thea Skelton, SVP LIONS Festivals, said: “Global expertise is most valuable when it connects meaningfully with local context. We will work with partners and creative communities in each market to determine what is most useful locally, while bringing this evidence, expertise, and international perspective that exists across LIONS. It is not our intention to replicate Cannes Lions around the world. It’s about making LIONS more useful throughout the year and creating stronger connections between regional communities and the global stage.”
Further details on each regional platform, including programming, participation and partnerships, will be announced with local partners in the coming days.
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity will return in June 2027, bringing the global creative community together for its 74th edition.
Further information can be found at www.lions.co.
ENDS
Assets:
Logos to be used for your reporting can be found here.
Contacts:
Camilla Lambert
PR Director
LIONS
Camillal@canneslions.com
Tash Naidoo
Senior PR Manager
LIONS
Tashn@canneslions.com
Press Portal:
press.canneslions.com
Notes to editors:
About LIONS
LIONS is the global platform that champions creativity and marketing effectiveness for growth. We help businesses grow through creative marketing that matters
We know that creativity can and should be applied across the full marketing mix. Creativity is an impactful business driver - and when it's integrated with a culture of effectiveness, it's a competitive advantage.
Backed by over 150 years of experience and evidence, Cannes Lions, WARC, Effie, Contagious and Acuity - provides the global marketing industry with the definitive benchmarks, intelligence, training and tailored advice needed to grow.
LIONS is part of Informa PLC.
www.lions.co
About Informa
Informa PLC is a leading international B2B events, digital services and academic research group.
We champion specialists. Through hundreds of market-leading brands, we connect people with knowledge so they can learn more, know more and do more.
We operate in over 30 countries and serve businesses and professionals working in over a dozen specialist markets.
Informa is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a member of the FTSE 100.
www.informa.com
Through a connected programme of regional platforms across North America, APAC, and MENA, LIONS will provide greater year-round access to the evidence, skills, and connections that help businesses build stronger creative and marketing capability – shaped around the cultural and commercial realities of each market.
Cannes Lions will remain the centre of the LIONS ecosystem: the place where the global industry comes together and the international benchmark for creative excellence is recognised. Regional platforms will complement Cannes Lions by making more of LIONS’ expertise accessible throughout the year, while creating stronger connections between local communities and the global stage.
Simon Cook, CEO, LIONS, said: “For more than 70 years, Cannes Lions has set the global benchmark for creative excellence, bringing together the world’s creative marketing community in an unparalleled concentration of people, disciplines, cultures, and ideas.
“We know, however, that access to evidence, skills and networks that help businesses produce effective, creatively excellent work remains uneven. We’re evolving our global model to make more of what LIONS knows is useful closer to where people work, while keeping Cannes Lions as the place where the world comes together.
“These platforms will be built with local communities, not simply for them. The exchange works both ways: global expertise becomes more relevant locally, while regional talent, work, and perspectives help shape what the industry encounters at Cannes Lions.”
North America
Insight to Impact debuts in Denver in October 2026 before moving to Nashville in 2027, bringing together Informa’s TMRE: The Market Research Event and Content Marketing World with expertise from across LIONS, including WARC, Contagious and Effie. The platform will connect consumer understanding, marketing effectiveness and creativity for the North American market. A major milestone in the evolution of the North American offering is VidCon – the world's largest celebration of digital culture and its creators – joining the LIONS family. From 2027, VidCon x LIONS Creators will become part of the Insight to Impact Festival, reflecting the increasingly central role the creator economy plays in how brands, audiences, and culture connect.
Asia-Pacific
After almost four decades of championing creativity across Asia-Pacific, Spikes Asia will evolve into LIONS Asia in September 2027, in continued partnership with Haymarket Asia. Featuring the Asia Lions Awards, the platform will combine Spike’s Asia’s regional heritage with LIONS intelligence, learning and community programmes. Programming will be shaped with communities across the region, ensuring Asia-Pacific's distinct perspectives and innovations help shape the global conversation on creative marketing excellence.
Middle East and North Africa
In December 2027, LIONS Riyadh will be introduced in partnership with Tahaluf – a joint venture between Informa PLC, SAFCSP and EIF – and the Ministry of Media. LIONS Riyadh will serve the local creative and marketing community by providing access to global benchmarks, intelligence, and learning, while creating opportunities for local talent and work to connect with the wider international industry. The platform is intended to include a strategic alliance with Athar, run by LIONS’ partner Motivate Media Group, complementing the established Dubai Lynx partnership across the region.
Year-Round Connection
As LIONS develops it presence internationally, its regional platforms will operate according to the principles that underpin the LIONS brand globally, including the independence and integrity of its Awards and the standards expected by the international community.
The regional model extends beyond Festivals and Awards. LIONS already delivers learning and community-led programmes around the world, including locally developed Brand Marketer Academy programmes in North America, and the CMO Accelerator City Editions across five global cities, and See it Be it Connect programmes around the world.
Thea Skelton, SVP LIONS Festivals, said: “Global expertise is most valuable when it connects meaningfully with local context. We will work with partners and creative communities in each market to determine what is most useful locally, while bringing this evidence, expertise, and international perspective that exists across LIONS. It is not our intention to replicate Cannes Lions around the world. It’s about making LIONS more useful throughout the year and creating stronger connections between regional communities and the global stage.”
Further details on each regional platform, including programming, participation and partnerships, will be announced with local partners in the coming days.
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity will return in June 2027, bringing the global creative community together for its 74th edition.
Further information can be found at www.lions.co.
ENDS
Assets:
Logos to be used for your reporting can be found here.
Contacts:
Camilla Lambert
PR Director
LIONS
Camillal@canneslions.com
Tash Naidoo
Senior PR Manager
LIONS
Tashn@canneslions.com
Press Portal:
press.canneslions.com
Notes to editors:
About LIONS
LIONS is the global platform that champions creativity and marketing effectiveness for growth. We help businesses grow through creative marketing that matters
We know that creativity can and should be applied across the full marketing mix. Creativity is an impactful business driver - and when it's integrated with a culture of effectiveness, it's a competitive advantage.
Backed by over 150 years of experience and evidence, Cannes Lions, WARC, Effie, Contagious and Acuity - provides the global marketing industry with the definitive benchmarks, intelligence, training and tailored advice needed to grow.
LIONS is part of Informa PLC.
www.lions.co
About Informa
Informa PLC is a leading international B2B events, digital services and academic research group.
We champion specialists. Through hundreds of market-leading brands, we connect people with knowledge so they can learn more, know more and do more.
We operate in over 30 countries and serve businesses and professionals working in over a dozen specialist markets.
Informa is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a member of the FTSE 100.
www.informa.com
