Written by: Anisa Omeragić and Amar Rahić, representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Young Lions Competition 2026 and members of the Via Media agency.
When we travelled to Cannes as representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Young Lions Competition, we expected six days of learning, inspiration and measuring ourselves against the best young creatives in the world. We could not have imagined that we would return home as witnesses to a moment that would forever change the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s communications industry: the winning of the first Cannes Lion for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Cannes Festival of Creativity is difficult to describe to someone who has never experienced it. For seven days, the entire city becomes the centre of global creativity. Thousands of people from the communications industry, dozens of stages, lectures, workshops, pavilions of the world’s largest companies and conversations that arise spontaneously at every turn transform Cannes into a place where ideas are shared as easily as coffee on the waterfront.
On the very first day, we realised how different this festival was from anything we had experienced before. The pavilions of Pinterest, Canva, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, Spotify and Netflix were not merely brand presentations, but experiences demonstrating what creativity looks like when it has no limits.
On the second day, we sat in the audience as Oprah Winfrey spoke about the power of authentic stories and leadership. A few hours later, we received the brief for the Young Lions Competition, and a completely different rhythm of the festival began.
Our task was to create a campaign for the organisation Comic Relief. Ideas emerged, changed and collapsed from hour to hour. We discarded the campaign we had been developing for almost the entire day shortly before the end and started completely from scratch. That is what the creative process looks like when you know you are competing against the best young teams in the world.
Although we did not make it to the second round, we would return to Young Lions without a second thought. The value of that experience lies not only in the result. Its value lies in the people you meet, the conversations you have and the realisation of how much a challenge like this can change you professionally.
However, the real turning point of our journey happened on Wednesday. The news that the campaign “It’s Time to Stop!” had been shortlisted for the Cannes Lions in the Sustainable Development Goals category completely changed the atmosphere of our stay in Cannes. The focus was no longer on our competition. Suddenly, we were all living for Friday.
Vesna Beganović, Amna Džambić Branković and Haris Mujanović arrived in Cannes as representatives of the Via Media agency and Bingo Group. Simply being among the best campaigns in the world was an enormous achievement, and we all secretly hoped that we were on the verge of something much greater.
The final day of the festival was the day of the decision. The Lumière auditorium, a monumental cinema with more than two thousand seats, was filled to the very last seat. As the categories followed one another, the tension in the air grew.
Under the rules of the Cannes Lions Festival, only Gold Lion winners take the main stage. However, there is one emotional exception: when a Bronze or Silver Lion is won by a country that has never previously won the prestigious award in its history.
At one point, the host invited Simon Cook, CEO of the Cannes Lions Festival, to join him on stage, and he said:
“The first ever Bronze Lion for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Well done!”
The campaign “It’s Time to Stop!”, a joint project by the Via Media agency and Bingo Group, began playing on the enormous screens. Vesna, Amna and Haris walked onto the stage, proudly carrying the flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina. More than two thousand people in the auditorium rose to their feet and greeted them with thunderous, prolonged applause.
We were sitting in the audience. We were trying to record and photograph everything, but there was a lump in our throats, our hands were shaking and the sense of pride was incredible.
On the large screen above the stage stood the slogan of this year’s festival: “Make History.”
And that is exactly what happened. That evening, Bosnia and Herzegovina made history and won its first Cannes Lion.
Although we returned exhausted from the intense festival schedule, we now have undeniable confirmation that ideas created in Bosnia and Herzegovina can stand shoulder to shoulder with the best campaigns on the planet. We are now certain that the size of a market does not determine the size of an idea and that courage and creativity are recognised on the world’s greatest stage.
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s creative industry has proven that it belongs among the best in the world, and we know that this opens the doors wide for young colleagues from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Our advice: learn, play, push boundaries and definitely apply for Young Lions, because who knows, perhaps one of the next generations will win Gold in Cannes.
