The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity brought in a whopping $28.2 million in entry fees this year, according to an Ad Age calculation based on the number of entries in various categories and base entry fees for those categories, but excluding late-entry fees.
That's up from $24 million in entry fees last year, according to Ad Age's calculation at the time.
Cannes Lions entries reached a record high this year, thanks in part to (yet another) new category, Product Design, which is meant to recognize the applied use of physical products to help a brand communicate its ethos, as well as the product's ability to improve lives. The annual festival saw 37,427 entries from 97 countries this year, a 4.4% increase from 2013.
The most lucrative category for Cannes organizers was Outdoor, which also for the first time was the most popular category, overtaking Press (which recognizes creativity in print ads) with 5,660 entries. The Festival raised $3.5 million from that category. A close second was Press, which brought in $3.4 million.
Entry fees vary by category. The most expensive category to enter is Titanium and Integrated, which costs $1,838 per entry. However, it only had 378 entrants, and netted Cannes just over $694,000.
The countries with the most entries were the United States, with 6,213; Brazil, with 3,321; and Germany, with 2,376. Agencies in Albania, Ghana and San Marino entered for the first time.