Here's a selection of some campaigns which have been submitted by our Members across the different categories this year for consideration by the Cannes Lions Judges.
The range of innovative, creative ideas and slick execution is fantastic reflection on the wealth of talent in Ireland today and the health of the industry.
“We are so proud of our member agencies for the quality and creativity of their submissions to Cannes Lions this year. I’ve just spent a happy few moments re-reading and watching their entries and I’m still blown away by them; besides being moved to tears! Where else in the world can you find such amazing story-telling and brand immersion.” Charley Stoney, CEO, IAPI
Ireland is full of storytellers, but Irish children often can’t find the space or the words to express themselves - particularly when they feel mad, bad or simply sad.
Vodafone and Childline came together to help these children find their voice and remind everyone - both youngsters and grown-ups - that TALKING MAKES US STRONGER.
They gave 'difficult to talk' moments a name - Headbomz, and created a practical but playful world for 8-10-year-olds to explore our message of talking.
Using the visual and spoken language of children they made media out of anything, multiplying the message across over twenty different touchpoints - from a book to a song, to classroom learning to playing cards to stickers and more.
Three-quarters of 8 to 10-year-olds became aware of the message, with children now twice as likely to consider contacting Childline for support. 40,000 youngsters found out about the service for the first time, 1 in 4 carers of 8-10-year olds requested the book and a quarter of Irish primary teachers used the Headbomz packs for teaching.
Address Point is a new service created by JWT Folk for An Post that provides Ireland’s homeless population with a permanent address so that they can avail of reliable correspondence.
By providing a digital proxy address linked to a local post office, Address Point is helping to break the cycle of homelessness across the country. The ground-breaking initiative means homeless people can now get access to services such as healthcare, employment, education and ironically housing.
Virtual Insanity
Using shocking & narrative driven VR, BBDO & RSA wanted to get people closer to that visceral, behaviour-shifting impact, that only real drink drivers experience after a car crash.
To do this they enabled users to experience the agonising consequences of drink-driving in 360º - from injury to prosecution – leaving them shook and disturbed, but with the unique luxury of being able to take the headset off at the end. Something you don’t get to do in the real world.
With four unique storylines, participants experience the full extent of the agonising consequences of drink driving – from injury to prosecution. Shot in 6K with 3D audio, it is a deeply immersive experience, and with over 135,000 views and counting on the RSA Shuttle bus travelling across the country.
In Ireland, emigration is a way of life. A recent study showed that more than 2 million Irish people had emigrated to Australia, on the other side of the world. While this mass migration has huge socio-economic effects, it is felt most keenly in homes around Ireland who miss loved ones.
Boys + Girls used their clients Three Mobile and Samsung's technology to bring families stuck on 2 sides of the world together to have Christmas dinner around a table. With 2 unique but identical restaurants, one in Dublin and one in Sydney Australia, 17,209km away - they connected the tables with Three’s data network, and Samsung’s technology.
Once connected, the distance disappeared. Making the impossible Christmas Dinner, possible.
Within minutes of the tickets launching, every sitting of the restaurant was booked out for 3 months solid. The film was viewed by 8.5m people (nearly twice the population of Ireland) and both brands recorded an uplift in brand sentiment and brand health.
The experience was picked up, not just in Ireland and Australia, but by the world’s media and inspired those who couldn't get a booking that they could host a connected dinner of their own.
Boys + Girls will be giving a talk at the festival with Three & Youtube in Palais II, Friday 21 June at 11.15am discussing How Collaboration Created YouTube’s Greatest Hits.
Choose hope over fear
Insurance is often viewed as a negative purchase. People don't think about it unless something goes wrong. When delving into the history of Allianz, the team at In the Company of Huskies discovered that Allianz had a long tradition of supporting people and organisations during challenging times.
From this, they developed a new narrative to reframe the power of insurance, away from the protection aspect of insurance towards the sense of enablement insurance gives to people.
In the Company of Huskies crafted a campaign that showed people as they navigate through their challenges, recognising moments of courage that have brought about change both for individuals and society. As a major insurer of primary schools in Ireland, it seemed fitting to launch the campaign with a re-creation of the 1966 speech by Minister O’Malley. Acting without the knowledge of his government, he had the courage to announce free secondary school education for all children.
This agile brand platform enabled In the Company of Huskies to create an ongoing suite of advertising, from featuring everyday courage like handing your car keys to your daughter for the first time, to Ellen Keane's journey from self-conscious 12 year old to Paralympic swimming medallist.
#TAKENOTICE
Breast Cancer Awareness Month seemed like the perfect time for the Marie Keating Foundation to remind women of the importance of breast self-awareness. The problem Rothco faced was that it’s also the perfect time for every other organisation and brand to do the same thing.
They decided to turn this problem into an opportunity by creating a message designed to go unnoticed.
To demonstrate to the public that we’re not breast aware enough, we secretly placed a lump on Dublin’s iconic Molly Malone statue, whose breasts are touched by thousands daily for luck. Nobody noticed.
The world took notice when they then revealed the campaign. The activation received over €12 million in earned media around the world and transformed Molly Malone into a breast cancer awareness icon.
The Bags We Never Wanted To Make
Despite representing the Irish flag with distinction as the United Nations most respected Peacekeeping Force, Ireland’s Defence Forces veterans receive little support or recognition back home, leaving hundreds of them homeless. Rothco developed this campaign to raise public awareness of O.N.E. (Óglaigh Náisiúnta Na hÉireann / Organisation of National Ex-Service Personnel) a charity providing emergency accommodation for homeless veterans.
With 'Sleeping Flags' they combined the proud Irish Tricolour with the universal symbol of homelessness, the sleeping bag, in an act that contravened official protocols around the treatment of the flag. In a coordinated silent protest, veterans slept in these bags outside Ireland’s most historically significant buildings.
From a very small budget, the act was covered by every major news outlet in Ireland, leading to a debate in Irish parliament. In response, the Irish government donated a building to establish a much-needed additional hostel for homeless veterans.
2018 was Dublin Bus’ 10th year supporting Pride. Over those years Ireland has gone on quite a journey, with same-sex marriage legalised in 2015. While the LGBTQ community now walk in Pride with their legal rights, many of them walk without something equally important, the support of their Father.
The 'Proud Dads' Campaign developed by Rothco for Dublin Bus gave the fathers of Ireland a vehicle to show their love and support.
Dads picked up their LGBTQ kids on a Dublin Bus and brought them to Pride, facilitating the progressive forward movement in Ireland towards becoming a truly proud country and spreading a message of acceptance around the globe.
The reaction to this campaign was global. In one week organic shares drove: 136 million impressions; 7.5 million video views and global reach of 90 articles in 17 countries. In addition to the countless tweets of support by celebrities, politicians and the general public.
Repent a decade of sins in seconds
A giant drive-thru confession box was developed for Paddy Power to help the people of Ireland repent decades of sins conveniently and effectively ahead of the Pope’s visit to Ireland last year.
Coverage from around the world was biblical in scale - making this one of Paddy Power's top globally publicized activation's in 2018.
