The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity believes creativity is the driving force for business, for change and for good. The awards set a global benchmark for what good creative looks like, and the annual Festival connects those with a similar vision – all of which encompasses what we do as communications professionals.
The PR Council’s Cannes Lions Resource Center is your go-to resource for perspectives and information on the recent Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
Behind the Scenes with Cannes US Jury Members
Watch a conversation with six Cannes Lions 2017 jury members from the US in which they share key insights from behind the scenes in the jury room. Learn their POV – what wins, surprises from this year, tips and advice on entering, and their thoughts on the state of the industry.
Join six Cannes Lions 2017 jury members from the US as they share key insights from behind the scenes in the jury room. Learn their POV – what wins, surprises from this year, tips and advice on entering, and their thoughts on the state of the industry.
Christine Abbott, Executive Vice President, Cohn & Wolfe Caroline Dettman, Chief Creative & Community Officer, Golin Daryl McCullough, Chief Executive Officer & Global Chairman, Citizen Relations Karen VanBergen, Chief Executive Officer, Omnicom Public Relations Group Rema Vasan, Global Client Engagement Director, MSLGROUP Kym White, Global Chair, Health Sector, Edelman
Campaigns to Watch
The following campaigns represent some of the best winning work at Cannes.
Fearless Girl
Titanium Grand Prix, Glass Grand Prix, Outdoor Grand Prix, PR Grand Prix, PR Gold Lion, PR Silver Lion
Women make up half the population, yet the share of women in corporate leadership positions remains disproportionately low. However, research from MSCI Global reveals that companies with higher percentages of women in leadership roles outperform those that don’t. To allow investors to leverage this truth, investment firm, State Street Global Advisors, developed the SHE Fund, the first ETF comprised only of corporations with the highest percentages of women in leadership positions.Next they needed a campaign that would spread the word across the financial community.
#NuggsForCarter
2 Silver PR Lions, 1 Bronze PR Lion
Most brands are skittish about genuinely engaging in real time with their social media audiences, but Wendy’s community management is all in, loving on fans and playfully roasting haters every day. We’ve done it by combining a consistent, conversational voice with topical, relevant humor and playful sarcasm. This formula has given Wendy’s community management the ability to do some pretty amazing things with its social community. Such was the case in April when 16-year-old Carter Wilkerson (@carterjwm) tweeted Wendy’s and asked how many retweets it would take to give him free chicken nuggets for a year. Our brief exchange went viral organically and led to a mainstream media blitz unlike any we’ve ever seen. Moreover, it led to Carter’s tweet about Wendy’s chicken nuggets being the most-retweeted tweet of all time!
Boost Your Voice – Boost Mobile
Integrated Grand Prix, Promo & Activation Grand Prix
Boost Mobile is a prepaid wireless carrier. In the prepaid wireless industry, brand loyalty is very low; with no contracts, people often switch carriers to get the best deal. Boost Mobile’s brand mission is to be an ally for their customers and help them be heard – primarily low-income and working-class minorities in urban areas across the United States. Voters in these neighborhoods have fewer voting stations and are more likely to have to wait in line for hours. To these Americans, waiting in line means missing work and losing a paycheck. To help form a more meaningful connection with the community they serve, Boost Mobile set out to help their customers have equal voting access in the 2016 presidential election.
Cheetos Museum
2 PR Gold Lions
At the start of 2016, Cheetos® was a category leader but faced pressure and needed to find new ways to grow. Our challenge was to unlock an entirely new reason for people to buy the product again.
Meet Graham – Transport Accident Commission Victoria
Health & Wellness Grand Prix, Cyber Grand Prix, PR Gold Lion, 3 PR Silver Lions
In 2011 the UN declared global road death as a major public health problem and for this to be the Decade of Action. For over 25 years the Transport Accident Commission in Australia have been successful pioneers of shock advertising campaigns, that have helped drive that road toll down. But in recent times Australians have become desensitized to these tactics and the road toll is on the rise.By our very nature, people tend to overlook or play down their own frailties, their own vulnerabilities, as this is far easier than facing their own mortality. Whilst this is a natural behavior, when it comes to road safety it is a dangerous one. The TAC needed to find a way to cut through to people fatigued of road safety messages and create a visceral experience that would once again get them to consider their own vulnerabilities and prioritize safe road behavior.
CareCounts – Whirlpool
Creative Data Grand Prix, PR Gold Lion, 2 PR Bronze Lions
Every day in America, thousands of kids miss school because they lack one thing: clean clothes. And kids who regularly miss school are 7 times more likely to drop out.As the brand that celebrates the value of everyday care (i.e. cooking, cleaning and washing), Whirlpool created the Care Counts program to see if something as important as school attendance could be impacted by something as simple as laundry.
The 2017 winners of the U.S. PR Young Lions competition are Patty Bloom and Rachel Carlisle, Ketchum Chicago. Patty and Rachel created a communications campaign (view their entry here) based on a brief provided by MCM , the Cannes Lions partner for the USA. They attended the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and competed in the global Young Lions competition on behalf of the USA. Read their blog for more insights into the competition day!
The 2017 winners of the U.S. PR Young Lions competition are Patty Bloom and Rachel Carlisle, Ketchum Chicago. Patty and Rachel created a communications campaign (view their entry here) based on a brief provided by MCM , the Cannes Lions partner for the USA. They attended the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and competed in the global Young Lions competition on behalf of the USA. Read their blog for more insights into the competition day!