A decade after its peak, Cannes Lions entries are down 38 percent

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity received 26,900 award submissions for its 2025 edition, a marginal increase of less than 1 percent from the previous year. While overall growth remained tepid, several categories registered strong gains.

Award categories that posted growth reflect shifting priorities within the advertising and marketing industries. The Strategy Track — which includes Creative Strategy and Creative Effectiveness — notched its fifth consecutive year of expansion, rising 10 percent. The Glass: Lion for Change, now in its 10th year, saw submissions surge 53 percent, indicating a broader industry commitment to tackling systemic and intersectional social issues.

Design Lions entries climbed 17 percent following a redefinition of the category to spotlight strategic and behavioral design. Submissions in Creative B2B rose 13 percent, while the Entertainment Lions for Sport increased by 15 percent, underscoring how creativity is increasingly driving performance in traditionally metrics-heavy sectors.

The newly broadened Social & Creator Lions drew strong interest, with 18 percent of entries coming from new sub-categories focused on influencer marketing and creator-led campaigns.

“The submissions this year reveal a shift in how creativity is being harnessed for meaningful change for both business and society,” said Marian Brannelly, global director of awards at Cannes Lions. “We’re seeing record growth in categories that demand measurable impact — whether that’s design thinking reshaping user experiences or strategic work tied to tangible business results. The data reflects an industry in transition, embracing creator-driven models, independent agency innovation, and a deeper focus on social relevance and transformation.”

Read more: Cannes Lions sees global surge in creativity - but no mention of India in growth narrative

Independent advertising agencies contributed significantly to the festival’s entry pool, with submissions from indie shops climbing 18 percent year over year. The rise comes amid growing sentiment that independent firms offer greater creative freedom and job security than larger holding companies such as WPP or Omnicom.

Still, the modest uptick in entries masks a broader contraction in the festival’s scale. Submissions remain 38 percent below their 2016 peak of 43,101 entries, a decline shaped by changing industry priorities, rising entry fees, awards program structure, retired categories, a pandemic and growing skepticism toward the value of awards.

India has submitted 982 entries to the 2025 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, continuing an upward trend from 826 entries in 2024. The previous years saw 806 submissions in 2023, 921 in 2022, 699 during the combined 2020/21 cycle, and 1,053 in 2019 — the last pre-pandemic peak.