The competition will judge entries including retail marketing, environmental design, in-store advertising and media.
The jury will award the Promo Lions to the freshest creative ideas in the new category. Organisers of the annual ad awards say they have introduced the award to reflect the industry as it evolves.
"It is time for sales promotion to be recognised and to bring up the standard of creativity in this area," a spokesperson for the festival said.
Other additions to the festival include a new award for media agency of the year and a separate outdoor jury president to head a jury voting solely on entries in the outdoor section.
Due to the steady increase in the number of entries to the Media Lions, with entries having risen from 421 in 1999 to 1,076 in 2005, Gold, Silver and Bronze Lions will be awarded from 2006 in stead of just Lions.
There will be two new categories in Film, Print and Outdoor with Household separating into Household Cleaning and Household Other, while the Toiletries & Pharmaceuticals category will be separated into Toiletries and Over-the-counter Pharmacy.
A Young Creatives Film competition will be added to complement the Young Creative Print and Young Creative Cyber competitions. Entrants are required to create a 30-second mobile phone ad in 72 hours for a charity or non-profitable organisation.
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