In advance of the awards ceremony tomorrow night (22 June), the PR Lions award shortlist reveals strong performance from agency giants WPP-owned Ogilvy & Mather, Publicis, Edelman and McCann. The US features heavily in the list, as does the UK and Brazil, though international representation overall is quite diverse.

There are 200 shortlisted PR campaigns across 36 separate categories. Global agencies that span the advertising and PR industries have performed well with Ogilvy receiving 14 nominations, Publicis receiving eight and Edelman receiving seven. McCann has been shortlisted nine times.

Among the brands shortlisted are Heineken and The Coca-Cola Company as well as festival favourite Always' #LikeAGirl campaign for Procter & Gamble. Edelman’s campaigns with Dove are responsible for three of the agency’s nominations. Ketchum’s campaign with Fashion Revolution has received two nominations in the ‘Events & experiential’ and ‘Charity & not-for-profit’ categories.

As the Cannes Lions Festival gets underway, several themes are already emerging. The role of women in the creative industries, the merging of tech and creativity and the growing influence of the Asia-Pacific region are some of the most notable.