Before we begin discussing the fifth day of the 2016 Cannes Lions, if you want to keep track of all the award winners, you can keep checking the “Just Announced” page on the official Cannes Lions website for all award wins as and when they are announced. Or, you could keep checking back with us here for the most exciting awards wins and more.
Sir Martin Sorrell calls Brexit a potential disaster!
A day ahead of the UK electorate take to the polls to decide the country's fate over EU membership, WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell used the platform of the Cannes Lions to voice his opinion on the matter. Unsurprisingly, he's very much against the Brexit. Speaking on a panel hosted by his organisation's ad tech hub Xaxis, he branded a pro-Brexit vote a potential disaster for the UK economy. Sir Martin explained that the resulting economic uncertainty if the UK were to back an exit from the EU would lead to financial repercussions that would be felt for years to come. He likened the EU to a merger between companies, through which those companies may be able to grow faster together than separately. He also stressed that a vote to leave the EU could have unintended and negative consequences for young people. He further pointed out that the largely flat growth rate of the global economy, relatively little inflation, plus a focus on controlling cost, meant that pro-Brexit clients were not thinking with long term goals in mind. However, he did hasten to voice his confidence that the UK electorate would, by and large, back the Vote Remain campaign, plus his opinion that Hillary Clinton would eventually prevail in this year's US Whitehouse race over Donald Trump.
“I think we should remain in the EU. Everybody is focused on the short-term, but the key issue is whether the UK economy will grow faster on its own or as part of the EU. I think the latter is the case” Sir Martin Sorrell
Tuesday Night's BIG Award Winners
In the third awards show of the week on Tuesday night, winners of the Creative Effectiveness, Design, Outdoor and PR Lions were announced, alongside Product Design and the new Digital Craft Lions. From boundary-breaking ideas to the technical mastery behind products, world-class creativity took centre stage. A record-breaking 540 entries were received for Product Design and 11 Lions were awarded. The Grand Prix went to “Jacquard” for Google, by Google Creative Lab, London. From a 109 entries in Creative Effectiveness, 13 Lions were awarded and the Grand Prix went to “Monty’s Christmas” for John Lewis, by adam&eveDDB, UK.
Monty's Christmas
Winners of the new Digital Craft Lions, carved out of the craft categories from the Cyber and Mobile Lions, were also announced. Celebrating the skill and artistry in omni-channel digital creativity, from desktop to mobile to virtual reality, there were 1,148 entries from which 50 Lions were awarded. The inaugural Grand Prix went to “Because Recollection” for Because Music by 84.Paris, France. Design received 2,856 entries and 104 Lions were awarded. The Grand Prix went to “Life is Electric” for Panasonic, by DENTSU INC, Tokyo, which was chosen for its creative bravery. From 5,367 Outdoor entries, 129 Lions were awarded. The Grand Prix went to “Brewtroleum” for Heineken New Zealand, by Colenso BBDO. Finally, from a total of 2,225 entries in PR, 84 Lions were awarded. The Grand Prix went to “The Organic Effect” for Co-op by Forsman & Bodenfors, Sweden.
in/PACT ask Lions delegates to direct Glass proceeds to gender equality causes
Cannes Lions has partnered with purpose activation platform in/PACT to invite delegates to shatter gender stereotypes by directing a portion of the proceeds from the Glass Lion award to the cause of their choice. Last year, Cannes Lions unveiled Glass: The Lion for Change, an award which celebrates culture-shifting creativity by recognising work that implicitly or explicitly addresses issues of gender equality or prejudice through the conscious representation of gender in advertising. By partnering with in/PACT, the interactive purpose activation platform based in San Francisco, Cannes Lions celebrated the launch of the award in 2015 by allowing delegates to direct all of the Glass Lion proceeds to their favourite of ten featured gender equality nonprofits. The initiative successfully directed €87,340 to the ten causes in one week.
“We are honoured to amplify our efforts and allow each and every delegate the opportunity to play an active role in the fight for gender equality”
This year, the campaign will return with even more impact. Throughout the festival, delegates will have multiple opportunities to direct Glass Lion entry proceeds to featured gender equality causes. Opportunities to take action will begin at the Glass Lion award ceremony and continue throughout the Festival with a custom campaign microsite and the Cannes Lions mobile app. Kevin Eyres, CEO of in/PACT, said: “Last year, we had the opportunity to help the Cannes Lions Festival activate their purpose through the newly unveiled Glass: Lion for Change. This year, we are honoured and excited to amplify our efforts and allow each and every delegate the opportunity to play an active role in the fight for gender equality.”
Another epic day for Ogilvy & Mather
On the fifth day of the 2016 Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, Ogilvy & Mather took home a total of 22 Lions including: 7 Golds, 6 Silver and 9 Bronze, including three Golds for its “Manboobs” campaign for The Breast Cancer Health Movement. The social campaign, created by the network’s DAVID Buenos Aires office, takes on social media censorship of female breasts by demonstrating how to do a breast self-examination using a man. It also raises awareness for breast cancer in men. Manboobs won two Gold Lions in the Cyber category, and one Gold in the Mobile category. The campaign has already won a Grand Prix and five Gold Lions earlier in the Festival.
INGO Stockholm, an Ogilvy & Mather/Grey joint venture, also added two more Golds to the selection of Lions for its “The Swedish Number” campaign, picking up awards in the Cyber and Mobile categories. The direct campaign, which connects callers from around the world with random Swedes who offer an unfiltered view of Swedish life, picked up a Grand Prix and a Gold earlier in the week. INGO Stockholm was also awarded a Gold in the Media category for its “Le Bon” campaign for LIDL, bringing the total Golds for Stockholm to three for the day. The Ogilvy & Mather network’s Bangkok office was also recognised for its powerful anti-leather campaign “Behind the leather,” picking up a Gold in the Media category.
Tham Khai Meng, Worldwide Chief Creative Officer at Ogilvy & Mather, said: “I am impressed by our DAVID Buenos Aires, INGO Stockholm and Ogilvy & Mather Bangkok offices for the mold-breaking work they have crafted across these categories. Winning one Grand Prix and eight Golds for one campaign like Manboobs has done is a testament to the bigness of the idea. All these wins would not be possible without the courage of our clients and our talent. We are humbled, thank you everyone.” Gaston Bigio, Co-Founder, at DAVID, added: “Manboobs has been awarded the first Gold Lion in Cyber and Mobile in the history of Argentina. It is an idea that travelled the world showing social connections can overcome barriers and achieve good. We couldn’t be more proud.”
Iggy Pop claims Kim Kardashian has been good for our media
In what is now certainly destined to go down in history as an iconic “Cannes Lions moment,” Grey London chairman Nils Leonard stripped off onstage in order to interview the legendary Stooges frontman, Iggy Pop. Leonard did so not simply for an easy laugh, of course, but in order to bring attention to a campaign for the Ehlers-Danlos Support charity, which provides support for people and families who suffer from EDS; a rare inherited condition that affects connective tissue. Many industry bigwigs promised Nils that they'd happily donate to the cause if he stripped to his waist onstage with Iggy, who, of course, did likewise. The result was one of the warmest and most human Cannes Lions interviews of the year, in which the perpetually shirtless rocker mused on a number of intriguing topics. Here are a few highlights:-
On marketers: “I meet marketing people at the record companies. They all have two faces, three mouths, ten sets of ethics.”
On Kim Kardashian: “She has been good for our media. The unintended side effect of Kim’s career is that there are probably some people who think they have more possibilities of life.”
On the public ad advertising: “The public is God and in between the public and the product is a voodoo priest called the ad guy. You’ve got to convince the client that you are going to make it rain.”
On ad-blocking: “As long as people keep pressing their finger and skipping ads it will change. It’s like voting. In the western democracy you can’t vote against someone, you have to vote for someone else. But to skip an ad is a negative vote.”
On the internet: “I don’t think they need to show the products anymore. Everyone is looking at products online all the time.”
On life: “I lived like a wild creature from 18 until I was 25. But between 25 and 35 I realised you’ve got to pull back at some points. Don’t lose what’s making you so nuts, but put it in the art, don’t take it home. I would have relapses, but by 35 I had become relatively sensible.”
Y&R claims Media Grand for second year in a row
Y&R was awarded the Grand Prix in the Media category for the "McWhopper" campaign created by Y&R New Zealand for Burger King. The campaign picked up another Grand Prix opening night in the Print & Publishing Category, as well as 4 Gold and 2 Silver Lions. The campaign, which began with a print ad in The New York Times and TheChicago Tribune, and was surrounded by shareable content, struck a chord around the world. The campaign went viral, with nearly 8.9 billion media impressions, $138 million in earned media and a 40 percent increase in awareness of Peace Day, uplifting all of Burger King's brand attributes. Around the world, people uploaded videos of their own McWhopper creations. Last year, Y&R won the Media Grand Prix for Vodafone's "Between Us" campaign.
"Here at Cannes, we are grateful and thankful for this second Grand Prix and the recognition from our industry. This is truly memorable" Josh Moore, CEO and CCO of Y&R New Zealand
Gwyneth Paltrow promotes Goop and defends Chris Martin relationship
Finally, the star-studded Cannes Lions 2016 line-up continued to impress when actress turned entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow took to the stage of the Debussy Theatre yesterday to chat to Stephen Sackur from BBC HARDTalk about the challenges of running her online lifestyle publication Goop and raising a family whilst living in the public eye. The oscar-winning actress launched Goop in 2008 as a brand and a lifestyle website focusing on health, wellness and clean eating. Many might complain that it's something of an elitist brand, only offering expensive advice for the upper classes, but in her defence, she never marketed it as anything other than a premium lifestyle brand.
Paltrow was quizzed by Sackur about whether she now felt more like a business woman than an actress. She explained: “I built my success as an actor, but now I'm focusing on by business and raising my children. I couldn't possibly make a film right now.” He also asked her about her thoughts on the upcoming US presidential elections, and, unsurprisingly, she outed herself as a staunch democrat who was definitely in favour of a female president: “It's about time! Countries with a female leader are doing well.” She was also asked about her relationship with her former husband Coldplay frontman Chris Martin. She simply said on the matter: “My children know that we're in a loving family. And I adore their father even though we're not in a romantic relationship.” She added: “I'm very proud of us for the way that, as anyone who has been divorced knows, we have had to put aside an awful lot to stay a family for the sake of the children. Sometimes it's quite tough on a personal level.”
Moving on to Goop, Gwyneth and Stephen discussed the time that the company advertised a $15,000 gold dildo, though the jovial actress dismissed the decision as all in the name of fun: “We definitely have a little laugh. We look for products that have that sort of reaction.” Of the brand itself, she added: “The values of the brand are that we believe in family, good food, wellness and non toxic beauty. Yes, it might be slightly more expensive, but really it's about executing on the value of the brand. It's not some lofty lifestyle.” She also claimed that she actually does enjoy junk food every once in a while. Perhaps THE shocking reveal of the festival! For those who wish to listen to the whole interview, it will be broadcast on BBC World News next week.
