Cannes Lions Is Over. Didin’t win? Ask a better Question.

Every June, when Cannes Lions ends, many agencies return home empty-handed.

No wins.

No shortlists.

No Lions.

One question comes to mind:

"Should we enter Cannes again next year?"

But this is not always the right question to ask.

A better one is

"Where does this case have the greatest chance of winning?"

The Problem Is Not Cannes

When I joined Havas Media Network in 2015, a large portion of the awards budget was going to Cannes.

The ambition was there, but the results were not.

We won no Lions. We did not even make the shortlist. And because most of the budget was concentrated on Cannes, very little work was being entered elsewhere.

The issue was not Cannes itself.

The problem was treating Cannes as the automatic choice for every strong case.

The Shift That Changed Everything

Cannes is undoubtedly extraordinary.

It is also extremely competitive.

Only about 10% of entries make the shortlist, and an even smaller number win a Lion.

So yes, enter Cannes when your case truly fits Cannes.

But not every great case belongs there.

Some campaigns perform better at media festivals. Others work better in data, effectiveness, mobile, digital, regional or industry-specific competitions.

Festivals like Festival of Media, SMARTIES, The Internationalist Media Innovation Awards and Effie can give strong work visibility, points and momentum.

This shift changed everything for us.

Instead of asking whether to enter Cannes, we started asking where each case could win.

Over time, Havas Media grew from almost no international recognition in 2014 and 2015 to more than 80 international wins a year over my 10 years at Havas Media.

Several agencies also appeared regularly in the WARC Media 100 rankings.

The Lesson

A smart awards strategy is not about choosing Cannes or everything else.

It is about understanding where each case has the greatest chance to win, travel and build value.

Sometimes, the smartest path to Cannes starts somewhere else.