News Limited announces Australian Young Lions Winners for 2011 – six heading to Cannes in June

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Matt-SWINBURNE-good-web.jpgScreen shot 2011-05-20 at 12.59.18 AM.jpgScreen shot 2011-05-22 at 10.07.26 PM.jpgNews Limited has announced the three winning teams across the Print, Cyber and Media categories of the 2011 Young Lions Competition.

Matt Swinburne (above left) and Mike Felix (above right) from Leo Burnett Sydney beat 18 other teams to take the top spot in the Print category, while Gene Brutty and Tim Seddon from The Brand Agency, Perth have won the Cyber category. Lachlan Williams from Razor Media Sydney and Jessica Woodford from 303 Group Perth have led the second round 24-hour brief challenge to take first place in the Media category.

It’s the second year in a row for Felix, who represented Canada in the 2010 Young Lions competition when he was based at Cossette West in Vancouver.

Both Felix and Swinburne are ext AUT Nerw Zealand graduates. AUT adschool graduates recently took out 1st and 2nd as winners of the 2011 NZ Cannes Young Print Lions competition thanks to Jennie Ko and Pip Perkins from DDB and second place team, Jono Aidney and Rob McDowell at Sugar.

Mat Baxter, UM CEO and Media panel chairman of judges, said: “Lachlan and Jessica had an enormously impressive grasp of the brief and managed to translate that understanding into a standout creative idea and communications strategy. Judging by their performance today, they’ll do Australia proud in Cannes.”

Mark Harricks, Executive Creative Director of JWT Sydney and chairman of the Print judging panel, added: “It was very important to the judges that the winning team show a confidence in their work as this will give them the best chance of winning at Cannes. The winning entry contained a strong insight that resonated with the judges. That, along with the simple and confident art direction, meant it was unanimously voted number one.”

Cyber panel chairman Tim Buesing, Creative Director Digital for Publicis Mojo, said: “What makes a jury happy is a simple idea, delivered with real interactivity and a professional finish. The winning team was right on the mark, and it’s great to see the growing number of Cyber entries, it means we can look forward to a new generation of digitally savvy creatives.”

All three briefs for the final round of competition were for The Alannah and Madeline Foundation (AMF), a national charity protecting children from violence and its devastating effects. The entrants were asked to develop a response within 24 hours for the AMF’s Buddy Week, which educates children, parents and children about bullying.

Rebecca Cowan, General Manager Marketing of the AMF, said: “The brief for the Young Lions final round competition has given us access to the hottest young talent in Australia, who developed some amazing creative and strategic ideas to further highlight the importance of Buddy Week.”

Winning teams will represent Australia at the 2011 Young Lions Competition in Cannes 19 to 25 June and will compete against an international field of Young Lions from around the world. The News Limited-sponsored Young Lions will receive return flights to Nice, accommodation and a Young Lions registration to the Cannes Festival with access to all the seminars, awards ceremonies, showcases and the Young Lions party.

News Limited Director of Sales Tony Kendall said: “In a fast-paced and competitive industry like ours, it’s important to foster young talent and the Young Lions competition provides the opportunity to compete against the best in the world in Cannes. It’s also rewarding to be able to support a charity organisation like the AMF who are doing such fantastic work for the benefit of children.

“The Young Lions competition has gone from strength to strength. This year we saw a record number of 266 entries from 72 different creative and media agencies, an increase of 44% from last year. We wish all the winners the best of luck in Cannes.”

To be crowned winners, teams in each category competed in two rounds of competition with the intense second round format of a 24-hour brief challenge simulating the Cannes Young Lions format. With 42 judges involved in assessing the entries, it was a rigorous process designed to find the strongest teams nationally across all three categories and best prepare them for their experience in Cannes.

The winning submissions in the Print and Cyber categories along with the finalist entries can be viewed on the OzCannes website.