PR Lions: Cannes 2021 Decoded

This category awarded two Grands Prix, which went to: FCB Chicago /FCB New York for ‘Contract for Change’ for AB Inbev; and ‘The Bread Exam’ by McCann Paris for Spinneys and the Lebanese Breast Cancer Foundation (LBCF).

The PR Lions honour strategic and creative communication - work with storytelling at its core, which establishes, protects and enhances reputation and business. 1,725 entries were received and 67 Lions awarded: 11 Gold, 21 Silver, 33 Bronze.

Contract for Change' was a campaign by ABInbev that developed the Michelob Pure Ultra Gold to help more farmers transition organic.

'The Bread Exam' saw Spinney's Flour partner with the LBCF to develop a bread recipe that implicitly teaches women how to self-check for breast cancer.

Speaking about The Bread Exam, PR Lions Jury President, Gail Heimann, president & CEO, Weber Shandwick, said: “This one was a very simple, very elegant idea. It used its simplicity to break through, and did so in a way that was beautiful and intimate, but also drove change”.

Creative Salon spoke to jury member Rachael Sansom, managing director, Red Havas UK, Global about her reflections on the category and the winners.

What trends did you see in this category?

Covid related work didn’t dominate the category, which was a surprise. However there was a greater level of empathy in the work due to the circumstances of the last 18 months which was to be lauded.

Tech innovation marched on, the use of Deep Fake tech was quite prevalent, sometimes for good, a lot of time for the shock factor (i.e. not so good). The PR industry is going to have to work out how we feel about this technology given how much fakery in terms of fake news and fake influencers we have to deal with.

What advice would you give to marketers wanting to win in this category next year?

Ideas with earned media at the core of them or made for earned stand out amongst the many ads that got a ‘bit’ of PR: no need to put those in the PR and Influencer category – plenty of other categories for that work!

Campaigns that show legacy also really cut-through, ie what is the long term societal impact of the campaign not just the immediate impact? Good measurement is also really important.

Favourite work in the category?

The Uncensored Library, released by Reporters without Borders. I thought it was a genius use of an open gaming platform, highlighting a really important issue around international press censorship as well as providing a great education tool. It really was the whole package.

There were too many others to mention but high on my list were 'Beach Mode' for Trygg-Hansa Insurance, The Bread Exam from Spinneys and the Lebanese Breast Cancer Foundation and Michelob Ultra’s Contract for Change.