Design and Digital Young Talents to Represent Romania at Cannes Lions

Mara Lăcătuș and Monica Chirilă (Digital) empowered by Invizibilii.ro, Teodora Bonea and Andrei Popa (Design) and Eduard Dica – Roger Hatchuel Academy will represent Romanian talent at Cannes Lions 2024, after winning the local competitions.

The Digital & Design Teams won the local Young Lions 2024 competition out of 25 teams – the biggest number of participants in #TheAlternativeSchool’s past 19 years, after their solutions to the 3 Module’s briefs have been evaluated by 21 local and  internal jurors. 

While in Cannes (15-23 of June) they will work on a 24 brief, alongside creatives from around the world and they will attend the seminars, workshops, parties and galas for the entire festival.

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Young Lions Digital – meet the winners

Mara –  Social Media Manager at Obsentum and Monica, Communication Consultant at ROGALSKI DAMASCHIN PR will compete in the Young Lions Digital competition, a category empowered by Invizibilii.ro. Invizibilii.ro is a platform aiming to catalyze evolution, materialize potential and change lives for those in vulnerable life situations.

The winners connected during their undergraduate studies in Advertising where they collaborated frequently, with outstanding results. While studying Luxury Marketing at Sciences Po Paris via an Erasmus program, they refined their studies through internships allowing them to explore the luxury sector: Monica as a Retail Coordinator for Delvaux stores within Paris, while Mara contributed to the creation of the Prada Beauty brand at L`Oreal Paris as a Product & Project Manager Assistant.

‘We entered the competition for the opportunity to propose solutions we love so much that we dream of seeing them implemented, rather than for the prize. We are grateful that this endeavor has given us the chance to represent Romania at Cannes Young Lions, a unique experience for any communication specialist’, said Mara and Monica.

Young Lions Digital – the sponsor’s talk

‘In The Invisibles program (Invizibilii.ro) we shed light on the vulnerable social categories, often overlooked in the communities, and provide them with resources for social and professional integration. Consistent with our goals and values, we were glad to help the Romanian young talents become visible on the world’ stage and have the chance to fulfill their creative potential in an international context. We were happy to team up with #TheAlternativeSchool and benefit from young talents’ creativity, accessing over 25 out-of-the-box solutions in terms of impact for beneficiaries and reaching out for the right audiences, in our quest to grow The Invisibles program’, said Ciprian Sandu, from Invizibilii.ro.

Young Lions Design  – meet the winners

Teodora – Copywriter at CirclesColab and Andrei, Art Director at Golin, aka The Exes team will compete in  Young Lions Design. Teodora and Andrei are a pair of self-taught creatives familiar with international performance. In 2022, out of 87 international teams, they won Silver at the Young Eurobest Festival of Creativity. 

‘Even though we’re no longer a team at the same agency, we’ve always continued to work together. We didn’t call ourselves The Exes for nothing. In 2022, we won Silver at the Eurobest 48-hour competition, and now we can’t wait to give our best together in the 24-hour challenge at Cannes’, said Teodora & Andrei.

Eduard Dica – the Roger Hatchuel Academy local winner

Representing the 19th generation of youngsters selected by #TheAlternativeSchool laboratories, Eduard Dică is the winner of the competition dedicated to talent under 25 and will represent Romania at The Roger Hatchuel Academy at Cannes Lions this year.

Eduard, a master’s student in Digital Communication and Innovation at the Faculty of Communication and Public Relations within SNSPA, works as a Copywriter at v8 Interactive.

#TheAlternativeSchool Ranking 2024: 80+ enrolled, 25 Teams Competing

In the #FutureProofCreativity Module, focusing on relevant trends in design, social media, Artificial Intelligence, and gamevertising there were over 80 applicants – creatives from network or independent agencies – McCann, Tribal Worldwide, Ogilvy, GMP&U, The Script, formr Agency, v8 Interactive, Seven Media – freelancers and master’s degree students from influential university centers in Romania, as well as seniors over 30, les interested in the competitions, but willing to upgrade their knowledge with the latest in the field.

During the spring intensive training module, 30 elite speakers active in the creative hubs of the planet  shared the latest in the field. 

50 participants applied for the competition. 25 teams solved 3 briefs. Here’s the ranking for first 10 teams: CoDepart, The Exes, Team SOUP, IGUANAS, The Script, OpenDoorStudio, Fluff Inc, Scandal, Impact, Tribal, Rebel Wave, Chicas26, The Migrants. 

All the teams and their solutions can be explored on thealternativeschool.com website. 

The winners’ stories have come to life through exclusive interviews and can be discovered here:  Mara Lăcătuș & Monica Chirilă, Teodora Bonea & Andrei Popa, Eduard Dică.

A Word from the Founder

Every single year since 2005 we do our best to offer a world class type of content and platforms to enable Romanian talent to refine potential, transforming it into a splendid reality, be it in their everyday work or in the most sought after international competitions. I am delighted by the number of talent interested to perform, by the diversity of the international performers involved in the learning process, by the quality of the winners work and by the valuable alliances we were able to forge this year – kudos Invizibilii.ro, Phoenix Media & The One Cotroceni. #NeverBetter. Here is for the next 20 years -)”, said Teodora Migdalovici, #TheAlternativeSchool’s founder.  

The first event to celebrate the local winners and the latest creative content worldwide is July 31st, during The Future of Creativity, focusing on contemporary trends on CSR, Visual creativity, AI vs EQ, Technology and Creative Data. 

The professional photoshoot announcing the School’ performers wears Manole Sava’s artistic signature, representing GreenMind Studio.

As always, Shutterstock, the traditional school’s partner, is offering a year long subscription for the first team qualified. Congrats, Co-Depart.

Be the next winner

For those interested to enroll within #TheAlternativeSchool’s programs, either as speakers or participants, the next selections are taking place this fall.

To enroll for the next series, training and selecting local talent for international experiences, young talent under 30 can apply either to the competitions or to the whole educational process. Every year there are scholarships available. For either of the two categories – Young Lions or Roger Hatchuel, follow #TheAlternativeSchool’s website and social media pages or get in touch with Andra Serea – Communication Architect at The Alternative School: andra@thealternativeschool.com.