Gold House, the leading cultural ecosystem that unites, invests in, and champions Asian Pacific creators and companies, has been named the official non-profit partner for the 2024 U.S. Young Lions competition, according to National CineMedia (NCM), the U.S. representative for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
In addition, the U.S. jury for the Young Lions competition has been announced.
Gold House is featured in the 2024 Young Lions competition brief for digital, film, media, PR and print categories. The competition is available to young professionals born on or after June 21, 1993. The winning teams will receive round-trip airfare and lodging to represent the country as Team USA at the live global competitions taking place at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity from June 17-21.
Participants will be tasked with crafting a campaign that will propel Gold House’s A100 List to new heights, with a special focus on capturing Gen Z audiences around the list and the Gold Gala.
“Creativity comes from anywhere, anytime. The Cannes Young Lions competition serves as a remarkable stage with the world’s most heralded creative festival for the next-now generation to showcase their ideas, talent, and culture. We’re honored to partner with such a collaborative creative platform as we power a stronger tomorrow for all—together,” said Prabal Gurung, designer & Gold House board director and co-founder in a statement.
Gold House created the A100 to spotlight the Asian Pacific leaders who are at the forefront of culture. It distills the most impactful contributions that Asian Pacific activists, creatives, business leaders, creators, fashion icons, journalists, athletes, and more have made on American society and beyond. Through the brief, Gold House is committed to implementing at least one competition team’s campaign idea to support their A100 marketing strategy this spring.
“The Asian Pacific community is the fastest-growing racial group in the United States, yet we have been vastly underpresented and grossly misrepresented in mainstream media. Gold House created the A100 to directly combat this history of pernicious stereotypes and erasure from the cultural zeitgiest by showing the world the undeniably impactful brillance and joy of our community. We’re honored to partner with NCM and the most creative young minds in the US Young Lions competition to expand the reach and influence of the A100,” said Rose Yan, vice president of marketing at Gold House in a statement.
This year NCM is further developing the Young Lions community and competition experience with increased programming and networking opportunities. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is now the official Young Lions jury networking partner. The partnership will integrate the IAB into the Cannes Lions experience and bring NCM and Young Lions jurors to the 2024 IAB NewFronts this spring for a conversation on creativity and digital content. In addition, all jurors will be invited to the IAB NewFronts cocktail reception co-sponsored by NCM on behalf of the Young Lions competition.
IPG agency Initiative is also on board as an official Young Lions event partner and will host the Team USA winners announcement party in April. Delta Air Lines recently came on as the first ever travel sponsor for the Young Lions competition. Additionally, a new mentorship program, featuring webinars from The Coca-Cola Company, Spotify, and Mother, among other leading agencies and brands, is now live for Young Lions community members, including all new 2024 registrants, jurors and sponsors.
“Two years ago, we committed to building out the Young Lions competition brand and experience. We recognized the power of NCM’s young, diverse Gen Z audience and how it aligns so perfectly with the next generation of creative leaders. Our goal has been to diversify and expand the ad industry’s involvement and deepen the value we provide to the robust and dynamic community of young creative professionals in the US,” said Amy Tunick, chief marketing officer at NCM in a statement.
NCM will again be displaying an in-cinema spot from FCB highlighting Team USA in its network of theaters across the country in June including AMC, Regal, Cinemark, and 37 additional affiliates.
The 2024 jury features a lengthy list of senior agency and brand leaders across the industry, including those from Hyundai, Digitas, Grey Group, Meta, Innocean, Colle McVoy, UM, Columbia Sportswear, McCann, LinkedIn and many others. See the full list at the NCM website.