Cannes Lions 2024 Grand Prix Winners in Creative Strategy, Creative Business Transformation, Creative Effectiveness, Creative Commerce, Innovation, Luxury & Lifestyle, and Brand Experience & Activation

In this age of digital access, sexting has never been more common. And while this isn’t a problem – it’s a healthy thing, actually – what is problematic is when people forward material without consent, or images shared in confidence end up used against the sender. In fact, one out of 100 people fall victim to this, which really isn’t great. 

To push back, telecomms network KPN teamed up with singer-songwriter Meau to release a music video inspired by real stories of ruined lives. Not only did the song trend on YouTube and reach number three on the Dutch Spotify charts (passing Beyoncé in the process), but it also sparked parliamentary conversation, leading to online shaming being part of the Sexual Crimes Act, and new, global iterations of the campaign. 

The jury president of the Creative Strategy Lions, Vita M. Harris, global chief strategy officer at FCB, Global, said: “‘A Piece of Me’ rose as the jury’s choice for Grand Prix in Creative Strategy because it fired on so many cylinders. It was the brilliance of the insight: how they got to it; the modernity and problem-reframing nature of it; how it was driven deep into culture – phenomenally so; how it reframed society’s understanding of a misunderstood issue – not just locally but also globally; how actionable it was – going beyond petitioning to law enforcement within a month; the clear impact it had on this telco brand.”

One of the most interesting partnerships of the past year came when the Spanish luxury fashion brand, Loewe, opted to partner up with a husband and wife team of ceramicists. Evolving the pair’s unique work into an exclusive collection, clothes, bags, storefronts, packaging and even a children’s pop-up book became landscapes for their creative designs. Not only that, but an original stop motion film would be crafted, featuring hand-designed renditions of the characters, bringing the entire project to over 1.6 million engagements. 

Jury president of the Luxury & Lifestyle Lions, Charles Georges-Picot, CEO of global luxury practice, Publicis Groupe, Global, said: “This year’s Grand Prix, the first ever in this new category, is awarded to Loewe. Luxury is about quality and creativity. But it’s not enough: luxury maisons also have a responsibility. Jonathan Anderson, its creative director since 2017, does all of that, and it drives results. He is able to blend traditional craftsmanship with contemporary design. Cultural engagement and sustainability are also key elements of his vision. It is the craftsmanship and attention to the tiniest detail that ultimately lifted this to Grand Prix. This campaign with Suna Fujita is a wonderful example of what Loewe is doing so well.”

While Pop-Tarts are an American breakfast classic, more recent generations needed to be introduced to the brand in a spectacular way, and, naturally, its validity as an epic snack option. So, to break into the category, it decided to go toe-to-toe with other popular sponsor options in the world of American college football. 

In order to cut through the noise in what was already a very competitive category, the result was the ‘First Edible Mascot’, a Pop-Tarts mascot that was literally ready to die for sponsorship sins. Turning the game into an afterthought, this heroic figure descended into a toaster, before being devoured by fans and players, leading to a viral gameday moment that not only captured the attention of 4.3 million viewers (making it the most-watched Bowl up until that point), but took the internet by storm.

Brand Experience & Activation jury president, Anselmo Ramos, founder and creative chairman at GUT, Global, said: “Bizarre. Weird. Genius. Uncomfortable. Those were just some of the words we heard in the jury room while discussing this idea. At the core, it’s a live sampling idea that made PR headlines and brought great results. It’s just impossible to ignore or unsee. It’s 'meme-ready'. We had never seen this before. It’s also a brand not taking itself too seriously. It’s time for advertising to have fun again.”

While it’s wonderful to receive gifts, the truth of the matter is, they don’t always hit their mark. That’s OK of course – the return option is perfectly acceptable… until you realise that they end up straight in the landfill as a result. That’s right – every year, 10 million returned gifts are thrown away, all because making something new is actually cheaper in the long run. 

Unimpressed by these statistics, and aware that its products are intended to last for an extended period of time, Philips opted to flip its commerce model for the past holiday season, only choosing to sell refurbished and returned products (at a lower price with an upgraded warranty). Combined with an AR installation that showed the problem in real time, the result was a complete success, with everything being sold out, and 185 tonnes of e-waste being avoided. 

Creative Business Transformation Lions jury president, Ariana Stolarz, global chief strategy officer, Accenture Song, Global, said: “Who said that new is better? This creative solution brilliantly solves multiple business challenges simultaneously in a way that is much better for consumers, the business, and significantly better for the overall environment. The transformation is here to stay, and ready to scale. It can be replicated by the category at large or by any other industry facing similar challenges. With Philips’ ‘Better Than New’, everybody wins.”

When it comes to ketchup, Heinz’s supremacy over the category, at this point, is hard to argue. After all, when you look at the brand’s case studies and track record, it becomes pretty hard to argue anything other than ‘It Has to Be Heinz’

In the first example, Heinz realised that its branding is so popular that often, people will just refill its bottles with off-brand ketchup simply for the face value. So, with this in mind, it decided to invite people to expose this behaviour on social media, before sending free replacement bottles to these locations. All in all, it led to 33 new locations serving Heinz, including, notably, Fenway Park – home of the Boston Red Sox. 

Not one to call it quits on that alone, Heinz also wanted to prove that everyone associates its name with Ketchup first. So, the brand invited people to partake in a social experiment, in which they were invited to draw ketchup. Of course, it was done anonymously, and nobody was told to draw Heinz, but the majority did it anyway (except for the one random guy who drew mustard). This trend proved a major point, and the brand embraced its recognisability by auctioning off these new, inadvertent fan-made logos, as well as placing them on bottles in stores. 

Of course, stopping at people was never going to be enough, so the brand also decided to prove that the AI also thinks of Heinz first too. Consistently putting in a wide variety of prompts – many of which were provided by people on social media to prove a lack of prompt bias – the result was that the AI drew Heinz’s ketchup virtually every time (albeit with some funky, AI-garbled writing). Receiving 1.15 billion impressions, this campaign single handedly forced DALL-E to be retrained with less brand bias.

Creative Effectiveness jury president, Harjot Singh, global chief strategy officer at McCann and McCann Worldgroup, Global, said: “Impact is the most undeniable, if not the only measure, of the power of creativity. This is unforgettable work with undeniable impact. It was a unanimous choice in the jury room.”

While living in a big city shouldn’t be a prerequisite to having a job, unfortunately, it all too often is this way. Take a country like France for example. Of the population, 40% live in areas with no public transport, yet only 5% of commutes are possible without it for people living outside of city centres. Add to that the fact that of job seekers, one in five can only find jobs over 50 km from where they live, leading to 54% of seekers during down jobs because of mobility issues, and you’ve got quite a conundrum on paper. 

Luckily, Renault decided it wanted to do something about the problem, and make a difference in the lives of many. Keenly aware that the country’s job market sees new employees go through a three-month trial period in which they can be fired at any time, and can’t apply for a loan to actually get a car, the brand decided to offer 6,000 cars to people working these trial periods. Designed to only be paid for (in instalments) once the positions and pay had permanently been secured, 50 of the brand’s dealerships, all of which were placed in mobility deserts, made a huge impact in the lives of many whom, otherwise, would have been involuntarily stuck without work. 

Jury president of the Creative Commerce Lions, Amy Lanzi, CEO of Digitas North America, said: “We are in the midst of an impressive shift within our industry, transitioning from a transaction-focused paradigm toward a more dynamic, human-centred collaborative commerce model. This year’s Grand Prix winner has manifested this progression with impressive mastery. The jury was profoundly impressed by Renault's innovative approach to solving genuine human dilemmas and pain points while simultaneously driving business sales. Renault successfully shattered obstructive cycles that posed significant barriers to employment throughout all of France with this partnership-based approach. The work brilliantly showcases a new way to build meaningful connections between brands and consumers in our increasingly interconnected and networked world.”

While diabetes is no longer a major health concern for people with consistent and affordable access to healthcare, the fact of the matter is, not everyone has that kind of luxury. Take a country like India for example – it’s the second capital of diabetes in the world, with a population of over 1 billion, yet 50% of it remains undiagnosed. It’s not a great metric, to say the least. 

So, to try and rectify the issue, KVI Brave Fund INC took a real technological stride forward by developing an algorithm that could detect Type 2 diabetes simply via voice. Created from the study of over 18,000 voices for factors like pitch, jitter and shimmer, in conjunction with their pre-stated diagnoses, the tool was able to detect this health condition with 89% accuracy in women, and 86% accuracy in men. All in all, it has gone on to receive over 4 billion impressions, and, although still in beta testing, is making a real difference in the lives of many. 

Innovation Lions jury president, Diego Machado, global chief creative officer at AKQA, Global, said: “The innovation category consistently offers a glimpse into the future, transforming ideas into tangible realities. It brings tomorrow closer to today. This year, the jury faced an exceptionally competitive range of contenders. The surge of new technologies over the past few months has significantly boosted creativity across various industries. In such a competitive year, one particular entry stood out to the jury. This groundbreaking piece combines years of technological and medical research into a seamless user experience. Its excellence not only earns today's top award, but also paves the way for a new frontier in medical, mobile, and democratic access to healthcare.”