The Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region has quite the start to Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The year has begun with a Grand Prix to Impact BBDO in the Print & Publishing Lions category (Communication Track) for ‘The Blank Edition’ entry. Impact BBDO’s UAE office did this work for Lebanese daily newspaper, An-Nahar, issued as a form of protest of the political situation in Lebanon.
Honoring the best creativity in circulation, of the 1,252 entries from 62 countries competing, 32 Lions were awarded including one Grand Prix, six Gold, seven Silver and 18 Bronze Lions.
“We are very happy to award the Grand Prix to a piece of work that celebrates creativity and journalism. We have seen some great campaigns over the past few days, where the new magazines the newspapers need our creativity to promote freedom of press and the Grand Prix is a white page of paper, multiple white pages of paper that are the proof that a great idea can help democracy to work better,” commented Jury president, Olivier Altmann, CEO & Chief Creative Officer, Altmann + Pacreau, France on the winning work.
BBDO in MENA & Pakistan has nabbed three more Bronze Lions in the day.
In the Health and Wellness Lions category Impact BBDO has won a Bronze Lion for ‘The Toxic Flag for Waste Management Coalition.
The category itself celebrates creativity for personal wellbeing. A total of 1,186 entries from 52 countries were submitted with 33 Lions being awarded including one Grand Prix, five Gold, 10 Silver and 17 Bronze Lions.
The Grand Prix was won by McCann, Tel Aviv for Ikea’s ‘ThisAbles’, whereby the furniture retailer created add-ons for existing products to make them more accessible for people with disabilities.
In Design Lions (Communication Track), BBDO Lahore has won a Bronze for its poignant work ‘Truck Art Child Finder’ for Berger Paints. The agency has also won a Bronze Lion for ‘The Bridal Uniform’ for UN Women.
Celebrating visual craftsmanship, 1,469 entries from 65 countries were entered into the Design Lions, with 47 Lions awarded. These include one Grand Prix, six Gold, 16 Silver and 24 Bronze Lions.
Google Creative Lab, New York, won the Grand Prix for Google’s ‘Creatability’, which explores how creative tools – drawing, music, and more – can be made more accessible using web and AI technology.
No Show In Pharma & Outdoor
Cannes Lions also announced the winners for Pharma Lions in the Health Track and Outdoor Lions in Communication Track. However, there are no wins for the region in these categories.
In Pharma Lions, 363 entries from 23 countries were received, of which 11 were awarded with Lions – one Grand Prix, two Gold, three Silver and five Bronze Lions. McCann Health, Shanghai picked up the Grand Prix for ‘Breath of Life’ a diagnostic tool for COPD for pharmaceutical company GSK Glaxosmithkline
This year no Lions Health Grand Prix for Good was awarded. Rajesh Mirchandani, Chief Communications Officer, United Nations, explained, “This tells us that doing good is not the preserve of charities or the public sector anymore, companies are embracing the Sustainable Development Goals, and it’s time to think about maybe recalibrating this award so charities and brands embracing social responsibility alike are eligible.”
A total of 2,389 entries from 66 countries were entered in the Outdoor Lions with 65 campaigns winning Lions. The jury awarded one Grand Prix, 10 Gold, 20 Silver and 34 Bronze Lions. Wieden+Kennedy Portland picked up the Grand Prix for ‘Nike Dream Crazy | Colin Kaepernick’ for Nike, and extension to the ‘Just Do It’ campaign featuring high-profile athlete Kaepernick.