International Grand Prix winners that created a buzz at day one of Cannes Lions '23

afaqs! lists down some of the outstanding international work that won big on Day 1 of the festival of creativity.

The results for six categories were announced on Day one at Cannes Lions 2023. afaqs! lists down the Grand Prix winners that created a buzz on Day one.

Print and Publishing - UAE 

Newspapers inside the newspaper edition- Lebanese newspaper AnNahar on 12th December 2022 had quite an unusual edition. The newspaper in this edition bore different local newspapers that had ceased to exist in the country over the last two decades. The aim was to bring back to life extinct newspapers as well as encourage the journalists who wrote for these newspapers to start writing again. 

Al Anouar, The Daily Star, Al Hayat, As Safir, Al Mostaqbal, and Al Bayraq were the older newspapers that were included in the campaign. 

The campaign was launched on the death anniversary of AnNahar editor-in-chief Gebran Tueni who was assassinated to silence the press in the country. The increased scrutiny has led to dozens of newspapers shutting down in the country. The campaign aimed at drawing attention to the press crisis in Lebanon and was executed by IMPACT BBDO in Beirut and Dubai. 

Outdoor- United Kingdom 

The campaign positioned British Airlines as a celebration of the UK and its people. The campaign explores the individual reasons of people who flay be it travel, family or work. It included 500 unique print, digital and outdoor executions over 32 different short films. 

Radio and Audio - New Zealand

New Zealand’s Skinny telecom published hundreds of its radio skits on billboards, newspapers, coffee cups, posters etc. The skits had a dial-in number that directed the audience to ‘Skinny Radio Ad Recording Service’ which was an answering machine that gave recordings of the iconic Skinny mnemonic dispatched as radio ads. The campaign posed as a cost-effective way to advertise themselves. 

Health and Wellness – New Zealand 

Using fear to sell insurance is an old trick, but to get murdered people from New Zealand’s most popular murder mystery is quite the strategy from Partners Life, an insurance company. The murdered characters came to life at the end of every episode, before the credits, to address the audience and share their regret about not getting life insurance. 

Pharma – Buenos Aires

Parkinson’s Disease impairs muscle movement, and the patient’s inability to express emotions plays havoc on their lives. Social Therapy is an innovative mobile application, by Dentsu Creative for Eurofarma, which uses facial recognition to identify a patient’s most important facial therapy exercises-smiling, rising eyebrows, frowning-and converting them into commands for the newsfeed. The app offers real-time feedback to patients ensuring they perform the exercises correctly. 

Lions Health Grand Prix for Good – LA Foundation Publicis Chicago 

Cancer patients fear losing their job if they reveal their illness learned the Publicis Groupe CEO after he was diagnosed with the disease. Based on a statistic that 50% of all people who are diagnosed with cancer are afraid to tell their employer, companies were called on to make pledges to fight the stigma against cancer patients in the workplace. 

For the Indian contingent, Day 1 ended on a rather disappointing note. The Indian contingent did not score any metal on Day 1. The industry, however, is hopeful about the remaining days to score some metals.