On the Ground at Cannes: A Tour of the Visceral Work

Emotional storytelling has been the cornerstone of effective marketing for years. But as technology becomes increasingly hyper-immersive, consumers will become more and more difficult to reach and impress, and brands will need to rise to the occasion. The best-in-class work on display at Cannes this year demonstrates that compelling storytelling is just the beginning. Some of the most impactful work stimulates the emotions and the senses in their intended audiences, creating a visceral effect that sparks conversation, sharing and action.

Here are a few of my favorite visceral campaigns:

Field Trip to Mars — Because global security, aerospace and IT company Lockheed Martin is building the first technology to take people to Mars, they wanted to inspire the first generation who will go there. To do just that, they turned an ordinary school bus into the first ever shared, group VR experience, taking a group of schoolchildren on a virtual trip to Mars that evoked the senses and inspired imaginations.

Paper Glasses — Visual impairment accounts for 75 percent of school dropouts in Mexico. Many students cannot access doctors to get their eyes checked. Save the Children and Santillana saw a solution — creating and distributing paper glasses that empowered children to self-administer a simple vision test.

Touchable Ink — Braille improves literacy and confidence of the blind, but unfortunately, braille printed materials are often scarce because braille printers are so cost prohibitive. Samsung partnered with the Thailand Association of the Blind and the Faculty of Science and Technology at Thammasat University to invent a special braille ink that could be inserted into any home printer, improving access for millions of visually impaired people globally.

The Sound Shirt — The Junge Symphoniker Hamburg wanted to ensure that classical music was accessible to everyone. So they created a mechanism to include a population in the joy of classical music who would otherwise be unable to enjoy it: the deaf and hearing impaired. The Sound Shirt is a tech-connected article of clothing that interprets classical music in lights and vibrations to provide a sensory experience like no other.

Many of the campaigns that touched me most were those rooted in purpose, access and inclusion. But because these ideas are informed by key insights that reflect real consumer needs, and the purpose is so deeply ingrained in the idea and connected to the brand, they resonate deeply and inspire visceral reactions in both their intended audiences and the judges at Cannes Lions.

Laura Goldsmith is the strategy director in Los Angeles.

Image by Cannes Lions.

Originally published at www.edelman.com on June 24, 2016.