Cannes Lions agrees to make site free to under-30s creatives

The organizers of Cannes Lions have agreed to make access to its website section displaying creative campaigns free to members of the advertising industry under the age of 30 after a creative duo began an alternative site linking through to all of this year's winning work in protest. The Lions membership section named Love The Work.com will be free to access for younger members of the industry after creatives Quynh Tran—a creative intern at BETC Paris, Publicis Italy, and now Innocean Berlin—and Toan Mai, who has held trainee posts as an intern at Memac Ogilvy Dubai, created their own microsite linking through to freely available case studies to this year’s Cannes Lions winners in protest at the fee. The organizers of the annual advertising festival were forced to make it an entirely online event this year due to Covid-19 restrictions, including the awards—having cancelled those entirely in 2020 due to the pandemic. A new element of the Lions offer has included the introduction of an annual online membership fee to access case studies and interviews of the award winners. 'Cash-strapped' young creatives need access Those who wish to join as members to Lions and access the website must contact the organizer to request pricing, with plans set around the specific plan for the purchasing team. However, the young duo—who are both in their early 20s—overcame the need to pay for a subscription by creating a simple spreadsheet featuring links to more than 300 case studies, which they named lovetheworkmore.com in protest. “It bugged us to think about how many cash-strapped and hungry creatives out there are going through the same hardship,” Quynh told Adweek when the site first went live. In response, they saw over 60,000 people visit their site to explore the winning work for free. Following discussions around the removal of their site, organizers have now agreed with Quynh and Toan that there should be free access to younger members of the industry to help them develop their abilities. How Cannes Lions Aims to Provide Networking and Idea Sharing at This Year's Festival Simon Cook, managing director of Lions, told Adweek he wished to commend the pair on how they took this year’s winners to a wider audience and underlined the organization’s commitment to future talent and “bringing creative inspiration to everyone in the business of creativity.” He added: “The Cannes Lions winners will be free to view on The Work for all University students and Young Lions under 30. The next generation of talent is such an important part of our community and by making the winners available we hope to inspire and support them on their journeys to creative excellence." A goal half met Quynh added that only half of the original goal had been met so far. The original idea was to make the creative work accessible to everyone, irrespective of their age, and the pair offered their view that it was not correct to assume that people over 30 would be able to afford to pay the subscription fee either. “Having said that, we’re half-glad we’ve achieved something meaningful, not just for the industry we love but also for ourselves,” Quynh added. The Work covers over 200,000 campaigns from the decades of award winners throughout the history of Cannes Lions, and is used as a research tool by agencies looking to draw on its data and creative case studies. Once the free-to-access element is introduced by Lions, lovetheworkmore.com will be altered to feature a manifesto that explained the compromise that was reached on the homepage. 'Young creatives should make a stand' “Nobody is too small to make a difference and I think this one worked out pretty nicely in our case,” explained Quynh in response to the decision. Toan added that anyone can take a stand and make a change: “We hope that kind of attitude will inspire other young creatives to go all-in at the beginning of their career and do what they believe the most," he said. "Don’t get held back because someone’s bigger and more powerful than you. If you do it right then millions of people will get your back and support you. You’re not alone.”

Cannes Lions

Cannes Lions Submits to Lovetheworkmore Creative Duo to Make Site Free to Under 30s

Young Vietnamese creative duo Quynh Tran and Toan Mai have been in negotiations with organizers for weeks

Stephen Lepitak

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Stephen Lepitak