Cannes Lions 2025 Sees Flat Growth, Traditional Categories Slide

Published on June 16, 2025

Snapshot
Award submissions to the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity crept up by less than 1% in 2025, totaling 26,900—well below the 2016 peak of over 43,000. Despite the stagnation, categories like Design, Creative B2B, and Entertainment Lions for Sport experienced double-digit entry growth. The Glass Lion, which expanded its focus to broader social inequality, saw a notable 53% increase in submissions.

Cannes Lions award director Marian Brannelly described this year’s entries as evidence that creativity is being increasingly directed toward measurable business and societal impact.

Independent agencies made a strong showing, with submissions rising 18%, coinciding with higher morale and perceived job security compared to holding company shops.

However, longstanding categories like Print & Publishing continued their slide, with entries down from 3,777 in 2016 to just 734 in 2024. The awards’ evolving structure—adding modern categories like Creative Ecommerce and phasing out legacy ones—hasn’t yet reversed overall declines.

High entry fees, with top-tier awards like Titanium costing €2,765 ($3,200), may also be a deterrent. Cannes Lions itself acknowledges that newer, future-facing categories garner far fewer submissions than their traditional counterparts. While some see the shift as a necessary evolution, the numbers show a festival still navigating its place in a rapidly changing creative industry.

Full story: ADWEEK

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