Bring on 2010 PR Lions

As we PR consultancy folk continue to fret over the minimal number of PR agency-originted campaigns that either made the short-list or won a PR Lion, let's not forget that it was our first year in the fray.  And that practised ad agencies have had 55 years to perfect an approach to winning Lions.  Having witnessed Saturday night's Titanium and Integrated Lions Awards, I'm actually surprised that the PR Jury were not bombarded with a few more campaigns that seemed to have originated in PR thinking but which were not from PR firms.

Should we be flattered that the ad industry has finally decided that PR has come of age, enough to be included in the Lions?  Or perhaps, since their thinking is increasingly holistic - sometimes(!), they deemed PR-originated ideas as more viable in today's challenging market?

Never fear though.  There are many ad agencies who still don't get it; who still do not understand that PR is more than just a theme or slogan; and who still don't understand that PR is a two-way conversation which aims to build relationships, harness influence and generally 'participate' with its audiences.

That bodes well for 2010, but it's incumbent on all 2009 PR Jury members to spread the word across their countries and parent groups if applicable.  We only had 431 entries, and although the submissions came from 48 countries, some markets were under-represented given the size of the PR business in those countries - namely the UK with 55 entries and the US with just 46.  Some countries like India and China were hardly present.  Learly there's a job to be done in promoting the Cannes PR Lions as the pre-eminent global awards for the PR profession alongside the others.  More PR consultancies and their clients should actively participate in 2010, and perhaps we should even think about spreading our wings into other categories.  Sagami Industries' Love Distance campaign, a PR Lion, also won a Film Gold Lion, and The Great Schlep, also a PR Lion, won Titanium.  And there were other examples of multiple Lions for other PR Lions earlier in the week.

I look forward to 2010 when hopefully the PR profession takes the Cannes Lions just as seriously as the 2009 PR Jury did.  And I hope to see you there - Cannes Lions Festival on 20-26 June, 2010.