UK Young Lions Competition 2023 – The Winners

We are delighted to announce the winners of the UK Young Lions Competition 2023.

We received an impressive 250 entries this year and the work was of an incredibly high standard. The brief was centred around investing in our industry’s talent. We would like to thank all the entrants for taking part and for our wonderful panel of jurors for their valued feedback.

Below you can find our winners and their winning work: 1st prize for this years Young Lions is the opportunity to take part in the Global Young Lions Competition in Cannes.

DESIGN WINNERS

Dali Aboul Housn, Senior Medical Copywriter, Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness UK

I’m Syrian-Palestinian, raised in the UAE, and found my way to the advertising world in London. Medical copywriting has been my career home for a few years, a perfect Venn diagram of my background in science and my love for creative writing.

Kiran Sagar, Designer, Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness UK

A product designer turned graphic designer. My passion for purpose-led creative helped me find my way into the health and wellness industry. I enjoy taking a people-focused approach to all briefs. I love working with incredible people who are as excited about the future of creative work as I am.

What does it mean to be representing the UK in the Global Young Lions Competition?

We’re absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to represent the UK on a global stage. We’re so happy to be recognised for our work and look forward to doing it again in Cannes! We can’t wait to meet and be inspired by talented creatives from all around the world.

View the winning work here

DIGITAL WINNERS

Chelly Brown, Social Creative, AMVBBDO

Chelly is a social creative at AMV BBDO working on pets, pints and periods. Some of her favourite things.

Before that she worked at Gravity Road on TikTok. And at McCann, where she shaped Aldi’s tone of voice on social, before handing the baton to Hannah!

Hannah Tudor, Social Creative, McCann Manchester

Hannah is a social creative at McCann Manchester, working on lube, low-priced food and chicken-free dippers. She also writes the kind of tweets you screenshot and send to the group chat.

Before that she worked at The&Partnership and has sold over 2000 greetings cards, mainly about roast potatoes.

What does it mean to be representing the UK in the Global Young Lions Competition?

To be representing the UK in Cannes means the world to us, not just as young creatives but as working-class, disabled, LGBTQ+, female creatives too.

We met up’north, live on opposite ends of the country and can’t wait to come together in Cannes to compete on the global stage.

View the winning work here and supporting documents here and here

FILM WINNERS

Matt Nicholas, Senior Creative, VCCP

Matt has been a creative and director for over 10 years – starting out shooting music videos for local bands he has gone on to make work for companies including Sky, VCCP, Compare The Market, HBO and Dominos. He is also known for known for creating absurd comedy films on TikTok.

Nick Archer, Creative, Sky Creative

A passion for making short films and spec ads started off a career as a Creative eight years ago and I haven’t looked back since. I’m currently working with some of the world’s best cinema, sports, and entertainment content at Sky Creative.

What does it mean to be representing the UK in the Global Young Lions Competition?

After winning the UK film competition in 2019, we’re aware of how big the opportunity and challenge awaiting us in Cannes is. Now, with a few more grey hairs and some knowledge of where the free rosé is, we’re really looking forward to getting stuck into the global competition again.

View their winning film here

MARKETERS WINNERS

Ciara Hagan, Customer Propositions and Media Events Manager, Tesco/dunnhumby

Having graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Social Anthropology, Ciara moved to Camberwell and has been enjoying the eclectic food, drink and music scene ever since! Having helped establish spirit and confectionary brands in the UK, Ciara moved into Media Planning roles helping build brands within Tesco, today she works on crafting sale propositions for Tesco seasonal events.

Tom Chard, Media and Campaign Planning Manger, Tesco

Originally from the Isle of Wight, Tom graduated with a drama degree before starting his career working media-agency side for a few years. He has since worked media-planning roles client-side at Domino’s and, most recently, Tesco, where he works predominantly on food campaigns (thus making him hungry 24/7).

What does it mean to be representing the UK in the Global Young Lions Competition?

A lot. We are so thrilled to be the second Young Lion representatives from Tesco in the last five years! We can’t wait to represent the UK in this prestigious competition, working alongside some of the industry’s brightest young talent – bring on the challenge (and some of the French wine too)!

View their winning work here and supporting document here

MEDIA WINNERS

Bryoney Miller, Associate Strategy Director, Initiative

Whilst procrastinating from her day job as a strategist on Deliveroo & Carlsberg, Bryoney moonlights as a self-titled executive producer on Initiative’s inaugural podcast.

She credits their win to aggressively blasting Hazey’s Packs n Potions throughout the office in the pursuit of sabotaging other competitors.

Katrina Blanthorne, Associate Strategy Director, Initiative

Having grown up all over the world, Katrina eventually fell into advertising where her career as a strategist has included iconic clients such as Apple and Nike.

She first bonded with Bryoney over their love for the Scouse Grime scene, a passion that would later help them get the gold.

What does it mean to be representing the UK in the Global Young Lions Competition?

When our directors won CYL last year, we knew we’d have to unite to live up to their success and perpetuate their fears that one day, we would become their bosses.

We’re incredibly honoured to represent the UK at Cannes (and hope to infiltrate some yacht parties along the way)!

View their winning work here and supporting document here

PRINT WINNERS

Joe Sayer, Art Director, The Leith Agency

Joe is an Art Director from Manchester who wandered into the world of advertising after a background in design. He’s been staring at walls full-time for 6 years now, joining forces with Marion at Leith last year.

Marion Miranda, Copywriter, The Leith Agency

Marion is a copywriter at The Leith Agency in Edinburgh. Originally from Singapore, she has a background in fine art and a passion for simple, creative work that inspires people to see things differently.

What does it mean to be representing the UK in the Global Young Lions Competition?

The UK is bursting with creative talent, so we’re honoured to be selected to represent our agency and industry. Cannes is a great opportunity to compete and learn from the best, and we can’t wait to get there.

View their winning work here and supporting document here

Meet the UK Young Lions runners-up here

Find out more about Cannes Lions here