The Challenge

As the organisation behind the world’s largest global gathering of creative marketers, LIONS sits at the centre of culture, power, and influence. With that visibility came scrutiny.

Repeated missteps around inclusion were putting pressure on trust, credibility, and relevance internally and across the industry. LIONS needed more than reactive fixes or surface-level initiatives. They needed a strategic partner who could help them rebuild confidence, embed change, and lead credibly from the front.

Following a competitive pitch process involving multiple consultancies, The Unmistakables were appointed as long-term partners to support this transformation.

Our Role

We became a strategic partner to LIONS—helping the organisation move from risk management to cultural leadership.

Our role was not to “solve” inclusion for LIONS, but to build the internal capability, clarity, and cultural intelligence required for them to operate with integrity, consistency, and authority—across their organisation, platforms, and global flagship event.

What We Delivered

Our work followed a sustained Unpack → Untangle → Unlock approach over multiple years:

• Organisation-wide diagnostic
  Our diagnostic surfaced the real barriers and enablers shaping culture, decision-making, and reputation. This combined leadership interviews, colleague listening sessions, customer interviews, surveys, and in-situ observation.

• Insight-led strategic direction
  Findings were synthesised into a clear, evidence-based view of where LIONS needed to focus—shaping priorities, sequencing change, and aligning action with risk and opportunity.

• Leadership confidence building
  Through 1-to-1 coaching and bespoke leadership training, we supported senior leaders to navigate inclusion with greater confidence, fluency, and accountability.

• Embedded learning and tools
  Inclusion was operationalised through:

  • Bespoke learning programmes for colleagues

  • Toolkits to support day-to-day judgement

  • Ongoing advisory and communications counsel

• Structural and process redesign
  We supported overhauls of key organisational processes - most notably the Cannes Lions judging process - to ensure inclusion was embedded where decisions and power sit.

• Global judge capability building
  Online training was developed and delivered to Cannes Lions judges, extending impact beyond the organisation into the wider creative ecosystem.

What We Delivered (at a glance)

• Diagnostic

• 20+ leadership 1:1 interviews

• 20+ customer interviews

• Listening sessions with 50+ colleagues

• Bespoke colleague learning programmes

• Bespoke leadership training

• Redesign of critical organisational processes

• Online inclusion training for Cannes Lions judges

The Impact

• Inclusive behaviours embedded across the LIONS organisation

• LIONS positioned as an inclusion leader within Ascential

• Thousands of delegates reached through new inclusion-led initiatives

• Improved industry trust and reputation around inclusivity

• Greater internal confidence to lead, not follow, on cultural change

Inclusion shifted from a reputational risk to a strategic leadership asset.