Anahita Kheder, The Senior Vice President of Fremantle Media Middle East, is a Juror in the Entertainment Lions category.
Being a Juror
Cannes is the Oscars of the ad industry! I’m thrilled to be there as a juror and as part of the wider FremantleMedia team. I’m judging in the brand new Lions Entertainment awards, which marks the first time the Lions are bringing together brands, agencies and entertainment companies like ours to celebrate branded content. I’m looking forward to seeing many inspiring brand storytelling and to be part of the progression of branded content, which has struggled to be defined and recognized. There will be lots of great conversation around this and I hope to leave Cannes having moved the conversation on and awarded prizes to some truly fantastic creative work.
MENA @Cannes Lions
Work from this part of the world is new to the global awards scene, but branded content is itself an evolving sector of advertising so the two have a great opportunity to develop together. I can’t talk about specifics ahead of the Lions but there are some really interesting campaigns and projects coming out of the Middle East and Africa so it’s a region to watch. It goes without saying that I hope to see innovation and creativity, I want to see some really good examples of brands using their reach and authority to tell emotive stories across a range of platforms and in varying formats.
Way Forward
The big entertainment TV shows that we produce – ‘Idols’, ‘The X Factor’ and ‘Got Talent’ – have amazing, family-oriented storytelling built in so there’s lots of opportunities for brands to become part of the fabric of those existing stories. Conversely, there are so many opportunities for brands to take full control of campaigns by working with entertainment producers to create all kinds of different content for all kinds of platforms. The traditional 30-second spot is still a cornerstone but there are so many more opportunities today – from deeply engaged communities on digital platforms to branded prime time television.
