Cannes Lions 2019 Predictions @ Leo Burnett
Leo Burnett (Malaysia)
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Leo Burnett Malaysia hosted its 32nd Cannes Predictions at TGV KLCC, showcasing the top 20 contenders, vying for the industry’s most prestigious awards at The 66th Cannes Lion International Festival of Creativity, to be held from June 17-21, 2019.
The annual Leo Burnett Cannes Predictions has an impeccable track record of accuracy in predicting campaigns with a strong likelihood of winning a coveted Lion. For more than 3 decades, Cannes Predictions have achieved nearly 90% accuracy.
Leo Burnett Worldwide Executive Chairman and Global Chief Creative Officer, Mark Tutssel, curated this year’s list for the 17th consecutive year. “The creative communications landscape is rapidly evolving and award-winning work is more and more diverse. This year’s Cannes Predictions are a true patchwork quilt of creative ideas that connect with people, harness human emotion and add value to people’s lives. Our industry’s greatest charge is to use creativity as a tool to create human value and move people to act,” said Tutssel.
The annual Cannes Predictions list is compiled from a year long evaluation of work that reflects global industry trends. This year, 4 trends emerged :
Brand Bravery
If there’s been one macro trend over the past decade, it’s that more brands are acting with conviction. This year, Nike took a risk in making Colin Kaepernick the face of its new global campaign “Dream Crazy“, but as a brand that’s consistently lived its purpose, the partnership with this civil rights entrepreneur landed like a cultural atom bomb.
https://youtu.be/Fq2CvmgoO7I
Meanwhile, Adidas tapped the trailblazing Billie Jean King, and celebrated her trademark blue shoes, worn in the historic “Battle of the Sexes”, by offering to transform any pair of kicks into a version of the iconic 3-striped tennis shoes in “Billie Jean King Your Shoes“.
There’s no question that the clever metaphors of “Viva La Vulva” by Essity make for a visually stimulating film that’s changing the conversation.
Mixed Realities
The advent of AR and VR has presented a challenge for brands – how to use these technologies beyond the novelty. Carling’s “adDRESS the Future” does this brilliantly, creating a digital wardrobe that could be worn by users on social media to curtail the physical waste of gratuitous shopping.
The fusion of our physical and digital realms also came to life through Microsoft Xbox’s “Football Decoded“, which translated the action on the real field into its gaming equivalent. Each time a player on the pitch made a key play, his action was presented on the perimeter boards. This new language for “the beautiful game” became a next-gen hybrid of entertainment and gaming tutorial.
Acts, Not Ads, Reign
Nearly all of this year’s contenders are examples of “Acts, Not Ads” – work infused with purpose that creates real value in people’s lives, from Burger King trolling competition using guerilla tactics in “Whopper Detour” to IKEA challenging the public to find its modern furniture surreptitiously placed in “Museum of Romanticism“.
This year, several contenders tuned in to what was happening on the streets to gin up drama. Country Time Lemonade’s “Legal-Ade” campaign tapped into an injustice happening across America where kids’ lemonade stands were shuttered by local government bureaucrats. This turn war became theater of a new order as the brand committed to legal defense for young entrepreneurs caught in the storm.
In Paris, Centre Pompidou legitimized itself as a museum by creating its own souvenir model that was pitched to tourists by street salesmen in “Souvenirs de Paris“.
In New York City, Broadway stole the limelight from Super Bowl XXI, as Skittles eschewed a film for a full theatrical production in “Broadway the Rainbow“.
Data That Moves
This year more works are using data to move people to act. For example, Pernod Ricard’s Ruavieja “The Time We Have Left“, which created an algorithm to calculate the amount of time we have left to spend with our loved ones. Not only did the work surge into popular culture and become the most-watched Spanish ad of all time, this powerful data point changed the behaviour of thousands around the world, proving that data, coupled with creativity, is a formidable force.