South Africans helping judge the world’s best creative ideas
South African creatives share what happens inside the Cannes Lions jury rooms and what makes standout work rise.
The adverts, campaigns and brand stories we see every day can shape how we think, feel and respond to the world around us. At the highest level, those ideas compete on a global stage.
A new episode of Talking in Creative Circles, the official podcast of the Creative Circle South Africa, produced in partnership with Kagiso Connect, takes listeners behind the scenes of Cannes Lions 2026, one of the world’s leading creative awards festivals.
What happens inside the judging room
Cannes Lions is where some of the best advertising, entertainment, audio, digital and brand storytelling from around the world gets judged, debated and awarded.
In this episode, three South African creatives share what happens inside those judging rooms and what makes standout creative work rise to the top.
Guest host Danni Pinch, ECD at Accenture Song Cape Town, shares her experience judging Entertainment Lions for Gaming. She is joined by Suhana Gordhan, CCO at LoveSong, who judged Glass: The Lions for Change, and Jabulani Sigege, Group ECD at Machine, who judged Audio and Radio.
What makes great work stand out
Together, they unpack the intensity of the judging process, the debates that happen behind closed doors, and why the best work needs more than a clever concept. It needs craft, honesty, cultural relevance and real impact.
For Jabulani, who judged Audio and Radio, the category showed how much sound continues to evolve. Traditional radio spots now sit alongside new uses of audio, technology and storytelling, but the strongest work still comes back to a simple question: does the idea connect?
Why South African voices matter
The episode also offers a proud South African lens on global creativity. The judges reflect on the importance of local insight, strong storytelling and work that feels true to the people it represents.
Cannes Lions may sound like a specialist industry event, but this episode tells a bigger story about South African talent, global recognition and the power of creative work that travels.
Listen to the episode below.
Listen to past episodes in the full channel below: