BBDO, Zenith and ServicePlan win special awards as festival celebrates creative excellence DUBAI: Dubai Lynx International Festival of Creativity has announced the winners of the latest edition at its first live awards ceremony since 2019. Philip Thomas, chairman of Lions and Dubai Lynx, said: “We have seen examples of outstanding creativity from our winners and they have set the benchmark for creative excellence in MENA while providing an insight into the region’s current industry landscape.” The advertiser of the year award went to IKEA, which also won the grand prix in the industry craft category. Other special awards include network of the year, which went to BBDO Worldwide; media network of the year, which went to Zenith; MENA agency of the year, which went to Impact BBDO Dubai, and independent agency of the year, which was awarded to ServicePlan Middle East, Dubai. The Glass Award for Change celebrating “culture-shifting creativity” went to Impact BBDO Dubai for its campaign “Despair No More” for TENA. Entrants in the category were required to demonstrate ideas intended to change the world, and include work that addressed issues of gender inequality or prejudice. The grand prix for good award was introduced to reward work for nonprofit organizations and charities. Agencies could not enter a campaign directly in this category; entries from other categories became eligible if they were awarded a gold or equivalent Lynx award, and were created for a nonprofit organization or charity. A jury panel then judged them separately. The award went to TBWA\RAAD Dubai for its campaign “The Macabre Dictionary of Virginity Testing” for MALI (Alternative Movement for Individual Liberties). Full list of winners here: https://www2.dubailynx.com/winners/2022/