Well, what took so long? The Cannes Lions organizers are slowly unfurling their list of jury presidents for the 2012 event and the first of the 15 announced is a man they call “Mayan,” or as he’s known officially, Lo Sheung Yan, who is currently serving as JWT’s ECD, Northeast Asia/chairman, China. As mentioned, Mayan’s appointment marks the first time the Cannes committee has selected a Chinese jury president. It couldn’t come at a better time, we suppose, seeing as the JWT exec led China to its first-ever Grand Prix at the 2011 Cannes Lions for the Samsonite press ad dubbed “Heaven and Hell.”
Mayan, who will lead the Outdoor jury at Cannes 2012, has been with JWT for 15 years and helped the agency’s Asia-Pacific network win top honors at Spikes and AdFest over the past few years. Perhaps his appointment to jury president will help bolster China’s standing at Cannes, seeing as it’s currently tied for 14th place with Canada as most awarded countries at the event.