2010 marks the seventh year that The Globe and Mail served as the official Cannes Lions Canadian representative. It's a role we're extremely proud of, and one we take very seriously.

The Globe is committed to supporting Canadians at Cannes, whether they're seasoned veterans or wide-eyed first-timers. And naturally, when it comes to cheering for entrants, we're at the front of the line.



We are proud to announce that Paul Lavoie from TAXI will be leading the Radio Lions Jury. When asked to comment on his appointment, Paul said, "I'm looking forward to Chairing the 2010 Cannes Lions Radio jury. Radio is the ultimate test of a copywriter's craft. In our digital world we are served imagery and visual effects with greater and greater realism, yet radio still rivals with the power to stimulate our imagination and make those experiences personal and intimate. Winning a Radio Lion is an accolade like no other; its merit is all idea and no artifice."

RADIO JURY PRESIDENT: Paul Lavoie, Chairman, TAXI

In 1992, Paul Lavoie co-founded TAXI with partner Jane Hope, successfully combining the disciplines of advertising and design. Growing into seven offices in Canada, the U.S., and Europe, and with an expanded product offering, TAXI remains independent and committed to its original vision. TAXI has been recognized in the industry for its fresh, unconventional approach, creating consistently strong brands for companies such as BMW/MINI, WestJet, Canadian Tire, Blue Shield of California, Pfizer VIAGRA, and TELUS.

TAXI has been named Agency of the Year by Canadian publications for eight years in the last decade and has been recognized as one of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies for the last seven years. Since arriving in the U.S. in 2005, TAXI garnered the AAAA Creative Excellence Award (<100 employees) in 2007, and again in 2008.

Marketing Magazine, in August 2008, named Lavoie one of the 10 most influential pioneers in Canadian marketing over the past century. In 2006, he was listed by Creativity magazine among the 50 most influential creative minds. That year, he also became the youngest inductee of the Canadian Marketing Hall of Legends. In 2007, Paul received the Spiess Award for lifetime achievement by the Canadian Bessies Awards.

Paul is the President of The Art Directors Club of New York's Advisory Board and a board member of the HEC Business School and the Virginia Commonwealth University Brandcenter.

As Canada's official representative, The Globe is also honoured to have been part of the 2010 selection committee for Cannes' Canadian jury, which includes some of the country's brightest talents.

This year's Canadian Cannes Lions judges are:

DESIGN: Louis Gagnon, Creative Director, Paprika Design
Louis Gagnon co-founded the Paprika design firm in 1991 in Montreal. Since then, Gagnon’s work as creative director has followed the same path--one of rationality, intelligence, balance and elegance. At home and abroad, his style is in a class by itself, winning over 500 awards for excellence from national and international competitions. Not only high quality but also the sheer consistency of this outstanding record reflects the never-ending quest for essence, refinement and beauty that is so characteristic of Paprika. A number of the agency’s most accomplished projects are even in the permanent collections of the Musée National des Beaux-Arts in Quebec City and the Denver Art Museum.

Louis Gagnon has been teaching at the École de design à l’Université du Québec à Montréal since 2005. He is a frequent guest speaker at conferences and has served on the juries of numerous competitions, including Communication Arts, the Adobe Design Achievement Awards, the Art Directors’ Club of New York, Nuar’s and others.

FILM: Alan Gee, Creative Director, Chief Creative Officer, GJP Advertising & Design
Alan Gee's career spans nearly 30 years of creating award-winning advertising for a wide range of clients in the UK, Canada and the US. He has created and directed notable campaigns for everything from airlines to footwear, from cellular phones to banks and from fashion to insurance. His winning work and that of his agency’s has been seen in every media from print, outdoor, TV, design and interactive.

Alan’s career started in the UK, where he honed his craft as an art director before moving to Canada. After a number of years at multi-national agencies, he opened his own agency and has never looked back. Over the last two decades his agency’s work has won global accolades from: Cannes Lions, Clio Awards, The One Show, London International Awards, CA Magazine and D&AD, as well as many local Canadian awards.

Alan is active in the advertising community as a member of the ADCC, he also sits on the board of the ICA, The Globe & Mail’s Cannes advisory board and is a board member of the well known not-for-profit radio station JazzFM91.

As a judge, Alan has both chaired and served on local, national and international awards show committees and is a passionate promoter of great Canadian creative.

MEDIA: Fred Forster, President, PHD Canada
Mr. Forster has worked in the media services business for 25+ years in increasingly senior roles and became President of PHD Canada in 2002. PHD is among the country’s leading media management companies overseeing media strategy and investment for many of the Canada’s foremost advertisers including Unilever, Honda/Acura, Loblaw Companies, Hershey, Scotiabank, Home Hardware, Cirque du Soleil and Red Bull among others.

Under Mr. Forster’s leadership, PHD Canada has become is a recognized industry leader in media innovation and creativity. Over the past four years, PHD has garnered more than 60 awards for media creativity in Canada’s two major competitions--The Media Innovation Awards (Toronto) and PrixMedia (Montreal). PHD Canada was voted Global Agency Office of year runner up at the 2008 Festival of Media in Valencia, Spain.

Mr. Forster is active in the media industry and currently serves on the Boards of the Canadian Media Directors’ Council (CMDC) and the Institute of Communications Agencies (ICA).

CYBER: Dawna Henderson, President & CEO, Henderson Bas
Dawna brings 25 years of creative and business knowledge to her role as President & Chief Executive Creative Officer of henderson bas. Long considered an industry pioneer, she founded one of the first digital marketing agencies in the country in 1999. Her innovative thinking and deep understanding of the medium has attracted a blue chip client list that is envied within the Industry including Coca-Cola Ltd., ING Direct, Joe Fresh, Molson Canadian, Capital One, eBay, Nintendo, Mercedes-Benz, Nike, and Levis Strauss & Co. To honour the contribution of her early key clients to the development of the agency, Dawna immortalized them by including them in the name of the company. The bas in henderson bas actually stands for Beer (Molson), Apparel (Levis) & Shoes (Nike).

Her current responsibilities include leading henderson bas' strategic direction as well as overseeing dynamic campaigns that have produced unsurpassed results and recognition throughout the industry. As the most awarded interactive agency in Canada, henderson bas has been identified as a digital leader at global award shows such as Cannes, the London International Awards and the One Show Interactive Awards. Dawna has also been listed by Profit Magazine six years running as one of Canada's top 100 women entrepreneurs and is the only woman to own a pure play agency in Interactive for 18 years. Dawna’s career and experience contributed to her recognition by Strategy as one of the industry's marketing “Wonder Women”.

DIRECT: Brenda McNeilly, VP, Creative Director, Fuse Marketing
Brenda McNeilly is V.P. Creative Director for FUSE Marketing Group which she joined in 2006. She provides creative leadership on Tetley, Mercedes-Benz, RIM, Rogers, CIBC, Canadian Tire Retail, Interac, Sony, The Military Families Foundation, the Child Development Institute, Medcan and others. Brenda has played a key role in building and staffing FUSE’s talented and growing Creative Department, most notably through her involvement in mentoring programs with major colleges and universities including Sheridan, Ryerson, OCA, Centennial and Humber Colleges.

With a background in interactive, direct response and branding, Brenda touches all aspects of FUSE’s businesses from Experiential to Direct, Interactive, Print, Broadcast and Brand Development.

Brenda is highly involved in industry speaking and judging events including the CMAs, National Advertising Awards, Applied Arts and more. With over 15 years experience, Brenda has more than 30 RSVP/CMA awards to her name, as well as Caples, Mobius, Advertising and Design Club, Echo, Promo and Globe Awards, DMA and Communication Arts honours for her direct, promotional and interactive accomplishments.

RADIO: Jane Murray, Associate Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather
Jane Murray joined Ogilvy Toronto as Associate Creative Director in 2006, after previously working at Taxi and MacLaren McCann.

Her ads have been seen in many award shows and publications, including Cannes, The Clios, The One Show, D&AD, and Communication Arts. She is best known for her work on ‘Diamond’ Shreddies, MINI, and an uncanny ability to uncover rare 20th century design objects at thrift stores.

PROMO & ACTIVATION: Rob Sweetman, Co-Creative Director, Cossette Vancouver
Rob Sweetman joined Cossette in early 2009, after spending the previous six years with Rethink.

His work has garnered over 300 awards including One Show Pencils, Cannes Lions, Clios, D&AD, The Art Directors Club of Toronto, The Viral Awards, Communication Arts, Creative Review (UK) staff pick and has been ranked the most awarded art director in Canada for 3 of the last 4 years by Strategy Magazine.


Yet another way The Globe supports Canadians at Cannes is through our staging of the annual Canadian Young Lions competition. This high-intensity contest helps us uncover Canada's top up-and-coming talent. More importantly, it entitles--and prepares--winners to participate in the official Cannes Young Lions competition that takes place during the festival.

Want to see the kind of talent entrants are up against? Find out how the 2010 Young Lions winners made the grade.