LIONS Membership
Creative Direction
Creative Leadership
Marketing Design

 

Context
In 2021, LIONS launched a global membership platform designed to raise the bar for creative excellence year-round. The initiative extended the organisation’s reach beyond the festival, offering access to data, insight, and community for creatives worldwide.

Challenge
The programme required two distinct yet connected identities:
1954 - an exclusive membership reserved for previous Cannes Lions winners, and a broader open-access membership for the wider creative community.

The challenge was to create clear differentiation in status and tone while maintaining cohesion within the LIONS masterbrand. Both tiers needed to communicate value, credibility, and aspiration, supporting a new commercial offering within an established brand ecosystem.

Strategic Approach
The architecture focused on hierarchy and aspiration. 1954 was positioned as heritage-led and prestigious, rooted in the legacy of the Cannes Lions Awards, while the open membership was designed to feel dynamic, progressive, and community-driven. Together, they created a scalable platform for long-term engagement.

Creative Solution
I developed two complementary visual identities supported by a flexible digital-first system. To bring the extensive membership benefits to life, I commissioned illustrator Jonny Wan to create a distinctive suite of illustrations used across digital assets. This not only enriched the storytelling but reinforced LIONS’ commitment to championing creativity by spotlighting external talent.

Impact
The membership programme achieved 105% of its target within six months of launch. The clear brand hierarchy and distinctive visual language strengthened market understanding, drove early adoption, and established membership as a credible and aspirational extension of the LIONS ecosystem.