The 60th Cannes Lions festival has got a gamification twist, for the first time in its history.

The major event in the advertising industry is inviting this year’s delegates to play the “Win Cannes” game for a chance to win an ultimate prize, a delegate pass for the Cannes Lions Festival 2014. The game, which can be accessed via the iOS and Android app, is based on the activity at this year’s event, slated for June 16-22.

To collect points called Pings, with the app, the attendees of the festivals are asked to actively engage by attending seminars, networking events, scanning badges, etc.

The more points they’ll get, the higher their rank on the leaderboard will be. For instance, visiting the Game Changers exhibition brings 75 Pings, while for attending seminars and adding to the goodybag one will be awarded 200 Pings.

Each day from Monday through Friday, there will be a winner of the day (the one on the top at 6 pm), who will get a prize from Microsoft. The leaderboard will feature just 10 players with the most points. The person with the most Pings by Saturday, 12:00, will become the “Win Cannes” grand winner and will be awarded a VIP invitation to the next Cannes Lions Festival.

The Pings points scoring system is presented by media agency PHD, which uses it in its corporate system starting early 2013. “PHD’s global strategy and planning system, Source, functions as a game, so everyday PHD planners from across the world compete within a real-time global leader-board based on the amount of Pings achieved by each player,” says the game’s site. The Source system already engages 1,400 active players, which makes up over two thirds of all staff at PHD. The agency will explain how to use gamification at its seminar on 18 June (attending the event generates 500 Pings).

There will be also a real brand race arranged at the event to add to the spirit of competition. During the 2013 Cannes Lions, auto brands will participate in The BrandRally, featuring 10 cars from the leaders of the automotive industry. The competition that will be hosted in and around Cannes, is arranged by Amsterdam-based ad agency BrandBase. To get behind the driving wheel in the race, one should pay €1,195 per team (2 persons). The luck at the draw before the race determines which cars the teams will drive—these include Ferrari F458 Spider, Cadillac Eldorado, Fiat Spider 124, Cadillac Deville, Ford Mustang, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9 and more.