Inspo from Cannes Lions 2024
The Cannes Lions Advertising Festival awards the most innovative and impactful marketing ideas from around the world. It's fancy and the ideas presented are next-level and often culture-shifting. I was lucky enough to attend a few sessions run by WPP Group on some of the entries and winners, and I've summarised a few of the best ones and offered ideas about how you can apply the lessons to your business.
Room for Everyone
Mastercard's initiative, "Room for Everyone," demonstrated the power of data-driven storytelling. It centres around Ukrainian refugees escaping the war to Poland - and bringing their small businesses with them. Poland has taken over a million Ukrainian refugees, which has unfortunately led to an increase in racism and anti-immigration as the country struggles to cope with the increased population.
Mastercard analysed their transaction data and discovered that certain retail stores performed better when located near complementary businesses. For example, a florist next to a bakery saw increased sales for both. Mastercard turned this insight into a campaign encouraging Ukrainian businesses to set up next to existing Polish ones - rather than near competing Polish ones. This helped individual businesses thrive but also fostered a sense of community and mutual support.
The lesson: The Power of Partnering with Complementary Brands
There are two great lessons here
One is the premise of the campaign - some businesses work better with others. So, who are complementary businesses to yours in your area? How can you partner with them to the benefit of both? By collaborating with brands that align with your product or service, companies can create a stronger market presence and offer a more comprehensive experience to their customers.
The second is a little less obvious. What does your data tell you about your customers? How often do they buy? How much do they spend? What can you do with it to help you package or bundle your products or services?
Absurd Promises
One of the more unique campaigns was from a Down Syndrome rights group in Argentina. It focused on the absurdity of political campaign promises and developed a ‘complexity index’ which analysed how difficult it would be to deliver on various promises made during the country’s presidential debate. The outcome was a groundswell of support and the group was able to get laws changed for the better.
Here’s a quick synopsis from the entry:
Although Down’s syndrome is an irreversible genetic disorder, in Argentina people with this condition are obliged to renew their disability certificate once a year. It's an old law, absurd and intentionally ignored by politicians. During Argentina's live presidential debate, we analysed the proposals to measure their complexity, and in real-time we tweeted the results, tagging politicians with a much simpler proposal to implement a new and more sensible disability law.
The lesson: Leveraging a social crescendo
Part of the beauty of this campaign was the way it built off the coverage of the already, hugely popular, event. They did an amazing job of the message and simplified a complex issue, highlighting the gap between promises and reality in a way that resonated with the audience. Then they doubled down on social media with something that got to people and forced a response. The index dominated Twitter and hijacked the live debate, something they’d never have been able to afford the media spend equivalent of.
What events, incidents and occasions can you leverage for your business’ gain? Depending on your goals, what you will want to take advantage of will vary. Starting super small - there are plenty of holidays each year, what does your business do to take advantage of Christmas, long weekends or other public holidays?
Meet Marina Prieto
JCDecaux's ‘Meet Marina Prieto’ campaign used subway station ads to generate a following for a real-life social media ‘influencer’, Marina, increasing engagement by 13,000%. Before the campaign, Marina was posting regularly to her 28-odd followers, and JCDecaux built that up into the tens of thousands, as well as getting Marina sponsored content opportunities. But why was JCDecaux trying to generate a following? Kind heartedness? Fun? No - revenue. JCDecaux sells advertising space - quite a lot of it is dubbed ‘out of home’, so think billboards, retail stands, bus stops annnnd… you guessed it, subway ads.
The lesson: don’t tell me, show me
The shift in spend towards digital advertising away from traditional forms has clearly been painful for businesses like JCD. What they were seeking to do was demonstrate (more accurately, remind) their audience (marketers) that out-of-home can be effective too. The best don’t tell you how good they are, they show you. How can you show your customers how good you are with your marketing rather than telling them?
Delivering on the Big Stage
DoorDash's Super Bowl campaign proved that they could deliver anything—even the Super Bowl itself. They took out a single ad and offered to deliver one lucky person EVERYTHING that was advertised in the Super Bowl that day - the catch was you needed, as with most offers on platforms, to use a discount code. In this instance an insanely long and complex one.
By focusing on a single compelling brief and flipping the narrative into a conversation starter, DoorDash successfully demonstrated its versatility beyond food delivery. The campaign had 3% of Americans engaging with it and showcased how a well-executed idea can resonate widely.
The lesson:
DoorDash’s problem was people only saw them as a food delivery service - when they actually do a whole lot more. They used the campaign as a demonstration of what they could do, in the space they were trying to break into. If you’re looking to grow in an area you’re not known for, what could you do to turn up in a way that serves as advertising?
Turning Tension into Opportunity
In Mumbai, Gatorade used data from Google Maps to identify empty streets that could be converted into sports fields, addressing the lack of space for play. The trick wasn't finding where there were places to play, but more importantly when there was a gap in traffic and people to squeeze in a game. This approach not only created new spaces for physical activity but also aligned perfectly with Gatorade’s brand message.
The lesson: asking the right questions and free data
The key takeaway was to focus on the right question—not where space is available, but when it is available. Are you asking the right questions when trying to solve your business’ problems?
What data are you currently using for your business? Likely your proprietary data from customers, their contact details, orders etc. What else is out there that is free you could leverage in this way?
Magnetic Stories
Siemens took an award for their work partnering with children’s writers to create audiobooks that synchronized with the sounds of an MRI machine. This innovative solution helped alleviate children’s anxiety during the procedure, showing how unusual alliances can solve perception problems and improve customer experiences.
The lesson: Put the customer's need first
If you've had an MRI before you know how loud and terrifying it can sound - imagine your child going through that. Siemens' approach seems very obvious on reflection, but customer experience sometimes isn't the first thing that comes to mind when dealing with something as serious as cancer treatment. What are the things you're doing in your business day to day that require the full focus and effort of your business… potentially to the detriment of your customer's experience? Are you delivering a service in their home and causing a mess and making a lot of noise? Put down some floor and wall covering and offer some ear protection, or consider windows to operate in when you have to make noise. They're simple things, but so often they're missed because we're focused on delivering the task and outcome and forget the impact our journey might have on the customer.
Honourable mentions
Here are a few other interesting, and hopefully inspiring campaigns from this year.
DP World: The Move to -15°C - Simplifying Climate Change
A campaign aimed at reducing emissions in the frozen storage industry demonstrated the power of leveraging social momentum. By making a slight adjustment to storage temperatures, 60% of the market signed up within days, aligning against climate change as a common enemy. This initiative launched at COP28, showed that sometimes the simplest changes can have the most significant impact, especially when framed in an emotionally compelling way.
Watch the YouTube case study video.
Rip Curl: Virtual Pro - Building a Community through Data
Rip Curl’s innovative use of watch tracking data to create a virtual pro competition exemplified how brands can use existing data to build community and engage users. Promoted by professional surfers, this competition has become an annual event, uniting surfers around the world and reinforcing brand loyalty.
Read more and watch the video on CampaignBrief.com
Vaseline: Transition Aligning Product with Purpose
Vaseline's campaign for transgender skincare post-transition exemplified how a product idea can emerge from a communications brief. Although the product wasn't a commercial focus, the message it sent was powerful, aligning with the brand’s purpose of promoting healthy skin for all. This campaign was a testament to how ideas with a strong purpose can eventually pay for themselves.
Watch the YouTube case study video.
Xbox: Football Manager 2024 - Everyday Tactician
Xbox's "Everyday Tactician" campaign was inspired by the "Moneyball" approach. It centred around a competition to find, and subsequent employment of, a professional tactician to use their football game management skills - honed by playing Football Manager (a video game) in real-life sports. This innovative idea validated the credibility of gaming skills in the real world, while also giving back to the community and activating long-term fans of real-life club Bromley FC who were promoted the season the campaign took place.
Watch the YouTube case study video.
Conclusion
The campaigns above are world-class. They’ve had huge teams and budgets in most cases, but when you boil them down they’re often really simple ideas. Simple doesn’t mean easy, and there’s a lot that goes into bringing that simple idea to a Cannes Lion Award-winning campaign. But I’d argue there’s plenty you can learn from them, and quite a few good reminders of how important it is to get the basics right (e.g. focusing on your customer!)