Asia-Pacific Secures Five Jury President Roles at Cannes Lions 2026
India claims three Jury President roles at Cannes Lions 2026, with Anupriya Acharya becoming the first Indian Creative Data Lions president. Asia-Pacific secures five leadership positions, signalin...
Cannes Lions announced on February 3, 2026, that Asia-Pacific has secured five Jury President positions for the 2026 festival, with India claiming three leadership roles including Anupriya Acharya's groundbreaking appointment as Creative Data Lions Jury President.
India Leads Regional Representation at Premier Creative Awards
Acharya, CEO of Publicis Groupe South Asia, becomes the first Indian from the media fraternity to lead the Creative Data Lions category. She will oversee judging at the festival scheduled for June 22 to 26, 2026.
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India's other Jury President appointments include Kainaz Karmakar heading the Health & Wellness Lions, marking the first time an Indian has led this category. The country's three positions represent 60% of Asia-Pacific's total Jury President roles.
Singapore-based Sindhuja Rai was named Media Lions Jury President, representing the APMEA region. Japan's Kazuhiro Shimura will lead the Innovation Lions jury, rounding out Asia-Pacific's five-member leadership team.
Acharya's appointment follows India's Gold Lion win in the Creative Data category in 2025 through Leo Burnett, demonstrating the country's growing capabilities in data-driven creative work.
Expanding Geographic Diversity in Creative Evaluation
The 2026 appointments build on momentum from 2024, when Asia-Pacific achieved six Jury Presidents, the highest number ever from the region. That year included Prerna Mehrotra from dentsu APAC as Media Lions Jury President and Gumpon Laksanajinda from Ogilvy Thailand.
Cannes Lions expanded its 2024 Shortlisting Jury to 75 markets, adding 12 new countries including Cambodia, Malaysia, and Singapore. The Awarding Jury reached 54 markets with four additions including Pakistan, marking record Middle East and Africa representation.
More than 10 Asian markets participated in 2024 judging, with representatives including Ankit Desai from Marico Ltd. in India, Maggie Yang from Zenith Media Taiwan, Sameer Yadav from Mondelez International Vietnam, and Defri Dwipaputra from Dentsu Indonesia.
Kevin Swanepoel, CEO of The One Club for Creativity, highlighted Asia's potential to redefine global standards through beautiful design work and data-backed creativity, urging agencies to use these strengths for awards success.
Data-Driven Creativity Takes Center Stage
The Creative Data Lions category, launched in 2015, honors solutions that use data for insights, decision-making, and business impact. Acharya's appointment brings direct South Asian perspective to evaluating how data expands creative possibilities.
Recent Asian campaigns demonstrate the region's approach to blending cultural authenticity with technical innovation. Shiseido's minimalist beauty narratives from Japan, Samsung and LG's motivational tech stories from Korea, and Thai brand True's culturally resonant content have achieved market share gains while influencing global creative standards.
Cannes Lions 2025 jury nomination criteria mandated gender and ethnic parity, targeting innovative creative leaders with awards history. This systematic effort to diversify judging panels amplifies regional voices in setting global creative benchmarks.
The 2026 appointments signal that Western-centric evaluation frameworks are evolving to incorporate mobile-first, community-centered approaches prevalent in Asian markets, where technology and data enable rather than constrain creative expression.
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