Shackleton, Madrid, walked away from the first night of awards at the weeklong Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival with the Grand Prix in Direct for Banco Gallego.
The Spanish agency also took home a Gold Lion for a second direct-marketing effort surrounding the bank's deposit service, created after former Spanish soccer player Julen Lopetegui fainted in the studio during a broadcast of last year's World Cup. Clips of the incident circulated on YouTube. Although no one knew why the ex-goalkeeper had fainted, Banco Gallego offered an explanation: It must be because Mr. Lopetegui was shocked by the great rate he had just received with the financial institution.
Rory Sutherland, vice chairman, Ogilvy Group U.K. and Lions Direct jury president, cited Shackleton's work for "taking a single freak accident on TV and creating a topical product and brand around it."
"They used the spirit of the moment," he said. "Innovation is rare in the financial realm and branding a product after a [local] celebrity made this the single most remarkable piece."
Mr. Sutherland also cited as outstanding Arc Worldwide's work for the Centers for Disease Control. The Chicago agency's "Verb Yellowball" campaign won a Gold Lion.
"We were actually upset to choose just one [Grand Prix winner]," said Mr. Sutherland. "[If you look at] all 10 Gold awards, you will see the real joy of marketing is its extraordinary variety."
This year, the Direct Lions jury focused on the context of the audience, the brand and the business purpose in choosing a winner. While only half the number of Gold and Silver Lions were awarded this year as compared with 2006, Mr. Sutherland said the reduction was not an indication of declining work.
"The overall standard is rising, so it is harder to stand out," he said. He added that he was particularly impressed with work that did not need to pay for an audience, but rather drew people to it. "No money has gone to the Murdochs of the world in order to make [these campaigns] famous," he said.