Choosing the category looks like one of the last steps of an entry, but it is actually one of the first.
Before the jury even looks at the case film, someone has already decided which question it will be judged by. A campaign entered in the PR Lions at Cannes Lions will be assessed on the quality of its communications strategy, its ability to influence opinion and its impact on reputation. The same campaign, entered in the Media Lions, will have to prove that the choice of channels played a decisive role.
What changes is how much you are asked to prove. The work does not.
And so a great campaign can lose without being genuinely weak. It can lose because it was put before the wrong jury, with a story built around a secondary element and results that cannot answer the category’s criteria. Across digital awards and international creative festivals, choosing the category is a strategic decision.
So, in this new article in the Gold Brief series, we look at how to choose the right category, and why this decision is, in effect, worth as much as the case film.
Gold Brief is the category of the Bliss blog for those who want to understand how recognition in marketing really works. In this column you will find practical guides to the international awards that matter (creativity, strategy, performance, design, SEO, innovation and much more), with everything you need to enter. Because the perfect brief is not written in a day: if anything, it is built every day.
The Jury Is Not Judging Everything
When a campaign enters competition, the jury does not assign it an absolute value; it measures it against a particular definition of excellence.
In the PR Lions, 30% of the score depends on the PR strategy and another 30% on impact and results. Idea and execution weigh 20% (each).
In the Media Lions, insight and idea account for 30%, as do media strategy and targeting. Execution and results therefore make up the remaining 40%.
In the Entertainment Lions, the creative idea and the quality of execution together account for 60% of the score.
These differences change an entry considerably. A case built for Entertainment must demonstrate that the content generated voluntary attention, engagement and cultural relevance. A PR case must show how the campaign built relationships or changed the perception of an organisation. A Media case must make it clear that the project would not have produced the same effect through conventional distribution.
The category decides which parts of the campaign come to the fore and which become context.
The Format Is Not Always the Heart of the Idea
One of the most common mistakes is choosing the category based on what is visible.
There’s a video. So the category has to be: Film.
There’s a creator. So the category can only be: Social & Creator.
There’s an event. Then it’s undoubtedly: Brand Experience.
All understandable associations, of course, but they often describe the format rather than the creative engine.
A video may simply be the most effective way to tell a PR strategy. A creator may be the point of access to a community within a wider media project. An event may be the final execution of an idea born from data.
The useful question is a different one: which element, if removed, would make the entire campaign lose its meaning?
If the project collapses without the choice of channel, the territory may be Media. If data was used only to measure results, Creative Data is probably not the right category. It becomes so when data generated the insight, changed the execution or made the solution possible.
The official Cannes Lions guide to preparing an entry suggests identifying the root of the work and the original objective: what are we really celebrating, and which element made the result possible?
Being Eligible Does Not Mean Being Competitive
The rules determine whether a project can be entered. The jury decides whether it deserves to advance.
Between those two moments, however, lies a chasm.
A campaign can formally meet the category description and still lack the depth to compete with the best work in it. The right question is not: can we enter the campaign here? Not least because that question applies to every international digital award and digital contest. An advertising award goes to whoever best answers the category’s criterion, not to whoever is merely eligible.
Rather, the right question is: why should this campaign be considered one of the world’s best expressions of this discipline?
The Risk of Category Shopping
Entering the same project in several categories can increase the opportunities. It can also multiply fees, production time, approvals and the risk of inconsistency.
The problem arises when the team starts rewriting the nature of the project to tick more boxes. The further the versions drift apart, the greater the risk that the case stops interpreting the project and starts reinventing it.
The 2026 Cannes rules require the work to be submitted exactly as it was published, within a genuine brief and with the approval of both the brand and the entering organisation. Once submission and payment are complete, materials and entries can no longer be changed.
More entries also means more claims that must be consistent, verifiable and approved.
How to Build a Category Matrix
Before producing the case film, the team compares the possible categories against six criteria. The last one is decisive: when the link with the category needs too much explaining, it is probably not strong enough.
| Criterion | Question |
| The Root | What is the element without which the campaign would not have existed? |
| The Objective | What problem was defined in the original brief? |
| The Evidence | Do we have results consistent with what that jury assesses? |
| The Material | Do we have images, documents and data that can demonstrate the key strength? |
| Competitiveness | How does the project compare with the category’s recent winners? |
| The Distortion | To make the case relevant, are we simply changing perspective, or are we changing the nature of the work? |
As discussed in the guide on how to enter industry awards, choosing the category is a strategic decision that precedes and shapes the judging. Entering work in the wrong category produces weak entries regardless of the quality of the work.
When It Is Better Not to Enter
Giving up a category can increase the overall value of the awards strategy.
It is better not to proceed when the available results measure a different dimension, when the visual material does not support the argument or when the case has to be completely rewritten to appear relevant.
Budget matters too. As discussed in the guide on how to calculate the ROI of an awards strategy, one excellent entry can generate more value than several mediocre entries spread without method. Category selection should therefore follow the same logic used to choose the most prestigious international awards: relevance, reputation and the award’s ability to support the desired positioning.
The Category Is the First Interpretation of the Campaign
The category is chosen before the jury, but it determines much of what the jury will see, establishing which problem will open the story, which results will be highlighted, which people will be credited and which work the campaign will be compared against.
The category cannot be treated as an administrative step left to the last minute.
Before asking a jury to reward the project, the agency must be able to say what made its work truly exceptional. If the answer to that question is clear, the category will be too. When it takes many drafts to find it, the problem may lie in how the agency has read its own campaign.
New Connections (FAQ)
Who should choose an award category: the creative team or someone external?
The choice should involve those who know the project, but not depend solely on those who made it. The creative team sees the idea clearly; account and strategy know the objectives and results; an external reading, by contrast, can more easily spot where the case is forcing its relevance to fit a category. This is where an assessment such as the one carried out by Bliss can help: comparing the campaign against jury criteria, recent winners, available materials and documentable results before production of the submission begins. Sometimes the best decision is to change category. Other times it is to enter just one. And in some cases, not to enter at all.
Is it worth entering the campaign in every possible category?
Rarely. Multiplying entries increases cost and complexity. It is more effective to focus on the categories where the project has a strong thesis, adequate materials and consistent results.
Should the case film change for each category?
It can change hierarchy and point of view. A PR, a Media and an Entertainment version can highlight different aspects. The story adapts. The facts do not change.
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