Reminiscing the Cannes Lions 2018

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Advertising Awards

10 min readJan 23, 2019

Right before we prepare ourselves for another awards season, let’s take time to look back at the previous edition of the Cannes Lions.

Cannes Lions: 2018 edition

The big change of last year was a shortened festival lasting only five days (versus seven days before). People seemed quite fond of the new direction. Even though many people complained that the bars, hotels and restaurants around Cannes seemed less busy. Good thing, I guess.

As for the competition itself, the categories were revamped in several tracks. Nothing major here. However, implementing the Creative eCommerce category immediately felt like a nice addition.

There was some slight confusion about a new rule stating that a single piece of work could only be entered in a maximum of 6 Lions. But because, a company can enter a campaign in 4 categories per Lion (+ the Titanium Lion), this means that you could still sweep the competition and leave Cannes with 25 potential prizes. Much ado about nothing, then.

The organisation introduced a digital platform, called The Work. Users can intuitively search over 200,000 global pieces of creative work, curated playlists, and spotlights on the work of individual brands and agencies. The Work includes every entry for Cannes 2018.

Quotes from the press briefings

“Outdoor can be the most revolutionary media.” (Chris Garbutt, Outdoor Jury President — Chief Creative Officer, TBWA)

“When you want to change something, take it to the streets.” (Chris Garbutt, Outdoor Jury President — Chief Creative Officer, TBWA)

“The food category has become the most competitive industry in advertising.” (Chris Garbutt, Outdoor Jury President — Chief Creative Officer, TBWA)

“Some campaigns simply jump on the bandwagon of purpose.” (Chris Garbutt, Outdoor Jury President — Chief Creative Officer, TBWA)

“Print can be thought of a dying media.” (Kate Stanners, Print & Publishing Jury President — Chairwoman & Global Chief Creative Officer, Saatchi & Saatchi)

“Judging the publishing sub-category is a whole different kind of experience. Everything in there is great, but is not ideas first.” (Kate Stanners, Print & Publishing Jury President — Chairwoman & Global Chief Creative Officer, Saatchi & Saatchi)

“A great film is something that people want to re-watch and share.” (Luiz Sanches, Film Jury President — Partner & Chief Creative Officer, AlmapBBDO)

“Film Grand Prix winner “The Tide Ad” brings back humor to the industry.” (Luiz Sanches, Film Jury President — Partner & Chief Creative Officer, AlmapBBDO)

“Film Grand Prix winner “The Talk” by P&G gives us a chance to talk and reflect on the things that we live in today.” (Luiz Sanches, Film Jury President — Partner & Chief Creative Officer, AlmapBBDO)

“The Sustainable Development Goals category will become the most important Lion in the future.” (Mark Tutssel, Sustainable Development Goals Jury President — Executive Chairman & Global Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett Worldwide)

“Sustainable Development Goals Grand Prix winner “Palau Pledge” shows how we can go from awareness to action.” (Mark Tutssel, Sustainable Development Goals Jury President — Executive Chairman & Global Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett Worldwide)

“Glass Grand Prix winner “Blood Normal” reminded us us why this work is so important during their live presentation.” (Madonna Badger, Glass Jury President — Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Badger & Winters)

“Film Craft Grand Prix winner “Hope” plunges us into another world that we wouldn’t be able to imagine.” (Diane McArter, Film Craft Jury President — Founder & President, Furlined)

“Craft seems to be a secondary element in reducing budgets, but craft brings ideas to reality.” (Yang Yeo, Industry Craft Jury President — Creative Kaiju, Hakuhodo).

“Digital craft has matured over the years.” (Jean Lin, Digital Craft Jury President — Global CEO, Isobar)

“We are looking for craft with a purpose rather than craft for craft’s sake.” (Jean Lin, Digital Craft Jury President — Global CEO, Isobar)

“If you don’t have an ecommerce strategy, you don’t have a brand, you don’t have a business.” (Nick Law, Creative eCommerce Jury President — Global Chief Creative Officer, Publicis Groupe)

“Brand Experience & Activation Grand Prix winner “Today At Apple” defines what a brand experience can be in an age when retail is dying and is showing how retail can be meaningful today.” (Rob Reilly, Brand Experience & Activation Jury President — Global Creative Chairman, McCann Worldgroup)

“Innovation Gold winner “Making The World Accessible, Dot by Dot” was awarded this year again because we need to reward continuous improvement.” (Tor Myhren, Innovation Jury President — VP Marketing Communications, Apple)

“Product design has the ability to change the world for the better.” (Asif Khan, Product Design Jury President — Architect, Asif Khan)

“We’ve awarded work that is both life-changing and creative.” (Rich Levy, Pharma Jury President — Chief Creative Officer, FCB Health)

“The largest pharma companies are entering the competition: Pfizer, Novartis, AstraZeneca, GSK …” (Rich Levy, Pharma Jury President — Chief Creative Officer, FCB Health)

“Lions Health is a perfect example of how Cannes serves as a benchmark for the industry.” (R. John Fidelino, Health & Wellness Jury President — Executive Creative Director, InterbrandHealth)

“The radio category has completely changed. We’ve awarded the most number of awards ever in this category. As a medium, sound has widened. sound is appearing everywhere.” (Jo McCrostie Radio Jury President — Creative Director, Global Radio)

“The brands move from purpose-driven to corporate activism.” (Tim Castree, Media Lions Jury President — Global CEO, Wavemaker)

“This new Social & Influencer Lions represents the shift of advertising. What matters is what people do with your idea. You need humility and humanity to engage with culture. It is not about technology, it’s about people.” (Mark D’Arcy, Social & Influencer Lions Jury President — VP, Chief Creative Officer, Facebook)

A few controversies

Last year, there were two Grand Prix winners for operations mixing ALS and AI. One was a solid execution with a PR component added to it (“JFKUnsilenced”) and the other one was just a proof of concept (“Project Revoice”). Odd, isn’t it ?

“The Child Replacement Programme” by BBDO Aucklan was awarded Gold and Bronze prizes in 2018. But the campaign was also a winner in 2017, when it scored Gold and Silver awards.

“Paytm Sweet Change” by McCann Mumbai managed to get a Gold Lion in the Creative eCommerce category. However, the campaign appeared to have already been submitted in 2017, when it won nothing.

The Outdoor Grand Prix winner “Follow The Arches” by Cossette Toronto seemed to be a copycat from a similar campaign released in 2015 by DDB Prague.

Interviews with Jury Presidents

Mark D’Arcy, Social & Influencer Jury President — VP, Chief Creative Officer, Facebook, speaks to TheNextGag.

THENEXTGAG: Last year, there was a jury that wrote a book after the event because there had so much learnings to share.

MARK D’ARCY: They wrote a book ? That is a good idea.

TNG: YES. THEY DID IT TOGETHER. AND BECAUSE THE SOCIAL & INFLUENCER CATEGORY IS NEW, WOULD YOU BE OPEN TO DO IT ?

MD: I can’t answer that question. I have to clear my head before, because I hadn’t though of that. But it is probably a good idea. It is a good suggestion.

TNG: WOULD YOU BE OPEN TO STREAMING LIVE THE JURY DISCUSSIONS SO THAT PEOPLE CAN KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE JURY ?

MD: In the future ? Yes, absolutely.

TNG: DO YOU EXPECT TO SEE MORE PEOPLE LIKE YOU — PEOPLE FROM LARGE TECH COMPANIES — SITTING ON JURIES FOR AWARDS SHOWS ?

MD: Yes. If you look at the jury overall, I think the diversity of jurors has broaden up enormously across every category. Because the industry is more diverse and you need more expertise from different areas. This year, we had an amazing influencer from Brazil. I think that brings diversity of conversations. So as long as everyone in the room understands what Cannes is — the credibility of Cannes, the creativity of Cannes — I think the diversity is very important. So long that it doesn’t defuse the excellence and the tradition of what Cannes stands for. It is about knowing what Cannes is — and particularly protecting the integrity — and what it is in the world. And also accelerating the diversity of opinions around the room.

TNG: DOES IT MEAN THAT THERE WILL NO LONGER BE FACEBOOK AWARDS ?

MD: Those are unrelated topics.

Tor Myhren, Innovation Jury President — VP Marketing Communications, Apple, speaks to TheNextGag.

THENEXTGAG: HOW DID THE LIVE JUDGING, AND THE FACT THAT AGENCIES HAD TO COME TO PRESENT TO YOU, CHANGED THE JUDGING ?

TOR MYHREN: It was amazing. I loved it.

TNG: HOW DID IT AFFECT THE DISCUSSIONS ?

TM: When you don’t have that, all you have is a two minute film. And I think there is a lot that you could live out of a two minute film to tell your story in a compelling way. You have music that brings emotion and changes the way you think about something. But when you have ten minutes of a Q&A, you strip down to “What is the idea ? Why is it impactful ? Why does it matter ? Why is it innovation ?”

And it is a really great way to get to the bottom of whether an idea is an award-winning idea or not.

TNG: BUT THE JUDGING ACTUALLY IN A ROOM WITH ONLY THE MEMBERS OF THE JURY ?

TM: Yeah.

TNG: WOULD YOU BE OPEN TO LIVE-STREAMING THESE DISCUSSIONS SO THAT WE KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IN THE JURY ROOMS ?

TM: Hmm … I would not. I wouldn’t be a fan of that, no. Ask Philip Thomas.

TNG: HOW COME APPLE HAS NEVER BEEN SELECTED AS THE CREATIVE MARKETER OF THE YEAR ?

TM: I don’t know (laughs).

TNG: AND MY LAST QUESTION WILL BE SIMPLE: WHAT IS A COMPUTER ?

TM: It is a good question (laughs).

2018 Grand Prix winners

Health & Wellness: Corazon: Give Your Heart — Montefiore (John X Hannes New York, USA)
Pharma: /
Health For Good: Blink To Speak — Asha Ek Hope Foundation (TBWA\Mumbai, India)
Design: Trash Isles — LADBible (AMV BBDO London, UK)
Outdoor: Next Exit / Just Missed / On Your Left / On Your Right — McDonald’s (Cossette Toronto, Canada)
Outdoor: The Donald J. Trump Presidential Twitter Library — The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (Comedy Central New York, USA)
Mobile: Corruption Detector — Reclame Aqui (GREY Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Radio & Audio: Soccer Song For Change — Carling (Ogilvy Cape Coast, South Africa)
Print & Publishing: Tagwords — Budweiser (Africa Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Film Craft: Hope — International Committee of the Red Cross (Sra Rushmore Madrid, Spain)
Digital Craft: Aeronaut VR — William Patrick Corgan (Isobar New York, USA)
Industry Craft: Ali — Kiwi Shoe Care (Ogilvy Chicago, USA)
Entertainment: Ever_45 — KPN (N=5 Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Entertainment For Music: Smile — Jay-Z (Smuggler New York, USA)
Entertainment For Music: Welcome Home — Apple (TBWA\Media Arts Lab Los Angeles, USA)
Brand Experience & Activation: Today At Apple — Apple (Apple Cupertino, USA)
Creative Ecommerce: The Fanchise Model — Xbox Design Lab (McCann London, UK)
Product Design: Kingo — Kingo (Ogilvy Bogota, Colombia)
Creative Data: JFK Unsilenced — The Times (Rothco Dublin, Ireland)
Innovation: My Line — Ministry of Communications & Technology (Mullen Lowe SSP3 Bogota, Colombia)
Social & Influencer: Nothing Beats A Londoner — Nike (Wieden+Kennedy London, UK)
PR: Trash Isles — LADBible (AMV BBDO London, UK)
Direct: Palau Pledge — Palau Legacy Project (Host/Havas Sydney, Australia)
Media: Food Love Stories — Tesco (BBH London, UK)
Film: It’s A Tide Ad / It’s Another Tide Ad / It’s Yet Another Tide Ad / It’s Yet Another Tide Ad, Again — Tide (Saatchi & Saatchi New York, USA)
Film: The Talk — P&G (BBDO New York, USA)
Sustainable Development Goals: Palau Pledge — Palau Legacy Project (Host/Havas Sydney, Australia)
Glass: Blood Normal — Libresse (AMV BBDO London, UK)
Titanium: Palau Pledge — Palau Legacy Project (Host/Havas Sydney, Australia)
Creative Effectiveness: Healthy Hands Chalk Sticks — Savlon (Ogilvy Mumbai, India)
For Good: Project Revoice — The ALS Association (BWM Dentsu Sydney, Australia)

What’s in stock for 2019 ?

The Cannes Lions organization has announced some changes for the 2019 competition.

Among them, the decision to fold the Product Design Lions into the Product Innovation Lions.

And the introduction of two new Lions in order to reflect the culture and get juries full of specialists, with the Entertainment Lions For Sport and the Creative Strategy Lions. The latter is meant not just for campaigns but also for business transformation platforms.

The 2019 Cannes Lions jury presidents have already been unveiled, with David Lubars, Rei Inamoto, David Droga, John Seifert or Steve Stoute, among the mix.

Among the early speakers confirmed are Jen Rubio (Away) and Fernando Machado (Burger King).