FCB Makes History at Cannes 2018
FCB had an exceptional showing at this year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Eleven of the global network’s offices received creative accolades, for 16 different campaigns, bringing home five Gold, 13 Silver and 18 Bronze. FCB/SIX and Area 23 were among the top-performing agencies at the Festival, with the latter – as part of the FCB Health Network – also earning the prestigious “Healthcare Network of the Year” title, which honours the “healthcare network that obtains the most points” in both award wins and shortlist entries across the Pharma and Health & Wellness categories at Lions Health.
Building on its historic year at Cannes Lions 2017, this year, Area 23 secured numerous honours in categories outside of health and pharma, including awards in Mobile, Direct, PR, Print & Publishing and Glass (the second consecutive year it has won Glass, and the first healthcare agency to ever win in this category), for Change the Ref’s “Posts into Letters,” NY-Presbyterian Hospital’s “TXT 2 HELP” and the National Organisation for Victim Assistance’s “The Rape Tax.”
FCB/SIX maintained a strong winning streak, with PFLAG Canada’s “Destination Pride,” and led the pack as not only the most awarded FCB campaign at the Festival, but the most awarded Canadian campaign at all of Cannes. Last year, FCB Toronto nabbed both of these same honours, on behalf of the Canadian Down Syndrome Society’s “Down Syndrome Answers.” Adding a total of 13 Lions to FCB’s overall tally, “Destination Pride” contributed three of the network’s five Gold Lions, in multiple categories across the board.
This year’s award stage saw representation from diverse agencies spanning FCB’s worldwide network, with FCB India notching the remaining two of the network’s five Gold Lions for its “Sindoor Khela – No Conditions Apply” initiative for Times of India. FCB’s Cannes 2018 honours also featured wins for 1886, FCB Brasil, FCB Chicago, FCB Inferno, FCB New Zealand, FCB West and Happiness Brussels.
Susan Credle, FCB global chief creative officer and this year’s Direct jury president, said: “I am excited to see some of our biggest creative hits this year coming from places I wouldn’t have expected even a few years ago. I think it speaks to the incredible work our creative leaders are pushing forward across the network and the ways they are inspiring each other from year to year.”
In terms of programming, FCB kicked off the Festival with an empowering “Here Are the Women” conversation aboard BoatFCB, moderated by Emily Steel, New York Times business reporter, and featuring FCB Chicago Chief Creative Officer Liz Taylor; Kat Gordon, 3% Movement founder & chief executive officer; Jodi Harris, AB InBev vice president of marketing culture & learning; and Sharon Profis, executive editor, CNET.
FCB’s annual “Never Finished Series’ returned to the mainstage at the Debussy Theatre, with Jen Sey, LS&Co. global brands chief marketing officer and Tarana Burke, founder of the ‘me too.’ movement. A former elite athlete, Sey spoke out about the cruelty and abuse in gymnastics and within the Olympics in her memoir, Chalked Up, years before the sport drew public scrutiny. TIME’s 2017 “Person of the Year” Tarana Burke has devoted her life’s work to empowering women and girls. The two shared what inspired them to take action and continue in the face of daunting criticism, with the talk moderated by FCB West Chief Creative Officer Karin Onsager-Birch.
Moreover, Area 23 Senior Vice President and Group Strategic Planning Director Tyler Dickson led “Speaking to Cancer,” a Cannes mainstage event with Amy Meadows, Eli Lilly & Company consumer marketing senior advisor. The two discussed the FCB Health network’s shared efforts to transform Lilly Oncology brand DTC initiatives – showcasing the breakthrough creative campaigns for Lartruvo and Cyramza that were the result.
In honour of World Music Day on June 20, FCB hosted several panel discussions and musical guests – including singer-songwriter Crystal Petit and award-winning funk-and-soul New Orleans-based group Tank and the Bangas – on BoatFCB. At Cannes Lions 2017, FCB Global collaborated with the I.D.E.A. Initiative – as the Initiative’s first-ever partner – to launch the #CreativityinColor movement, as a way to identify and celebrate people of colour in marketing and advertising. To further this effort, this year, FCB honoured special guests from Cannes Can: Diversity Collective, which partners with the Marcus Graham Project to expose young creatives from underrepresented communities to the advertising industry on an international level. Additionally, Sey and Onsager-Birch took part in a discussion on the power of music in creative work, and its role in moving consumers and building brands, with Aimee Lapic, Pandora chief marketing officer; Nathan Hanks, co-founder and chief executive officer of Music Audience Exchange; Mike Tunicliffe, executive vice president of Universal Music Group & Brands USA; and three-time Latin Grammy award-winner Carla Morrison.
FCB partnered with The Drum to host several exciting panels on BoatFCB throughout the week: “Brand Purpose – The Paradox & The Potential,” “The 6-Second Impact: Video Advertising” (featuring FCB Brasil Chief Creative Officer Joanna Monteiro) and “The Future of TV Is Now.” Vita Harris, chief strategy officer at FCB, spoke at The Girls’ Lounge on IPG’s panel about how women leaders are taking the reins. Liz Taylor joined Kat Gordon for an intimate screening of four celebrated shorts from the Athena Film Festival – the annual film festival that takes place in New York City and focuses on short films that celebrate women and women filmmakers. Lastly, FCB Mexico Partner & Chief Creative Officer Javier Campopiano joined Malagueta Group Founder Fernanda Romano and Dieste USA Chief Creative Officer Ciro Sarmiento onstage at the Palais to help us better understand the increasingly diversity-minded behaviour in U.S. culture.
