Publicis Groupe Benelux and Boomerang Win ‘Sustainable Development Goal’ Award at Cannes Lions

Publicis Groupe Benelux, in collaboration with Boomerang, have won a prestigious Bronze award in the ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ category for the powerful and thought-provoking WikiTruth campaign for ‘Ukrainian Witness’ that disrupted the Russian media fake news narrative about the Ukrainian war. Le Pub in partnership with Boomerang, won seven awards for Heineken’s ‘The Closer’ campaign.

Speaking about the win, Publicis Groupe Benelux CCO Eduardo de Marques says, “It’s definitely heart warming to win in such a beautiful category like the ‘Sustainable Development Goals’, with a project we made by putting our all agencies together right after the war started. We felt we needed to do something about it - and together we did.”

Le Pub in partnership with Boomerang, won seven awards for Heineken’s ‘The Closer’ campaign about the importance of maintaining a work/life balance. The campaign features a high-tech beer opener that, when connected to your laptop via Bluetooth, puts your laptop to sleep. The awards included a Gold in the Brand Experience & Activation category, two Silver awards in the Outdoor category, an additional Silver in the Brand Experience & Activation category and three Bronze awards in the Outdoor, Direct Channels and PR categories.

Speaking about the wins, Marques acknowledged the high calibre of entries across the board at this year’s creative festival and the value of being recognised by industry peers. 

“Awards give great validation to the work,” continues Eduardo, “but it’s always so important to see the impact our work has on the world. What may start as an impossible idea can sometimes impact a life, challenge a perception or even start an important conversation and that is as rewarding as winning an accolade.”

This sentiment is something that is shared by Fikret Fetahovic, chief production officer at Boomerang. “Winning awards is always a combination of humility and validation”, says Fetahovic. 

“Over the past few years the world has been in a constant state of flux, but regardless of all the uncertainty, we are able to deliver powerful messages that resonate with our audiences. This is why we do what we do,” he concludes.