• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, January 11, 2016

More new Lions—and some rejiggering of existing ones-- are coming to the Cannes International   Festival of Creativity this year.  This year’s festival runs from June 18 to 25.

The Press Lions are being rebranded the Print & Publishing Lions, while Lions for Digital Craft are being split off from the Cyber and Mobile Lions. Also Product Design Lions are being expanded.

The changes, announced Monday, follow word from the Cannes organization last fall that it is launching a new awards program this year—Lions Entertainment that issue two sets of awards, for Entertainment and Music.

The Press Lions were added nearly 25 years ago. Commenting on the rebranding, Simon Cook Director of Awards, Lions Festivals, said, This is an award that’s been with us since 1992. By renaming it the Print & Publishing Lions, we are evolving the category, just as the print and publishing world itself is evolving, to recognise other forms of publishing, along with best uses of press and interactive press.”

Commenting on the splitting out of Digital Craft, Terry Savage, Chairman, Lions Festivals, said, “The Cyber and Mobile Lions juries have told us that with more and more UX and Craft focused entries, it is necessary to have experts in this field sitting on the jury. We’ve chosen to split it out so that this specialist area can have its own dedicated jury, which will also make the hugely labour intensive Cyber Lions judging much more manageable going forward.”

Product Design Lions will evolve for 2016 with expanded and redefined categories that recognize “the importance of the product as both a medium and brand embodiment,” the organization said, with new additions including Service & Interactive Design for Products.

Also, the Titanium & Integrated Lions are being separated, with Titanium and Integrated now being judged as standalone Lions.

And the Festival is adding a new suite of Experience Design categories to the Design Lions and an expanded Social section, while the Outdoor Lions grow to include a large Digital Outdoor section.