Countdown to Cannes Festival of Creativity: Out of 1000+ entries plenty of Lion contenders for OZ

The Australian’s Simon Canning reports that the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has become a global measuring stick for a resurgence in the world’s economy over the past year.

It may be the kiss of death – and there will be many more winners – but here’s CB’s top Lion chances for Australia:

Carlton Draught ‘Slow Mo’

Carlton Draught ‘Slow Mo’ stays true to the great Carlton Draught tradition of ‘taking the piss’, bringing slow motion camera technology into the pub to showcase men in all their ‘Slow Mo’ glory.

Tontine ‘Used By’

The biggest manufacturer of pillows in Australia had a problem, people were not changing their pillows often enough because they were oblivious to what goes on inside them. Happy Soldiers came up with the idea of stamping every Tontine pillow with an expiry date. So people would realize when they should change their pillows. They then created a campaign to tell people about the problem of old pillows and gave them a ‘Tontine only’ solution – dated pillows. It changed a category and changed a company.

VB ‘Cry’

Australia’s most popular beer, VB, premiered the first television commercial from its latest marketing campaign entitled ‘Real’, via agency Droga5 Sydney. ‘Cry’, directed by Revolver’s Steve Rogers, was the first TVC to hit television screens,accompanied by outdoor, print and digital advertising across the country.

Selleys ‘3 in 1’

Starting a new brand direction, Selleys’ first work from BWM launched with a campaign called ‘Do it yourself, before someone does it for you’. BWM created an idea that illustrates not only how easy it is to manage DIY projects with Selleys but, more importantly, a subtle call to action for consumers to get up and give it a go.

Scope ‘See the Person’

Scope, a not-for-profit organization that supports people with disabilities, seeked to encourage people to ‘See the Person’ and not the disability. In this campaign the rock band, Rudely Interrupted, in which five of the six members live with disabilities, was chosen to represent Scope’s purpose. To bring the purpose to life, the idea was simple: the agency became band promoters and launched Rudely Interrupted’s new song to spread Scope’s message. The poignant single, ‘Close My Eyes’ was chosen from the band’s album and artwork was created and released in the music industry. Because every successful single starts with the release of a music video, the well-known music director, Tov Belling, was enlisted to help with the band’s music video. 

Coca-Cola ‘Burn’

Publicis Mojo, Sydney

A portfolio of three short films, ‘Ride’ (dir Garth Davis), ‘Playground’ (dir Glendyn Ivin) and ‘Peepshow’ (dir Jonathan Hill), kicked off the integrated programme. The films were activated online with strategic seeding in over 65 community channels and will feature in Burn-branded social media spaces and an online hub. The series tells the stories of real-life characters from the skate, music, and snowboarding communities. ‘Playground’ and ‘Peepshow’ are pure lyrical documentary, shot in urban Philadelphia and Quebec City respectively. The Garth Davis-directed ‘Ride’, shot in Mexico City, is a piece whose gritty reality is heightened by flaming trails that the skaters leave in their wake, a metaphor for their fierce creative expression.

Speights Summit ‘Man like Natural’

Man is a fairly uncomplicated creature. Strip him down to his basic desires and you’ll find a common instinct for getting back to nature, to be part of the great outdoors. It’s completely natural, just like Lion Nathan’s deep southern New Zealand brew, Speight’s Summit, as illustrated in this new spot via Publicis Mojo, Sydney and Auckland.

National Australia Bank ‘Break Up’

NAB launched a cheeky campaign which revolved around a public break-up with the other major banks – ANZ, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac – using a variety of creative and tactical executions to communicate to existing and potential customers.

WWF ‘Moths’

Earth Hour is now in its 5th year and has spread from Australia around the globe. The creators of Earth Hour, Leo Burnett, Sydney was asked to bring the message back to Australians and remind them to turn their lights off. They leveraged the fact that it is now a well-known phenomenon and introduced a few characters that represent the last people not participating. During the course of the ad they become quick converts to the movement upon discovering just what happens when the rest of Australia has its lights out.

AEIOU Foundation ‘Communication Shutdown‘

People with autism find social communication a challenge. The agency prompted the first global shutdown of social networks to rouse empathy and raise funds by inventing the chapp (charity app) which people made a donation to receive. It signalled shutdown on Facebook and Twitter and became a channel to spread messages and build awareness. The Communication Shutdown campaign reached 164 countries in its first year. There was no media budget. Just a lot of people power.

Morning Fresh ‘Dirty Dishes’

To highlight the dishwashing power of Morning Fresh, DDB Melbourne developed a range of dishes that when submerged in hot water, magically transform from super dirty to super clean in seconds. It’s all thanks to its cutting edge, Aqua Beefcake Transition Technology. Inspired by the sort of dirty calendar a cash-strapped Fire Station would produce, this multi-media campaign uses web, viral, point of sale and interactive technologies (including a Facebook quiz ,and a ‘Dirty Message’ the user can design themselves) to bring the Dirty Dishes range to life. www.dirtydish.com.au

Cascade ‘The Brewer’s Nose’

The Cascade Brewer’s Nose app, which currently has a five starrating, uses unique barcode scanning technology, and features tastingnotes and food matches for each and every brew while allowing users tokeep track of every beer they’ve tried. A Cascade spokespersonsaid of the app update: “The Brewer’s Nose is the first app of itskind, bringing together people of all palates, ages and stages in thebeer community in an interactive and engaging environment.”

VB ‘Drinking Chip’

The VB Drinking Chip is a snack developed to complement a chilled VB beer, making you drink more. It’s allegedly the “The best hot chip made for the best cold beer”. Anyone who buys a case of VB stubbies will receive a bag of the chips. Unashamedly and utterly analogue, this idea shows that even with all the new and exciting technologies available to us, what’s at the heart of our industry hasn’t changed: it’s still about motivating human behaviour to a commercial end. And sometimes the solution may just be composed by potatoes, oil, chili, salt and a healthy dose of MSG rather than an iPhone app.

One of three print ads for the French Film Festival

Chemmart Chemist ‘Hoarse Whisperer’

After Jimmy Jaques, known as the voice of harness racing in South Australia, lost his voice right in the middle of a call, he literally became a national talking point and internet sensation overnight. Chemmart, a nationwide chemist chain in Australia, jumped on the opportunity by launching a topical radio spot via JWT Melbourne hours after the story broke.

Melbourne Writers Festival ‘Stories from the street’

JWT Melbourne

Every summer the Melbourne Writers Festival consumes the city with over 40,000 people wandering through the CBD between venues. JWT Melbourne saw a perfect opportunity to take the festival to the streets with an interactive book that brings the theme “Stories From Every Angle” to life

Virgin Money ‘On the card’

Virgin had to launch their new Virgin Flyer Credit Card. A rewards credit card that earned people points to fly on any Virgin airline. Happy Soldiers came up with the idea to pay for the entire campaign for the Virgin Rewards Credit Card, with the Virgin Rewards Credit Card. Everything from production costs to media space, right down to the cabs and coffees all on the one card. This earned enough points for over 200 flights around the world. They then gave these flights to the public.

Mrs Mac’s ‘Crusty Top’

In what is believed to be a world first, one hundred money and pie hungry contestants battled it out to see who could stay on line the longest and win Ten Grand. The competition was promoted via a rather watchable web film shot by Gobstopper’s Perry Westwood and a series of eye catching posters featuring some well seasoned eye candy. The online competition was a digital version of the classic hot hand promotions where the last person left standing with their hand on the car wins the wheels. The Crusty contestants logged onto the competition site via webcam and issued a series of challenges over the duration of the comp.

GRAND PRIX CONTENDERS

Nike ‘Write the Future’

Old Spice ‘Questions’

Wieden + Kennedy, Portland launched an interactive Twitter campaign with the Old Spice frontman Isaiah Mustafa, responding with quick turn-around short video clips posted on the Old Spice YouTube channel to real time requests from media outlets like the Huffington Post and the Ellen Show as well as individuals.l