From Young Lions Indonesia to Cannes Lions: The Making of a Winning Idea

We probably know Cannes for its film festival. But once a year, the city also brings together the global advertising and communications industry for Cannes Lions.

In June 2026, we were there to represent Indonesia in the Young Lions Competition. We got there by winning the Digital category at Young Lions Indonesia, where we had just 24 hours to turn a brief into an integrated digital campaign.

Behind that win was a creative process few people got to see. Here, we want to share it with you, from the idea that took us to Cannes to what competing on a bigger stage taught us.

Behind the Idea That Took Us to Cannes

At Young Lions Indonesia, our brief asked us to turn young Jakartans’ scepticism towards the city into active participation in its 500th anniversary.

In everyday life and across social media, we often came across places that Jakartans had turned into landmarks of their own. They were quirky and hyperlocal, from neighbourhood warungs to a cat near FX Sudirman with its own location on Google Maps.

The more we looked, the more we saw how residents were already shaping Jakarta and participating in their own way by discovering and popularising places around them. It led us to a simple thought: what makes Jakarta, Jakarta is its people.

We turned that insight into The Official Unofficial Landmarks. Instead of centering the anniversary on Jakarta’s well-known icons, the campaign would begin by recognising five resident-made landmarks across the city.

Jakartans could then nominate places from their own neighbourhoods through a dedicated website and rally public support. Selected landmarks would become part of the celebration through festivals, walking tours, and community events.

How Cannes Pushed Our Thinking Further

Two months after winning in Indonesia, we faced another 24-hour brief in Cannes, this time alongside teams that had each won in their own country. One challenge of competing globally was solving a problem rooted in a context less familiar to us.

Comic Relief, the UK charity behind Red Nose Day, challenged us to reimagine its iconic red nose for Gen Z. To find our way into the brief, we looked for something universal, a behaviour that would feel familiar across different cultures.

On TikTok, people were turning their embarrassing decisions into content and calling themselves “clowns”. This led us to Clown for Good, which connected those moments with opportunities to raise donations.

Seeing how other teams approached the same challenge showed us how widely one problem could be interpreted. Some had picked up on similar behaviours but turned them into entirely different ideas.

The work that stood out made bold, less obvious connections between the problem and the media. It showed us how much further an idea could be pushed without losing sight of what it needed to solve.

Four Lessons on Building Ideas That Stand Out

Young Lions Indonesia and Cannes gave us different briefs, but working through both within 24 hours taught us four things about developing an idea under pressure.

A campaign does not always need to change behaviour Creating a campaign does not always mean asking people to change what they do or adopt a new habit. Sometimes, the opportunity lies in recognising a behaviour that already exists and giving it a new purpose. This can make participation feel more natural because people are not being asked to do something unfamiliar.
Know when to stop ideating In a competition, it can be tempting to keep searching for a better idea. However, spending too long in ideation leaves less time to develop the execution. We treated the process as a 50:50 split and set our own deadline for locking the idea. It helped us stop second-guessing and leave enough time to build the campaign properly.
Go bold, but keep it executable Cannes taught us to push beyond the first logical answer. Going bold does not mean making an idea grand or complicated. It can mean connecting the problem with a medium or behaviour people might not expect. But the idea still needs to serve a clear purpose and be realistic enough to execute.
How you sell the idea matters You can have a strong idea, but the challenge is making other people see its value. A clear narrative helps the judges understand how the solution answers the brief and why it could work.

A Note for the Next Young Lions

Having the opportunity to represent Indonesia at Cannes Lions is something we are grateful for. Beyond the competition, we learned from people across the industry and exchanged perspectives with creative teams from different countries.

If you are considering entering Young Lions next year, go for it. Do not be afraid to go bold, but make sure your idea adds value. Be confident in your idea, yourself, and your partner.

Who knows? Next year, it could be you representing Indonesia at Cannes.