LIONS, the parent organisation of Cannes Lions, Effie, WARC and Contagious, is rolling out a new global model built around regional platforms in North America, APAC and MENA – designed to give creative and marketing communities year-round access to its intelligence, learning programmes and networks, tailored to local markets. Cannes Lions stays the anchor of the ecosystem and the global benchmark for creative excellence.
In North America, LIONS debuts Insight to Impact in Denver this October, shifting to Nashville from 2027. It merges Informa’s TMRE and Content Marketing World with LIONS’ own expertise, and from 2027 will fold in VidCon x LIONS Creators as VidCon joins the LIONS family.
The bigger APAC news: Spikes Asia will be rebranded as LIONS Asia in September 2027, continuing its Haymarket Asia partnership while introducing the Asia Lions Awards alongside LIONS’ broader community and intelligence offerings.
MENA gets its own platform too – LIONS Riyadh launches in December 2027 with partners Tahaluf and Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Media, alongside a planned alliance with Athar and the existing Dubai Lynx tie-up.
CEO Simon Cook framed the shift as making LIONS’ resources more locally accessible without diluting Cannes Lions’ centrality, while SVP Thea Skelton stressed the goal isn’t replicating Cannes elsewhere but deepening year-round regional engagement.
The 74th Cannes Lions Festival returns in June 2027.
