The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has received 26,900 entries for its 2025 edition, marking a slight year-over-year increase of less than 1 per cent. While the overall rise is marginal, several award categories recorded significant growth, highlighting evolving priorities within the global advertising and marketing sectors.
Entries in the Strategy Track, which includes Creative Strategy and Creative Effectiveness, rose by 10 per cent, continuing a five-year streak of growth. The Glass: Lion for Change, which celebrates work addressing systemic and intersectional social issues, experienced the sharpest rise, with submissions increasing by 53 per cent as it marks its 10th anniversary.
Design Lions entries increased by 17 per cent, following a redefinition of the category to focus more on strategic and behavioural design. Creative B2B and Entertainment Lions for Sport also saw notable growth, rising 13 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively. These gains reflect a growing emphasis on creativity’s role in driving results in performance-focused sectors.
The newly expanded Social & Creator Lions category also drew strong interest, with 18 per cent of its entries stemming from new sub-categories centred on influencer marketing and creator-led campaigns.
Marian Brannelly, global director of awards at Cannes Lions, said this year’s submissions indicate a shift in how creativity is being applied. “We’re seeing record growth in categories that demand measurable impact — whether that’s design thinking reshaping user experiences or strategic work tied to tangible business results,” she said. “The data reflects an industry in transition, embracing creator-driven models, independent agency innovation, and a deeper focus on social relevance and transformation.”
Independent agencies contributed substantially to this year’s entry volume, with submissions from indie firms increasing by 18 per cent compared to 2024. The trend aligns with rising sentiment that independent shops provide greater creative autonomy and job security than large holding companies like WPP or Omnicom.
Despite these gains, the total number of submissions remains significantly below historical highs. This year’s entries are still 38 per cent lower than the 2016 peak of 43,101. The decline over the years has been shaped by a mix of factors, including shifting industry priorities, rising entry costs, structural changes to the awards program, discontinued categories, the COVID-19 pandemic, and growing scepticism around the value of industry awards.
India submitted 982 entries this year, continuing a steady post-pandemic climb. The country entered 826 works in 2024, 806 in 2023, 921 in 2022, and 699 during the combined 2020/21 cycle. India’s highest pre-pandemic participation came in 2019 with 1,053 entries.