FCB’s Coco Dowling + Hannah Watts and OMD’s Joshua Linton + Riley Birtwistle named winners of the 2024 Aotearoa Young Lions Competition

(L-R: Coco Dowling, Hannah Watts, Joshua Linton, Riley Birtwistle)

The winners of the 2024 Aotearoa Young Lions Competition were unveiled at AXIS Speaks 2024, marking another successful year of celebrating creativity and innovation in advertising and communications.

Coco Dowling and Hannah Watts from FCB New Zealand were named Gold winners of the Digital category, whilst Joshua Linton and Riley Birtwistle from OMD won Gold in the Media category. The four winners will head to Cannes Lions in June to compete on the global stage.

The Aotearoa Young Lions Competition serves as the official Cannes Lions Representative for New Zealand, offering young creatives the opportunity to showcase their skills on a global stage. This year’s competition saw a record-breaking number of entrants, with over 160 participants vying for victory in two categories: Media and Digital.

The Young Lions Competition, a part of the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, brings together over 60 countries from around the world to compete in local competitions, culminating in a global showdown in Cannes each June.

This year, the competition was made even more special with the collaboration of the Graeme Dingle Foundation, which provided briefs specific to elements of its offerings. Teams in both the Media and Digital categories had 48 hours to respond to these thought-provoking challenges.

In the Digital category, Dowling and Watts earned Gold, impressing the judges with their work “10 Second Calendar Invite. Harry Pfiszter and Max Taptiklis from Colenso BBDO claimed Silver for “Jumpsuit Battlepass” and Bronze went to Herman Ulberg and Robert Laking from DDB for their entry “Pre Thank You”.

In the Media category, Linton and Birtwistle clinched Gold for their work “Empathy Fee(t). Juliet Ede and Harry Chapman from OMD took home Silver for “Reflections | Whakaata” and Elsie Dineen and Jacob Williams from OMD and MBM secured Bronze for their campaign “KiwiSaver”.

The success of the competition wouldn’t have been possible without the generous sponsorship and support from category sponsors NZME and Stuff. Their contributions, including hosting briefing sessions and facilitating the winners’ trip to Cannes, were invaluable in making the competition a success.