Martha Aheebwa, Lynn Nasirumbi to Represent Uganda at Cannes Lions Junior Competition in France

Two young and creative public relations professionals named Martha Patience Aheebwa and Lynn Nasirumbi are set to represent Uganda at The Cannes’ Young Lions Competition in France, in 2023.

Aheebwa and Nasirumbi work with brainchild BCW, a Ugandan PR, Digital and Events agency.

The Young Lions Competition is organized annually, on the sidelines of The Cannes Lions, the most prestigious global awards for the creative communications industry.

The competition is designed to challenge young creatives under 30 years, from every corner of the global communication industry, to celebrate their creativity on the world stage.

Aheebwa and Nasirumbi emerged winners of the inaugural Uganda Advertising Awards (UAA) Young Silverback Competition PR Category at the first UAA Silverback Awards, which recognises the most creative communications professionals in Uganda.

The two, who competed as the Matriarch Team, were awarded winners of the PR Category while their peers Team Pen & Ink and Team I & E won the Digital and Design categories of the Young Silverback competition respectively.

The award for the three teams was the opportunity to travel to France to compete with their global peers for the top awards.

The Young Silverback Competition was organized by UAA, the association for advertising agencies in Uganda, to identify and recognize Uganda’s best creative talent under 30 and to give them an opportunity to compete with their peers on the global stage.

Celebrating the winners, Walter Wafula, General Manager, brainchild BCW said, “We are very pleased with the performance of Martha and Lynn, at the Young Silverback Competition. The two are a true representation of the quality of creative PR talent we have at brainchild BCW. Congratulations team Matriarch and good luck at the Young Lions Competition.”

“I thank UAA for taking the initiative to not only award creative agencies in Uganda but give our young creatives an opportunity to go shine on the global stage,” he added.

This was the Association’s first edition of the Young Silverback Awards and Competition which aims to provide a platform for young creatives to showcase their skills, Identify and nurture talent in the advertising industry and bridge the gap between brands and young creatives.

The competition comprised seven categories; PR, Media, Digital, Print, Design, Marketing, and Film.

The contestants who had to participate in pairs were given briefs to create campaigns that would yield impactful results to the clients.

In a period of 24 hours, they had to present in 10 minutes to the panel of judges what they had come up with. Frank Muthusi, the Chairman of UAA and Group CEO of Fireworks Advertising, also spoke about the success of the teams.

“Grooming talent and creativity in the advertising industry is part of our agenda as the UAA. The young silver back competition was introduced in this regard and we hope that the teams that won will deliver the same impeccable work at the Cannes Lions Competition next year.”

The Young Silverback competition encompassed 3 editions; Agency, Corporate, and Student.

All participants had to be either in employment (for Agency & Corporate editions) or in a higher institution of learning (for the Student edition).

The winners in the Agency and Corporate editions will represent Uganda in the Cannes Lions competition in France while the winners in the Student edition get a paid internship.