Five of South Africa’s top men in the creative industry will be joining 387 judges at this year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Nathan Reddy, Rob McLennan, Marc Taback, Jonathan Beggs and Eoin Welsh will be judging the Design, Film, Media, Print and Promo & Activation Lions respectively, coming together with the cream of the crop from around the world – because creativity matters for business, for change and for good.
Nathan Reddy
Chief Creative Officer & Founder of Grid Worldwide Branding and Design, Nathan, has established an outstanding track record over the last 20 years. Grid has become the most awarded brand driven Design Company in South Africa, Africa and the Middle East. Nathan began his career at FCB and then worked his way up through various agencies. He has worked with Sasol, Telkom, Liberty South Africa, BMW, Ster-Kinekor, FNB, Qatar and Brand South Africa among many other esteemed brands. Nathan’s greatest source of inspiration is the positive transformation of the South African design industry.
Rob McLennan
Rob is the Creative Founding Partner of King James II and has spent 30 years as a creative in the South African advertising industry. He was also voted as South Africa’s top creative three times and has been voted in the top five for the last 10 years. After working in international networks such as Lowe Bull, JWT, FCB and Net#workBBDO, Rob started his own independent agency King James II. He has received numerous awards including two Cannes Lions Grand Prix and over 30 Cannes Lions awards. Rob is an Exco member of the Creative Circle and his new agency was voted as “agency to watch” by the Financial Mail.
Marc Taback
With over 20 years of experience in the industry, Marc leads Initiative Media South Africa as its CEO. He is responsible for overseeing strategy and direction of the company’s South Africa operation, which in 2015 experienced its most successful financial year to date ever. The company’s leading brands include SABMiller, Investec, H&M, AVIS, Starbucks and Adcock Ingram. Marc was named in The Media Online’s Top 40 Under 40 list in 2012 and has served as a jury member at both the African Cristal Festival and Dubai Lynx.
Jonathan Beggs
After studying law in Durban, the Chief Creative Officer for Saatchi & Saatchi began his career in advertising at Ogilvy Johannesburg. He worked there for 13 years as a copywriter, Creative Director, board member and occasional office party DJ. He worked on iconic and awarded campaigns for clients like Coca-Cola, BP, Channel O, BBC, History Channel, Unilever, DSTV and Greenpeace. Jonathan has received many local and international awards and has served as a judge at the Loerie Awards, the LIAA, Creative Circle and Dubai Lynx.
Eoin Welsh
Eoin started out writing toilet supply brochures and ended up as Chief Creative Officer of Havas Worldwide Johannesburg. Along the way, he upgraded to banks, mobile operators, beer, fashion and a bunch of other famous brands (taking nothing away from toilet supplies of course – everyone needs ‘em), graced the halls of such agencies as Y&R, Ogilvy, FCB, Lowe and King James, and won a decent amount of awards (including Cannes & Loeries). Adland aside, he has four great loves – his wife, daughter, guitars and Arsenal Football Club.
“These five gents will join four South African ladies as they travel to Cannes to offer their unique expertise by judging thousands of global entries, all contending a much coveted Cannes Lion. This is proof that South Africa is truly on the map and can compete with the world’s best within the creative industry,” says Tshireletso Yvonne Diogo, GM: Promotions and Trade Marketing for Ster-Kinekor Theatres.
Visit www.canneslions.com for more information.
