Following the cancellation of this year’s ceremony due to COVID-19, winners for both 2020 and 2021 will be announced in June next year The invitation for entries has opened earlier than usual to give brands and agencies more time to prepare their submissions RIYADH: The advertising industry’s gold standards awards, Cannes Lions, are now open for entries. Following the cancellation of this year’s ceremony due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, winners for both 2020 and 2021 will be announced in June next year. The invitation for entries has opened earlier than usual to give brands and agencies more time to prepare their submissions. In order for an entry to qualify for the 2020 awards, the campaign or ad should have been aired, implemented, or released to the public for the first time between March 2019 and May 2020, while entries for 2021 should feature campaigns or ads aired, implemented, or released to the public for the first time between June 2020 and April 2021. Cannes Lions is also launching a new award called the Creative Business Transformation Lions. “This Lion celebrates the expanding role of creativity and the breadth of new creative approaches that are now being used to create value and drive competitive advantage alongside traditional brand communications,” the company said in a statement. Additionally, there are changes to the Creative Effectiveness Lion and the PR Lions to better reflect the industry. The Creative Effectiveness Lion for 2021 has been updated to “accurately reflect the new language of effectiveness, variety of measurable results, and breadth of work driving business impact and commercial success” by taking principles from the Creative Effectiveness Ladder created by Cannes Lions and WARC. The PR Lions are being refreshed to “focus on the areas of creative work that the industry wants to be recognized for today.” This follows research that Cannes Lions undertook with PR specialists around the world, “to better understand their unique challenges and perspectives.” The deadline for entries is April 15, 2021.