Winning teams compete at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in Cannes, France.
Young Lions Azerbaijan is the local qualifying competition for the global Young Lions Competitions, held as part of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
The competition aims to identify outstanding young creative talent and to select the teams that will represent Azerbaijan at Cannes Lions in the Film, Print, and Design categories.
The competition is open to young professionals aged 30 and under who meet the eligibility criteria. The Young Lions Competitions are open to all eligible participants in Azerbaijan and are held as part of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
Teams cannot be refused entry based on not being a member of any association, professional body, or collective.
Participants must be 30 years old or younger (born on or after 26 June 1995).
All teams must consist of two (2) professionals.
Team members are not required to work at the same company.
Participants may only compete in one Young Lions competition at Cannes Lions per year, even if the dates of the competitions do not overlap.
Teams may compete in consecutive years, provided they win the local competition again and meet the age criteria.
Students are not eligible to compete in any category.
Design / Print / Film
Professionals working in creative communications, advertising or digital agencies
Freelancers are eligible
In-house creative teams from client companies are eligible
Marketers
Professionals working client-side (brand/advertiser companies)
Advertising agencies and freelancers are not eligible
Media
Professionals working in media agencies or in-house media departments
Freelancers are eligible
In-house media teams from client companies are eligible
PR
Professionals working in PR agencies or in-house PR departments
Freelancers are eligible
In-house PR teams from client companies are eligible
Registration must be completed online via the official Baku Flames (www.bakuflames.az) website.
Teams are required to submit accurate personal and professional information at the time of registration. In order to verify eligibility, participants must also upload an image of the front side of their identity card to confirm that they meet the age requirement.
Registration confirms acceptance of all competition rules.
Young Lions Azerbaijan is conducted as an online competition.
Teams receive a new and previously undisclosed written brief
Teams work remotely in pairs
Teams have no more than 24 hours from the date and time of their briefing to create and submit their work
The Film category is allocated 48 hours
All submissions must be sent directly to [email protected]. Participant names and company details may be included in the submission.
All submitted work must be original and created specifically for this competition
All materials must be submitted in English
Failure to comply with the rules may result in disqualification at the organiser’s discretion
Category Availability
The organiser reserves the right to cancel any category that does not receive a sufficient number of registrations. In such cases, teams may be offered the option to transfer their registration to a relevant category, subject to their approval.
The Young Lions Azerbaijan jury is composed of senior industry professionals with expertise across creative, media, design, technology, film, brand management and marketing strategy.
All submissions are reviewed in line with evaluation criteria defined for each category and its specific brief, taking into account the strength of the creative idea, strategic approach, insight, relevance to the brief and quality of execution. The weighting of the criteria for each category is outlined below.
The Creative Idea – 50%
Is the work innovative and surprising?
What is the potential for industry impact?
Strategy (Including Insight) – 30%
Brand relevance, choice of campaign elements, target audience, approach.
Execution – 20%
How well crafted is the work?
Creative Idea – 50%
Brand relevance
Target audience (consumer demographic, individuals, organisations)
Execution – 50%
Design elements and their integration
Design touchpoints
Materials, style elements, design choices
Design development and process
Choice of campaign elements
Approach
Scale
The Creative Idea – 50%
Is the work innovative and surprising?
What is the potential for industry impact?
Strategy (Including Insight) – 20%
Brand relevance, choice of campaign elements, target audience, approach.
Relevancy to the Brief – 20%
Does the work answer the client’s brief?
Execution – 10%
How well crafted is the work?
Payments for completed registrations must be made online via the Baku Flames (www.bakuflames.az) website.
The registration fee is EUR 120 per team. Early Bird fee is EUR 100 per team and is valid until March 15, 2026.
Payments are primarily accepted by credit card.
For any questions, you may contact us at [email protected] or via WhatsApp at +994 10 203 5000.
*VAT will be added to the registration fee for payments made via bank transfer.
Entry fees are non-refundable
Teams may withdraw from the competition at any time before judging begins
Withdrawal does not entitle the team to a refund
For questions related to registration, eligibility or the competition process, please contact:
[email protected]
WhatsApp: +994 10 203 5000
10:00
Discounted registration period begins.
23:59
Last day to register at the early bird rate.
23:59
Final registration phase starts.
23:59
Absolute deadline for all registrations.
11:00
Official jury members are publicly announced.
11:00
Official sponsors and partners are revealed.
12:00
Teams receive the brief and compete locally.
19:00
Winning teams representing Azerbaijan are announced during the Baku Flames first-day award ceremony.
10:00
Winning teams compete at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in Cannes, France.
Produce an original 60-second film ad in response to the brief. Note: For this Competition only, the deadline is 48 hours.
Create an eye-catching print ad that answers the challenge in the brief and engages the target audience.
Create a mood board that also includes a description of how your design fits the brief and how it could help the brand evolve.