VMLY&R COMMERCE Global CEO Beth Ann Kaminkow Named Jury President for New Creative Commerce Lions

In light of the rapidly changing world of commerce, The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has officially announced a new category to their 2022 Lions lineup – Creative Commerce Lions with VMLY&R COMMERCE Global CEO Beth Ann Kaminkow named Jury President.  The new category marks the evolution of the Festival’s eCommerce Lions, celebrating the innovative and creative approach to commercial commerce, payment solutions and transactional journeys.  From entertainment commerce to social commerce to equitable commerce, the Creative Commerce Lions will celebrate and reward creativity that drives brand and commercial impact – across an end-to-end customer journey.

“Cannes Lions’ reimagination of the ecommerce category recognizes the disruptive power in commerce channels. What used to be considered below-the-line or thought of as lower-funnel, is quickly becoming the next great canvas for creativity and careers. As all channels collide around shopping and buying, and online merges with offline, creativity in commerce is now essential to delivering consumer experience, brand promise, and memorable engagement,” comments Beth Ann Kaminkow, CEO, VMLY&R COMMERCE. 

VMLY&R COMMERCE, long a front-runner in the bid to move Creative Commerce into the marketing zeitgeist, was instrumental in unveiling the term to the industry in 2019.  Since then, the agency has been at the forefront in changing the perception of commerce, moving it beyond a pure transaction.  Both Beth Ann Kaminkow and Global Creative Director Manuel Bordé were instrumental in working with Cannes Lions to craft the new category, recognizing the broad creative canvas in commerce channels to impact both commercial and consumer value. 

Manuel Bordé adds: “We had Effies.  We had Reggies.  Now we have a devoted Cannes Lions category – a new commerce award that measures equally creativity and commercial effectiveness for accelerating growth for marketers.  This is a brave change for Cannes Lions to take – one that will undoubtedly shape the future of our industry and talent – for years to come.”

Simon Cook, managing director, LIONS, said in the official Cannes Lions announcement, “We’ve broadened this Lion to reflect the different emerging areas of commerce. There was a noticeable shift across the work this year, commerce related entries were up 18%, and our juries identified emerging trends around ‘distributed commerce’, ‘equitable commerce’, and the proliferation of commerce more generally. Evolving the Commerce Lion is about keeping it relevant and in-line with a rapidly shifting landscape.”