Until this year, press and outdoor were judged by the same jury, but the festival, which was acquired by publishing group Emap in August 2004, has taken the decision to split judging duties, in order to make it easier to judge entries based on the merit of their medium without being influenced by how they perform if also entered in the press competition.
Terry Savage, executive chairman of the festival, said: "We are delighted that Fernando who, as well as being a film judge last year, was a member of the first ever Cannes Lions press and outdoor jury in 1992, will now chair the first dedicated outdoor jury."
Vega Olmos is president of VegaOlmosPonce Argentina, as well as creative director at Lowe for the global Unilever account. He also holds the distinction of being the first Argentinean creative to win a Gold Lion at the festival, back in 1992 when he was creative director at Casares Grey. At the end of 2004, Lowe appointed him as Unilever Worldwide creative director.
VegaOlmosPonce was launched in Buenos Aires in 1997 by Vega Olmos and Hernan Ponce, and has since been ranked by the Gunn Report among the top 15 most creative agencies in the world, creating campaigns that air in Latin America, the US, Europe and Asia.
Olmos began his career as a copywriter at Gowland & McCann Erickson, moving to Ratto BBDO where he was creative director.
Olmos said: "I'm glad to be appointed to chair the first outdoor jury. Compared with all other media, outdoor is the most visual one and therefore the most global one. Through outdoor we get global ideas without having the language as an obstacle."
The Cannes International Advertising Festival will be held on June 18-24 2006.
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