London International Awards

London International Award
London International Awards logo
Awarded for	creativity, innovative ideas and new technology in advertising, digital media, production, design, package design, music & sound and branded entertainment
Country	Worldwide
First awarded	1986
Official website	www.liaawards.com

The London International Awards, or LIA (formerly known as London International Advertising Awards, LIAA), are a worldwide awards annually honoring "pioneers, and embodiments of excellence" in advertising, digital media, production, design, music & sound and branded entertainment. It was the first truly international advertising award of its kind to acknowledge all media and methods from all over the world to be judged by a diverse global jury.

The Awards, founded in 1986 by President Barbara Levy, began by celebrating advertising in the realms of cinema, television, print, and radio internationally, evolving since its inception into 16 unique media types: Billboard, Branded Entertainment, Design, Digital, Integration, Music & Sound, Non-Traditional, Package Design, Poster, Print, Production & Post-Production, Radio & Audio, The NEW, Music Video, Television/Cinema/Online Film and Verbal Identity. In 2004, the word "Advertising" was removed from the competition's name to reflect the fact that it observes more than just "advertising" in an ever-changing industry.

In 2009, LIA, along with creative Faris Yakob, developed "The NEW," a medium that takes notice of new kinds of ideas rather than merely new ideas, for works that demonstrate concepts that don't fit comfortably among the standard media divisions, with a focus in fields of technology.

In 2014, LIA added Branded Entertainment as a medium. The judging category, first chaired by Jimmy Smith of Amusement Park Entertainment, awards "creativity and the power of the idea across films, television programming, live events, audio, gaming and music videos that engage consumers by entertaining them, rather than through traditional advertising."

For 2016, LIA introduced a medium called Verbal Identity, centered on "the long-term verbal assets" of a brand, with sub-categories devoted to naming, taglines, copywriting and tone of voice.

As of 2016, the 31st year of the awards, LIA has one main office in New York.

LIA is one of the largest and most comprehensive awards programs in its field, with the official 2015 history stating that the competition received over 14,000 entries from nearly 80 countries.

As of 2016, the twelve LIA Jury panels, each one headed by a Jury President, are composed of nearly 100 experienced members of agencies, production companies, design houses, and technology companies. These panels decide on the Gold, Silver and Bronze Statue Winners, as well as the finalists, with each Jury given the non-compulsory opportunity to award a Grand LIA to a piece of work that has achieved a Gold statue. The judging process is unique in that each Juror sees every piece of work entered within the medium/media that he or she is required to judge. Judging is held annually in Las Vegas over a 7- to 10-day period in late September/early October.