Creative Strategy Lions: Victory For Ogilvy UK and Real Beauty, Office Poos And AI Grannies

Taking the Strategy Lions Grand Prix - which recognises the best examples of smart brains in advertising - is Ogilvy London's 'Real Beauty: How A Soap Brand Created A Self Esteem Movement'.

Part of Dove's 20-year running Real Beauty platform, the brand built on its creative work with a set of academically validated resources for schools and parents to use in order to discuss body confidence and self-esteem issues.

Zoe Hamilton, Ogilvy’s global chief strategy officer for Unilever, responds: “20 years ago, Dove decided it wanted to stand for something bigger in the world – simply put, to make more women feel beautiful every day and to challenge whatever gets in the way of that. This Grand Prix recognises a platform that has been unwavering for two decades. The Campaign for Real Beauty built a brand and a business; it shaped culture and changed lives. This truly honors the conviction and passion of so many people within an incredible partnership that have championed a unified purpose every step of the way, and it is our greatest privilege to be that partner.”

Meanwhile, Jury President Pats McDonald, global chief strategy officer, Dentsu Creative, said: “In a world where millions of young women struggle with anxiety, Dove’s 20-year commitment to self-esteem has never been more urgent. From a simple but devastating insight (just 2 per cent of women describe themselves as beautiful) and a humble bar of soap, it accelerated across categories and continents. Dove embraces culture, collaboration, and community while maintaining absolute consistency at its core – demonstrating the extraordinary commercial impact of true brand purpose allied to lasting business commitment.”

Fellow jury member chief strategy officer Alison Tilling says: "Incredibly intense, tough but brilliant few days judging the Creative Strategy Lion. There was a great variety of work, particular themes coming through were some strong examples of brands being ‘freshly consistent, consistently fresh’ and with the results to prove it; unexpected advocacy, including animals for tourist destinations and grannies for outdoor media and as an anti-scam method; some great campaigns along with some innovative thinking around NPD - have you ever tried a soup drop?!"

Clenching a Silver Lion is Andrex's 'Get Comfortable' platform. Born of the insight that Brits are notoriously prudish about their toilet habits, and the statistic that fewer than four in ten people in the UK are diagnosed at the early stages of the condition, the campaign aimed to address toilet taboos head on.

From embracing toilet breaks, to celebrating post-poo europhoria - it put taboos right where they belong...in the toilet basin.

VCCP also received a Silver Lion for 'Daisy vs Scammers' with 02. Created for O2, the lifelike elderly lady was designed by AI to keep scammers on the phone for as long as possible so that they have less time to respond to real people.

Made in response to research which reveals that 1 in 5 Brits experience a fraud attempt every week, with her cunning tactic Daisy also subverts stereotypes about older people being especially vulnerable to scammers.

VML London also picked up a Bronze Lion for its poignant 'Waiting To Live' campaign with NHS Blood And Transplant.

The aim was to highlight how many children are waiting for heart transplants in the UK. And in order to make the invisible physical, VML placed 233 dolls in local waiting rooms.

A further Bronze lion was picked up by Droga5 for 'The 26th Minute' with the Dublin Samaritans.

Born from the insight that the average Samaritan call lasts 26 minutes, it reached people by interrupting podcast and music listeners 26 minutes in to recruit volunteers by highlighting that the only requirement needed is a listening ear.

A total of 28 lions were awarded in the category, including 5 Gold lions, 9 Silver lions and 13 Bronze lions in addition to the Grand Prix.

Stay tuned throughout the week and keep up to date with our Cannes Lions 2025 coverage.