Creative Business Transformation Lions: Cannes 2022 Decoded

Independent agency L&C New York has won the Grand Prix in the Creative Business Transformation category with its 'Piñatex' work for Dole Products, the fruit brand.

Judges praised the winner for delivering an idea that provided a model to solve an ecological and business challenge for the company.

This involved a partnership with Ananas Anam, the maker of Piñatex, a natural textile made from waste pineapple leaf fibre. Dole collected and extracted fibres from pineapple leaves from its farms in Philippines to help Piñatex meet rising demand for its sustainable product, and to take a step towards Dole's goal of zero fruit loss by 2025.

Revolt London was the sole UK winner with a joint submission alongside AB InBev New York. The consultancy won a Silver Lion for 'The Budweiser Energy Collective', which brought sources of renewable electricity to the brewing process.

Creative Salon spoke with Claire Molyneaux, global marketing strategy and transformation lead, Publicis Groupe, and a jury member, to hear her thoughts.

What were the key trends in the Creative Business Transformation category?

"I’d call out three points – firstly, rebooting the planet. Many of the entries demonstrated transformation through ethical or socially-driven purpose and how creativity is being applied to solve the burning challenges of our day.

Secondly, technology as a force for growth. Not an app, or a loyalty program, but new applications of technology to solve interesting problems of our times for consumers and society, and addressing the behaviours of new generations.

Thirdly, transformation as a team sport. We saw a lot of partnerships between big companies and smaller catalysts, collaborating together to scale transformative ideas on a bigger stage, in better ways. Innovative collaboration is something to continue to watch."

What advice would you give to marketers wanting to win a Lions in the category next year?

"This category is not about campaigns, but ideas which are catalysts for real change. Any entry needs to demonstrate that the team has turned a vision into action and made a change across the organisation to deliver with true impact over a sustained period of time. And it’s really helpful for the jury if you can give context to the creativity, as well as explaining how you overcame challenges along the way."

What was your favourite work in this category?

One of the most interesting things about this category was the breadth of the work across Customer Experience, Business Design & Operations, Product & Services and Venture Creation and Design. 'The Smart Fill' from Unilever in India is a really interesting experiment as it takes brands off the shelf and puts sustainability at the centre of the model. I’d love to see how this can expand further and show real impact at scale.

Why did the Grand Prix winner win?

"'Piñatex' by Dole shone a beacon on what this category is all about. A creative idea and a new business model, not a campaign, solving an important ecological and business challenge for the company, a strong implementation connecting the dots across all aspects of the organisation and their partners, and amazing business results with a new revenue source for Dole, their farmers and Ananas Anam, the organisation behind Piñatex. Full end-to-end transformation."