Brand Experience & Activation Lions: Cannes 2023 Decoded

Adam&eveddb picked up a Gold, a Silver and a Bronze for its 'The Last Photo' campaign for CALM.

Directed by Max Fisher, the film shows a sequence of real home videos of apparently happy people enjoying life – singing to infant children, messing about with mates, and enjoying a day out at the seaside. Towards the end of the spot, titles reveal all are the last videos of people who later died by suicide.

The initiative aims to address the stigma often associated with suicide, with people assuming they know what it looks like - reclusiveness, crying, silence – and if they don't see such traits in someone, they hesitate to intervene. Yet in reality, suicidal behaviour takes many forms. Often people can seem happy just moments before taking their own lives.

A campaign featuring the fictional TV football manager Ted Lasso for EA Sports picked up the Grand Prix.

The campaign saw the AFC Richmond team and managers available for selection in playable mode as they were integrated into FIFA 23, along with Nelson Road–the club’s home ground.

Leo Burnett won Silvers for 'Fries Claims' and 'Raise Your Arches' for McDonald's.

'Fries Claims' was the world’s first fictitious law firm dedicated to fighting fry theft, giving fans the chance to claim back stolen fries. The social-led campaign builds on the insight that according to Twitter search terms, there has been a 100 per cent increase in reports of fry theft.

Raise Your Arches' featured office workers dreaming of McDonald's and with eyebrows that danced to the music of 80s band Yello acting as an unspoken invitation. It was directed by Edgar Wright.

McCann London and McCann Health London also won Silver for 'Smart Plants', a collaboration with online plant retailer Plant Drop. Working with University of Oxford botanist, Dr Chris Thorogood, and referring to open-source NASA data, Smart Plants redefined the way we shop online for houseplants - not for their looks but for their smart, pollution-absorbing properties.

Edelman London also won Silver for 'Mayo McHack' - a response to fast food giant McDonald’s decision to only offer ketchup as a dip.

Hellmann’s encouraged McDonald’s customers to customise their order of a Mayo Chicken sandwich by de-selecting the chicken, lettuce and bun, so they would receive just the mayo to enjoy with their fries.

AB InBev and Draftline Europe won the UK's other Bronze with 'Chernigivske - The Beer With A Ukrainian Heart.

There were a total of 69 Lions awarded in this category.

The Judges said....

Ari Weiss, chief creative officer, DDB Worldwide noted these key tends:

"AT THE SPEED OF CULTURE: If you want to capture the hearts and minds of the next generation, you have to move at the speed of culture. This generation is fickle, impatient and can sniff out a fraud a mile away. Speak the truth and speak it well and they will love you forever. Do it poorly and you will be ignored, or worse, forgotten.

"NEVER MIND 6 SECONDS TRY 6 HOURS: Forcing someone to watch something they don’t want to watch for 6 seconds is still an unwanted intrusion. How much better would it be your audience wanted to spend hours with your brand? Provide enough value and they will do just that. You’re not just a brand you can be IP.

"TECHNOLOGY ENABLING IDEAS PREVIOUSLY IMPOSSIBLE: AI, and Machine Learning are allowing us to do things in minutes that used to take months. Don’t confuse the technology for the idea. Use the technology to enable ideas previously impossible.

"All “Brand Experience” is advertising. Not all advertising is “Brand Experience". The difference? The quality of the experience. Advertising can be an unwelcomed visitor in your audience’s life. A “Brand Experience” is actively sought out and appreciated by an audience. If you want to win a Cannes Lion in Brand Experience & Activation make sure your audience would actively seek out and participate with your idea."