PAS Hosts Pakistan Young Lions Competition 2026 for Young Marketing and Digital Talent

PRESS RELEASE
Karachi: Thursday, February 12, 2025

The Pakistan Advertisers Society (PAS), fueled by PSO and in collaboration with Jang Media Group, the official representative of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, proudly organized the fifth edition of the Pakistan Young Lions Competition (PYLC) on 12 February 2026 in Karachi. The competition once again reaffirmed its mission: to discover, celebrate, and elevate Pakistan’s most promising young minds in marketing, advertising, and digital innovation.

Open to participants aged 30 and under, PYLC invited teams of two to tackle real-world challenges that tested their creativity, strategic thinking, and problem-solving skills. The ultimate reward for the winners was the chance to represent Pakistan on one of the world’s most prestigious creative stages, Cannes Lions.

Spanning two high-energy days, the competition brought together emerging talent from across the country. Twenty-eight teams competed in the Young Marketers Competition, presenting holistic, insight-driven solutions to this year’s challenge set by PSO. Simultaneously, twelve teams battled in the Young Digital Competition, crafting innovative, digital-first ideas for the same brief. Both competitions demanded intense focus, creativity, and strategic excellence, with teams given just 24 hours to develop and present their solutions.

Emerging victorious in the Pakistan Young Marketers Competition were Rafay Yasir and Wania Furqan of Team Brand Prix from EBM, who will now represent Pakistan at Cannes Lions. Team HyperBeing from Unilever secured the 1st Runner-Up position, while Team GenM from Shield claimed 2nd Runner-Up honors.

In the Young Lions Digital Competition, Muhammad Osama Kalam and Tipu Sultan Amjad Dawood of Team Thinkin’ Park from Digitz Group were crowned winners and will also represent Pakistan at Cannes Lions. Team The Line Kings from Viral Edge secured 1st Runner-Up, and Team North Bound from Starcrest Communications finished as 2nd Runner-Up.

The competition was evaluated by an esteemed jury panel comprising industry leaders from diverse sectors: Adil Ahmed, CEO, Symmetry Group, Abeera Qazi, Deputy Brand Manager – Digital Marketing, PSO, Adnan Syed, CEO, Green Man’s Ark, Ali A. Rizvi, CEO, What’s Next Entertainment, Ali Asad, Category Manager – Lubricants (PSO), Amal Jafri (Ex Unilever), Arij Awais, Head of Marketing, Food Panda, Fatima Areeba, Assistant Product Brand Manager – Lubricants, PSO, Farhan Zakir, Senior Brand Manager – Lubricants Category, PSO, Hassan Ali Syed, Marketing Manager, ZIL, Humza Mehfooz, Social First Transformation & Media Lead, Unilever, Imad Paracha, Director Ecommerce & Marketing, Springs Stores, Kiran Kohati, Head of Marketing & Corporate Communications, Millac Foods, Sobia Samad Khalid, Head of Brand Experience, Jazz, and Zainab Pasha, Head of Beauty Business, Fatima Group. Their expertise, insights, and rigorous evaluation played a pivotal role in selecting the winners and nurturing the next generation of creative talent.

PAS and Jang Media Group extend sincere gratitude to all jury members for their time, expertise, and commitment to shaping Pakistan’s future marketing and advertising leaders. The Pakistan Young Lions Competition continues to serve as a launchpad for young professionals, offering not only national recognition but also mentorship, peer learning, and an unparalleled opportunity to shine on the global stage.

For more Details Contact
PAS Secretariat
secretariat@pas.org.pk
+92 21 3583 6072

ABOUT PAS
Pakistan Advertisers Society (PAS) collectively speaks for the common interest of the advertisers and is representative of 85% of the ad-spend of Pakistan.

Chartered in 1996, PAS is governed by a board of council members and directed by an Executive Director. The prime objective of PAS is to ‘empower its members’ in dealing with the government, advertising agencies, media and other organizations integral to the advertising industry.

It aspires that advertising is effective and efficient for the advertiser: rewarding for the media, agencies and associate suppliers, and true, honest and equitable to the consumer