Cannes – Turkey and Sweden secured a Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions 2015 tonight for Media and Creative Effectiveness as the US continues its dominance scoring a total of 6 Grand Prix so far, now including PR and Outdoor.
Media Lions Grand Prix
While the US won 17 Lions in total in this category, Y&R Team Red from Istanbul will be bringing home the Grand Prix and a Gold Lion for the Vodaphone Red Light Application which helped combat domestic violence in Turkey. Disguised as a flashlight app, it sends a message to three trusted people and a location tag when shaken, turning mobile phones into life-saving panic buttons.
“This is unprecedented. An exhaustive process,” Nick Emery, Global CEO of Mindshare Worldwide and Media Jury president said, recalling to the task of sifting through a total of 3179 entries and over 200 shortlisted campaigns.
He said that social good emerged as an encompassing theme but pointed out that “there was not a lot of ‘wow,’” adding that while ideas are well executed, they were “not able to push the barrier.”
“There were a lot of new technology used…The Grand Prix put those things together – media, craft, idea, results. It used technology, personalization, adaptability and importantly media rigor around it. It ticked a lot of boxes.”
PR Lions Grand Prix
The viral #LikeAGirl campaign for Procter & Gamble’s (P&G) Always brand made via a collaboration between MSLGROUP New York and Leo Burnett Toronto is the big winner in this category, flipping the tired old phrase from an insult to a source of confidence and strength among women.
“Looking at the origins of the work, I was floored, said Lynne Anne Davis, President & Senior Partner of FleishmanHillard Asia Pacific and PR Jury President.
“We had 20 jury members from 20 countries. One thing we agreed that we will filter the work by high degree of creativity and ingenuity.”
Commenting on #LikeAGirl, which also won a PR Gold Lion, Davis adds: The consensus was for #likeagirl. It had brand purpose and commercial pursuit, it hit pop culture, it hit virtually everyone. It spoke to a cultural truth that transcends boundaries.
A total of 79 PR Lions has been handed out, with the US winning 25 awards.
Outdoor Lions Grand Prix
TBWA\Media Arts Lab from Los Angeles wins the top prize for featuring the high resolution pictures taken by iPhone 6 users as outdoor ads for Apple with the copy “Shot on iPhone 6.” Billed as the largest mobile photography gallery in history, it includes 162 photos featured in over 10,000 installations across 25 countries in 73 cities.
“Outdoor is the oldest format in the world. It is still strong. When we think about this category, everything merges here, shares Juan Carlos Ortiz, Outdoor Lion jury president and President& CEO of DDB Latina & Creative Chairman of DDB Americas.
With 19 Gold Outdoor Lions awarded in total, Ortiz said that this remarkable turn out is “great demonstration of innovation and simplicity merging.”
“A member of the jury said, we did not choose the Grand Prix chose us. It had power not just as a great idea but a game changer. Really opening a new way of doing things and changing behavior,” he adds.
Creative Effectiveness Lions Grand Prix
The Volvo Live Test Series from Forsman and Bodenfors earned the Grand Prix this year. Actually a series of over 10 videos, it became a viral hit thanks to the hilarious Epic Split episode featuring Jean Claude Van Damme’s Epic Split.
Only 17 Creative Effectiveness Lions were handed out, sifted from a shortlist pool of 27. “There were 160 entries. Our remit was to find the highest intersection-between creativity and effectiveness. It should not be mutually exclusive. In the jury we had three marketers, strategists and agency. We feel like a family, said Wendy Clark, President of Sparkling Brands & Strategic Marketing at Coca-Cola North America and Creative Effectiveness Lions Jury President.
“It had to combine art and commerce effectively. That’s what we saw in this work. Functional story told artfully paired with huge qualitative and quantitative results on a sustained basis. We were all jealous of the work,” she commented on the winning campaign.
Creative Effectiveness Winners
SEE ALSO:
GLASS LIONS
“Touch the Pickle” from BBDO India wins first-ever Glass Lions Grand Prix
APAC sees improvement in performance, scoops 11 Gold Lions in today’s round of metal winners
