Naked Communications Australia wins one of four Cannes Chimera Awards for ‘Watch for Good’

Naked Communications Australia has been announced as one of only four winners globally in the internationally renowned Cannes Chimera Award.

Now in its fourth year, the award is a joint initiative from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  It has been created to use the creativity and problem-solving abilities of the communications industries for good on a global scale.

This is the second year that the Cannes Chimera has been awarded to Naked Communications Australia. The agency was selected as winner of the third prize with its Act Button idea.

Naked Communications’ idea is called Watch for Good. Today, as pre-roll and interruptive video ads become more pervasive, ‘skip’ functionality is increasingly common as a way of ameliorating viewer frustration. This initiative partners with providers to add another option to their ad format – ‘Watch For Good’. By pressing the ‘Watch For Good’ button instead of ‘skip’, they watch the ad in full. The advertiser pays the same pay-per-view cost, but the publisher shares this, donating a defined portion of it to the Watch For Good fund, which then invests in various altruistic projects.

Naked Communications’ entry was chosen from over 870 individual entries across 66 different countries, all branches of the creative spectrum. The ideas answered the call for a concept that could change the world, focusing on Millennials and embracing technology and interconnectivity. The Cannes Chimera, an international jury made up of previous Cannes Lions Grand Prix winners, then assessed how successfully these entries measured up to the high standards and expectations laid out in the brief.

The winning projects are:

•    Personal Social Responsibility – Manning Gottlieb OMD – UK

Personal Social Responsibility (PSR) is inspired by the existing CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) system. PSR introduces a point system that ranks personal altruism and every day acts that help address the biggest problems in the world, from sharing relevant content on social media, to donating and volunteering.

•    The Finish Line – Y&R, Wunderman – Singapore

The Finish Line – Takes all Global Health and Development problems and breaks it down by geography, demographics, and actions towards eradication until we are able to present it as viable steps that are needed to achieve that immediate goal. It makes the problem seem defeatable and most importantly, it makes the effort needed immediate and result oriented.

•    Watch for good – Naked Communications – Australia

Today, as pre-roll and interruptive video ads become more pervasive, ‘skip’ functionality is increasingly common as a way of ameliorating viewer frustration. This initiative partners with providers to add another option to their ad format – ‘Watch For Good’. By pressing the ‘Watch For Good’ button instead of ‘skip’, they watch the ad in full. The advertiser pays the same pay-per-view cost, but the publisher shares this, donating a defined portion of it to the Watch For Good fund, which then invests in various altruistic projects.

•    Plight Map – BBH – China

The closest many Millennials get to the developing world is when they fly over it, en route to first-world holiday destinations. Recognising this, Plight Map is an inflight map, re-designed as an interactive storytelling platform. It tells airline passengers exactly what’s below them on the ground – and lets them know what issues are happening there, in real-time.

Says Philip Thomas, CEO of Lions Festivals: “This year’s brief for the Cannes Chimera is a fantastic reflection of how those in the industry are continuously pushing boundaries and using their creative talents to really make a difference. By focusing on Millennials, the projects embrace technology and interconnectivity. The four successful ideas show how technology can bridge gaps and create greater awareness to really help others. The workshops with the Cannes Chimera will allow for further exploration of the strengths and challenges of the projects with the end result bringing us one step closer to achieving our goal to change the world.”

Says Tom Scott, director of global brand & innovation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: “Young people want to act in support of global health and development issues and be recognised for making a difference in the world, but they need new outlets to make that engagement possible and meaningful. We are truly excited to see how these creatives apply their talent to the challenge, and the potential their ideas have for us and our partners around the world.”

The next stage of the initiative will see the Naked Communications team receive mentoring from previous Cannes Lions Grand Prix winners at workshops held at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle. Winners are invited to pilot their ideas over the next six months and submit a proposal to the foundation for funding towards making the idea a reality.

Says Carl Ratcliff, Naked Communications Australia CEO: “It is an incredible honour to win the Cannes Chimera Award and we are beyond thrilled to have won it for two consecutive years now. We truly embrace the opportunity to use our strategic and creative thinking to make a real difference to global issues. We thank the Jury and eagerly anticipate meeting them, and the other winners, soon in Seattle.”

To read more about each of the winning entries, and find out more about the brief, please visit www.canneschimera.com.