London International Awards Honouring Advertising, Production, Music & Sound, Digital and Design

London International Awards has established itself as a global competition, celebrating creativity, the power of ideas and new technology in all forms of Advertising, Digital, Production, Music and Design. Defining its 28-year history, Barbara Levy, Founder and President of LIA, continues her innovative leadership, meeting the demands of our ever-changing industry.  Under her leadership LIA has become one of the most sought-after awards in advertising.

For 26 years LIA held an Award Ceremony in London. In recent years, in the midst of a global recession, many of our winners have not had the budget to fly half way across the world simply to go up on stage for a minute or two of recognition. Awards Presentations are, by their very nature, an ideal opportunity to mingle with your colleagues and peers and we wanted to find a way to keep this element alive.

It occurred to us that having already gathered the cream of our industry for judging in Las Vegas (now in its 5th year) that the budget that we had for the one night Awards Ceremony could be better used bringing International Creatives from around the world together to share their experiences and to discuss the future of advertising, design, brand-building and the overall state of the creative global markets with Young Creatives.

LIA EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVE: In 2012, as a way to give back to the industry, LIA launched the Junior 'Creative Conversations' programme targeted to Young Creatives from around the globe.  LIA coordinated a week of seminars, conversations, lunches and dinners that were educational, and stimulated discussions around the future of Advertising. The entire initiative, including travel, meals and hotel expenses, was fully funded by LIA.

The 2012 ‘Creative Conversations’ speakers included: Ted Royer, Susan Credle, Israel Diaz, Sonal Dabral, Tony Calcao, Jeremy Craigen, Faris Yakob, Neil French, Phil Growick, Doerte Spengler-Ahrens, Bob Garfield, Jonathon Ker, Ralph van Dijk and Scott Elias.

In 2013, 'Creative Conversations' will once again take place at Wynn/Encore, Las Vegas during the week of the LIA Judging Sessions. Seventy carefully selected Junior Creatives from around the globe will attend this intimate, invitation-only event. Again, the entire initiative will be fully funded by LIA.

WHO WE ARE: Launched in 1986 as an awards for advertising, London International Advertising Awards began with a mission to be different. LIAA was the first truly international award, honouring Television Advertising / Cinema Advertising, Print Advertising and Radio Advertising from around the world. LIA now accepts entries into thirteen unique media types; Billboard Advertising, Design, Digital, Integrated Campaigns, Non-Traditional, Package Design (packaging), Poster Advertising, Print, Radio, The NEW, Television/Cinema/Online Film, Music & Sound, Production and Post-Production.

In keeping with the ever-changing marketplace of communication and technology, in 2009, LIA created “The NEW”, a category for work that refuses to be categorised in any other way. The spirit of the category is to recognise new kinds of ideas, rather than simply new ideas, that create a new vocabulary for the industry, new avenues of thought and ideation, and hint at new roles for agencies.  There is no boundary to the category except to say that if the work comfortably fits elsewhere, it probably isn’t NEW.

THE JURY: Each year nearly 100 of the industry's top creatives from agencies, production companies, design houses and technology companies are invited to judge on the ten LIA panels. The Juries are comprised of the most talented, recognized and awarded individuals from around the globe. It is the commitment to the integrity of the judging process and the contributions of the Jury Presidents and their respective juries that uphold LIA's tradition of awarding only the most creative ideas.

HOW WE JUDGE: Every member of each Jury panel, including the Jury President, judge all entries in their respective media, without bias as to origin of work by country, company or individual. Their collective votes and voices will determine the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Statue Winners, as well as, the Finalists. Each Jury has the opportunity to award a Grand LIA, although it is not compulsory. A Grand LIA can only be awarded to a piece of work that has achieved a Gold statue.

WHERE WE JUDGE: Since 2009 LIA has judged at the Encore/Wynn Las Vegas.

THE BOOK: LIA publishes a full-colour, hardbound book featuring all the winning work including finalists, with creative credits. A copy of The Book is sent complimentary to all entrants, providing a tribute to the Winners and Finalists.

Our commitment to recognizing great work does not end with the announcement of the winning work. We share these extraordinary accomplishments via our online archive, industry events, exhibitions and presentations.