According to Cannes Lions, the real success of the new festival will be measured in the brands, start-ups and storytellers that forged new partnerships.
The importance of collaborating for the future was the dominant theme of the inaugural two day stand alone festival, Innovation Lions. Brands, start-ups, VCs, coders, scientists and storytellers gathered together to learn from each other, connect and, as it happens, do business.
Festival Director, Rob Dembitz, said that several of the start-ups who had taken part in the accelerating initiatives at Lions Innovation had ended up in conversations with global brands over the last two days that are likely to lead to new business partnerships.
“The branded communications equation has been completely transformed by the addition of start-ups, and we’ve showcased how creatively-rewarding such 3-way partnerships can be through Lions Innovation. But the Festival has also created a fertile ground for forging these new relationships. It’s been exactly the kind of environment from which the next big thing will emerge.”
Innovation Lions:
8 Innovation Lions were awarded from 226 entries.
The Grand Prix was won by What3Words London for 3 Words to Address the World. This replaces traditional addresses with a unique three-word combination based on geographical co-ordinates for each 3m x 3m square of the planet. The system has particular applications in the developing world.
Jury president, Nick Law, global chief creative officer, R/GA noted that it is an example of systematic, Silicon Valley thinking – relevant, he said, because, “As a jury, we were very concerned about problems to be solved.”
Australian winners:
M&C Saatchi Sydney’s Optus Clever Buoy – The World’s First Shark Detection Buoy
Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney’s Luxottica Penny The Pirate – Storybook and App with Integrated Children’s Eye Screening.
Full winners list here: Innovation winners
Creative Data Lions:
28 Lions were awarded from 609 entries. No Grand Prix was given.
Jury President David Sable, global chief executive officer, Y&R, described the jury’s role as “creating a bar which will be raised again next year, and the year after.”
He added that there was such strong diversity in the first year’s entries it had made identifying an overall winner challenging. “We feel that every Lion we awarded was tight, clear, representative of its sub-category, but we felt that it was inappropriate at this stage to choose one to represent the totality.”
Australian winners:
Leo Burnett Sydney’s Run That Town for Australia Bureau of Statistics won a Gold Lion
GPY&R Brisbane / Melbourne’s Melanoma Likes Me for Melanoma Patients Australia won a Bronze Lion
Full winners lists here: Creative Data Winners
Cannes winners Day 1 here.
Cannes winners Day 2 here.
