Cannes Lions Grand Prix All-Stars—where are they now?

During the Cannes Lions, every once in a while there emerges a big idea that captivates both juries and the general public, earning fame not just on the Croisette but the broader pop culture world. As the festival resumes celebrations on the French Riviera, we look back at some of its all-stars and the ultimate impact they had on the industry. State Street Global Advisors: "Fearless Girl” Agency: McCann New York 2017 In March of 2017, asset management firm State Street Global Advisors and agency McCann New York mysteriously dropped the (now famous)) statue of a defiant girl in front of Wall Street’s iconic symbol, “Charging Bull.” Created by artist Kristen Visbal, the artwork marked International Women's Day and SSGA’s initiative urging the 3,500+ companies in which it invests for its clients to increase the number of women on their corporate boards. Grand Prix Wins The campaign earned four top prizes, nabbing three of them on the first night of the 2017 Festival and then closing out the week with the Lions’ most coveted honor, the Titanium Grand Prix. Legacy and Aftermath “Fearless Girl” was a rare idea that transcended the advertising and marketing world to become a cultural icon and universal symbol of female empowerment. Jurors praised it for being both disruptive and effective (it later went on to win the Grand Effie). She went on to reappear in more pushes–she donned a lace collar to honor the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a bullet-proof vest as “Fearful Girl” for nonprofit Change the Ref, and wore a mask to promote safety during the pandemic. A four-year anniversary campaign placed “Fearless Girl” within a ring of glass shards, representing a shattered glass ceiling. Since the campaign’s 2017 launch, of the 1,548 companies that were identified for not having a woman on their board, 948 have since added a woman director. “Fearless Girl has helped reshape gender diversity in corporate boardrooms across the globe, and continues to have a positive impact on our brand,” said John Brockelman, chief marketing officer of State Street Global Advisors. Along with success, the campaign has also seen controversy. Critics accused it of being fake “corporate feminism,” SSGA patron appeared hypocritical when it settled a lawsuit alleging that it underpaid female and Black employees and there’s been ongoing litigation on commercial rights to the idea with artist Visbal, who this year brought “Fearless Girl” into the land of NFTs. Marketing Now Brockelman noted that the success of the campaign “inspired us to be bold in all of our advertising” and each new push “starts by focusing on a single, clear and powerful idea supported by creative that always strives to be out of category for financial services.” Recent efforts included a powerful emotional campaign starring Sugar Ray Leonard, humorous spots starring Elizabeth Banks and an investment education campaign set in a cinematic, dystopian world. Watch: State Street Global Advisors CMO on the future of "Fearless Girl" Dove: Evolution Agency: Ogilvy Toronto 2006 Ten years before the arrival of “Fearless Girl,” this campaign from Unilever’s Dove and Ogilvy Toronto captured attention of the general public and the industry, earning Grand Prix in both the Cyber and Film categories. Part of the brand’s “Campaign for Real Beauty,” it promoted the Dove Self-Esteem Fund to help girls overcome body image issues, largely driven by unattainable beauty ideals. Grand Prix Wins In 2007, “Evolution” earned an unprecedented double Grand Prix, in the Cyber and the Film categories. Legacy and Aftermath “Evolution” win marked what Ad Age called a “new era” of Cannes Lions winners, shining a light on increasingly blurry category boundaries brought on the shift in media consumption toward digital platforms. Having started out as an online film, “Evolution” was recognized in the festival’s now-retired Cyber category. It then went on to nab the top honor in Film, a category that until then had been reserved for ads with proper TV buys. The campaign drove home just how powerful the purposeful “Real Beauty” platform could carry the Dove brand. It set the stage for more attention- and award-winning work, including the “Real Beauty Sketches” campaign that debuted eight years later and earned the prestigious Cannes Lions Titanium Grand Prix. “The Dove campaign contributed to the current prevailing thinking that every brand needs a ‘purpose,’” said Silvia Lagnado, the veteran marketer and former Unilever and Dove exec who helped put the “Campaign for Real Beauty” on the map. “While I strongly believe that every brand needs to know precisely why it exists, I find many brands’ purposes and resulting campaigns to be ludicrous. Be true, be relevant, be simple, be creative. And if you want to have a deeper positive impact on humanity, make sure you actually do.” Marketing Now “Real Beauty” lives on, and it’s impossible to separate the Dove brand from that mission. Dove has continued to score big on the platform, earning more Grand Prix, including the “Courage is Beautiful” campaign that captured the beautiful, yet worn and weary faces of frontline workers during the pandemic and last year earned top honors in Print and Publishing and Craft. Dove circled back to “Evolution” last year in a spot revisiting the original premise, but highlighting the toxicity of selfie culture on young girls. Another ad from this year used deepfake tech to expose how destructive influencers’ beauty advice can be. Always “Like a Girl” Agency: Leo Burnett 2015 Like Dove, P&G’s Always aimed to support girls’ self-esteem with this film from Leo Burnett Chicago directed by documentary filmmaker Lauren Greenfield (“The Queen of Versailles”). The campaign asked women, a boy and pre-pubescent girls to demonstrate what it meant to run, fight or throw like a girl—and their responses were starkly different. The girls looked like bosses and serious athletes, while the others illustrated the pejorative interpretation of the phrase. The campaign aimed to subvert the insult and inspire girls to continue to be their confident selves as they grew into adulthood. It was inspired by Always research that found self-esteem drops for girls after they get their first period. Grand Prix wins The campaign won the 2015 Cannes Lions PR Grand Prix plus (non-Grand Prix) Glass and Titanium nods. Legacy Though it didn’t steal the show, “Like a Girl” was another massive pop culture hit, and at the time of its win had reached more than 58 million views on YouTube. It also went on to score the 2015 Outstanding Commercial Emmy. Current Marketing Out of “Like a Girl” emerged the “#KeepHerPlaying” campaign, aimed at helping girls to build confidence through participation in sports. Today, that has extended to the world of gaming and Always is among the feminine care brands to jump into esports. Along with sister brand Tampax, the brand is sponsoring the Astral Clash tournament series along with global esports organization Gen.G and Galorants, the largest community of female-identifying and non-binary players of Riot Games’ Valorant. Metro Trains “Dumb Ways to Die” Agency: McCann Melbourne 2013 This highly infectious animated film set to a catchy tune and starring morbidly characters who meet their fate in extraordinarily gruesome ways took an uncharacteristically cute and humorous approach to promoting serious subject matter—railway safety. The Australian effort, aimed at an 18-to-29 target of Melbourne commuters, was an immediate viral hit and went on to sweep industry awards shows. Grand Prix wins The campaign set a Grand Prix record, winning five of the top prizes at the 2013 Cannes Lions. It swept the rest of the awards circuit too and went on to become the most decorated campaign of the year across all major industry shows. Legacy and life after Cannes Around the time of its big wins, the campaign’s original film had earned nearly 60 million views, and today, that number has quadrupled to nearly 240 million hits. Its cute characters went on to live beyond the film in spin-off videos, popular and addictive mobile games and a line of stuffed toys and merch sold at retailers including Hot Topic and F.Y.E. They even re-emerged in the marketing of another brand, Canadian insurance brand Empire Life. Industry observers questioned the long-term effectiveness of the campaign, however. As noted by Australian industry publication Mumbrella, the following year, the campaign failed to earn a Lion in the Creative Effectiveness category but did earn Silver and Bronze at the 2013 Australian Effies. Perhaps it’s fitting, then, that the characters have found a new home at a gaming company. Last fall, the franchise was acquired for A$2.25 million by Australia’s largest gaming company Playside Studios, which earlier this year launched a “Dumb Ways to Die” NFT collection called Beans. Current Marketing The company remains a longstanding client of McCann Melbourne. The lockdown had put Metro’s advertising on hold, but the agency is currently working on a new campaign. Nike: “Dream Crazy” Agency: Wieden+Kennedy Portland 2018 This iconic campaign from Nike and Wieden+Kennedy Portland marked the 30th anniversary of “Just Do It.” It started with a single, statement-making tweet from former NFL star and activist Colin Kaepernick featuring his portrait and a provocative statement: “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.” It then rolled out into film starring and narrated by Kaepernick and outdoor ads featuring a massive version of the original social post. The effort immediately inspired industry-wide awe—and envy. It also captured the hearts and minds of consumers, specifically, the Millennial and Gen Z audience whose interest has been increasingly drawn to other brands. Most importantly, it helped revenue soar the year of its launch. Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything. #JustDoIt pic.twitter.com/SRWkMIDdaO— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) September 3, 2018 Grand Prix wins The effort nabbed the 2019 Cannes Lions Outdoor Grand Prix and the Inaugural Grand Prix in Entertainment Lions for Sport. It also earned a Titanium Lion as well, though the top prize went to Burger King’s “Whopper Detour.” The campaign film later went on to win the 2019 Outstanding Commercial Emmy and returned to the Cannes Lions stage when it earned the 2021 Grand Prix for Creative Effectiveness. Legacy and Aftermath “Dream Crazy” set a new bar for “Just Do It”—and for marketers in general. It took an iconic tagline and modernized it for a more socially-conscious era of consumerism. When it earned the Grand Prix in Entertainment Lions for Sport, Jury President Steve Stoute noted that Nike had “taken a real risk in using him and sticking with [Kaepernick] and so the same craziness they were asking for in the campaign was the same theory they were applying to themselves.” After 30 years, “Just Do it” never felt fresher and more relevant. When Ad Age named Nike 2018 Marketer of the Year, it called the campaign a “textbook example of how marketer can change a conversation.” Alex Lopez, Nike’s former global VP for brand marketing and global men’s creative director who now serves as president and global chief creative officer at McCann, said that “the way ‘Dream Crazy’ electrified the world was matched by the way the campaign was a catalyst for significant revenue growth and stock price appreciation both in the short term and for a lengthy period of time afterwards.” Its legacy, he said, “was to remind the world that emphatically standing up for what your values and beliefs can make your brand more meaningful in the world and supercharge your business. Marketers, Nike included, sometimes need reminders that leading with your purpose and being declarative about your values is not only the right thing to do, it is also the right business decision.” Marketing today Since “Dream Crazy,” Nike hit another home run during the pandemic with the “You Can’t Stop Us” campaign. It included the 2021 Film Grand Prix-winning spot depicting more than 50 athletes from disparate sports coming together seamlessly in visually dazzling split-screen scenarios. It followed with the “Play New” campaign, capturing a sense of hope and renewal post-pandemic. Now, the brand is in the throes of celebrating its 50th anniversary, which it kicked off with a reboot of its famous “Mars Blackmon” campaign starring Spike Lee.

Cannes Lions Grand Prix All-Stars—where are they now?

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