Leo Burnett Sydney team Matt Swinburne and Mike Felix take out the Young Lions Print Gold

The pair, who worked together in New Zealand before settling in Sydney, was chosen to attend the week-long event by News Limited Australia and represent the nation against young advertising creatives from across the globe. They had 24 hours to complete a brief for African clean water charity Pump Aid.

“With it being a 24-hour competition it is so consuming so we handed our work in at 7.30pm and we honestly didn’t know if any of it made sense. I guess we did get it right.”

Felix said the win was especially sweet as he almost didn’t make it to Cannes. “I had a motorcycle accident two days before my flight and broke my finger. Then I lost all my luggage on the flight and lost the hotel address once I got to Cannes,” Mike said. “It’s been a mission to get here so I’m in a state of shock.”

Their winning Print design featured a map of Africa made up of water molecules. “It was a complicated brief,” Matt said. “We needed to show the need to provide safe, drinking water and our thought was Pump Aid makes water more than water in Africa.

“The Pump Aid client said they loved our project and they want to use it.”

During the 24-hour creative window, Young Lions teams madly work with materials spread across floors, seats and desks of the Palais conference centre. For some, the stress of the all-night intensity can be too much.

The Australian winning team had two advantages over their international competitors: sleep and practice.

“Our strategy was to sleep. We got seven hours,” Felix said. “On the outside we were laidback but on the inside we were screaming.

“The thing about Australia compared to the rest of the world is that we have done two competitions (News Limited’s state and national competitions) before we get here.

“We were stressed but we knew we had to keep it simple so we did what we always do and went to a café to get inspiration.”

The pair said they were both excited about the win bringing them to the attention of the world’s advertising elite. “It puts our names out there,” Swinburne said. “The great thing is, we get to spend the rest of the week meeting advertising execs and they might now want to meet us.”

News Limited Director of Sales Tony Kendall said: “The triumph of Matt and Mike in Cannes demonstrates the quality of world-class thinking and skill among Australia’s young advertising professionals. It bodes well for our industry that its future rests in the hands of individuals like Matt and Mike. We hope their impressive win provides further encouragement for other young talented advertising professionals to have a go at winning a Young Lions crown in next year’s competition.”

News Limited is the sponsor of the Australian Young Lions and provided return flights to Nice for all three Australian teams, accommodation and a Young Lions registration to the Cannes Festival with access to all the seminars, awards ceremonies, showcases and the Young Lions party.