Promo Lions jury President Geraldo Rocha Azevedo of Neogama BBH in Brazil was looking for a grand idea and found it in Grand Prix winner "Bonded by Blood" for Adidas by TBWA/Whybin, Auckland.
"This jury has been looking for those ideas that best connect the brand with the consumer," said Mr. Azevedo, president-integrated solutions at Neogama. "Some may argue [their entries] had better results or more varied execution across channels or had great art direction, but what the jury looked for was the idea behind it. [We wanted] a strong, simple, brilliant reflection of the idea behind the brand."
The winning campaign took the idea of a brand's DNA quite literally, crafting a series of limited-edition posters by using the blood of members of New Zealand's All Black rugby team (Adidas is the team's outfitter).
Another effort in the same Adidas campaign also received a Promo Lion during the first night of awards at the week-long Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. The category is still too new to attract a critical mass of entries necessary to separate the Promo Lions winners into Gold, Silver and Bronze categories.
Leo Burnett, Sydney, was awarded two Promo Lions for its work for the World Wildlife Fund in Australia for a campaign called "Earth Hour." (Work done for non-governmental organizations, nonprofits and charities cannot be considered for the Grand Prix recognition.)
"A charity will often easily strike an emotional chord" with a consumer, said jury member Jane Canapini, managing creative director, Capital C Communications, Canada. "We all struggle with activation, but [in the case of 'Bonded by Blood'] an emotional connection was built into the brand itself."
The sole American campaign recognized was Court TV's series of billboards in which a wife announces to the world she is divorcing her husband. The push, titled "That Girl Emily," is from Deep Focus, New York.