The 66th Cannes Lions, the world’s biggest gathering of the advertising world, is in full swing. Once again the annual International Festival of Creativity lures the creative marketing community to the Côte d’Azur with the promise to turn their best work into lion-shaped gold, silver and bronze (or glass and platinum in some cases). Their efforts will be judged in nine tracks (Reach, Communication, Craft, Experience, Innovation, Impact, Good, Entertainment, Health) and awards in 27 different categories will be handed to the crème de la crème of creatives.
Cannes not only consists of award ceremonies, barrels of rosé and the advertising industry celebrating itself. The organizers again curated a star-studded panel line-up with speakers from all kinds of advertising-adjacent trades as well as social, political and cultural platforms including Alfonso Cuarón, Laura Dern, Lorne Michaels and Shonda Rhimes.
In anticipation of this year’s biggest winners, we have asked the most creative big cats at DCMN — our very own Creation & Production team — for their creative highlights of the past year. Who would they award their very personal Lions to? Here’s their selection.
We Believe: The Best Men Can Be | Gillette
After releasing this spot last year, Gillette got bombarded with both praise and hatred and literally broke the internet with a heated discussion. I have chosen this spot, because I think it tells an important story of how boys of today will be the men of tomorrow and that men should be aware of how they treat women. It’s interesting to see how the creators have mixed different footage and formats to give the spot a documentary feel, to push the important political message even further and make it more approachable to the audience.
Thomas Siudmak, Producer
The Lift | Bianco
A five-minute video on Facebook is usually not something I would invest my time in. With this one, I’m really glad I did. Based on a human truth we can instantly relate to, “The Lift” is cleverly written and beautifully edited. I especially like the fact that, although not a single word is spoken throughout the film, there is still a sense of dialogue. At the same time, the shoe brand is more than a mere product placement. Even if only at the end of a rather long story, it challenges us to dare the exact same act we perform daily with our feet — but instead, with our minds.
Dimitar Gerganov, Senior Copywriter
Home Alone Again | Google Assistant
This Christmas spot re-interprets the movie “Home Alone” — a part of the pop cultural heritage of the target group — to showcase the various products and services that can be integrated in the Google Assistant. It allows for the demonstration of the products to be seamlessly weaved into the story. This way the benefits and the ease of use are communicated in a fun way that will have you watching the ad more than once and most likely share it with friends and family. Needless to say, only a player like Google could scrape together the necessary spare change for such a high-value production, including a celebrity testimonial.
Philip Thys, Copywriter
Reporters Without Borders Germany | The Uncensored Playlist
The Uncensored Playlist is a platform for sharing news stories in censored countries through platforms like Spotify, Apple Music and Deezer. It is genius to use tech and user behaviour to bypass restrictions, literally making the medium the message. It is a brilliant advertisement for a brilliant solution.
Lennart Frank, Creative Director
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey: “Choose Life” Live Action Trailer | Ubisoft
It’s the choices that you make that define you as a hero. Ubisoft and their existential take on gaming in the live action trailer for Assassin’s Creed Odyssey made being a hero even cooler!
Vishal Shah, Senior Art Director
Not Everything Makes the Cut | Amazon Alexa
It is for sure hard to convince a client to make fun of their own product. Here it worked like a charm and proved that not taking things too seriously can make for a great advertisement.
Patrick Vogel, Senior Art Director
Want to know more about effective TV media campaigns and how to create a Cannes Lions winner? Reach out to us at hello@dcmn.com. We look forward to hearing from you!
