Authentic Stories Won in the South of France This Year
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has championed advertising excellence since 1954, providing the definitive benchmark for brand creativity and innovation. The Festival is turning 70 this year and, as always, the winners were an indication of the trends driving some of the world’s most forward-thinking brands. One trend that caught our eye this year (content licensing nerds that we are): modern marketers are tapping into real human stories and human-made content to resonate with audiences.
In this blog post, we’ll delve into the human-powered Grand Prix winners at Cannes 2023. Join us as we analyze each example and explore how marketers can adopt a more human-centric approach in their campaigns.
Skinny Mobile: Phone It In
This campaign by Colenso BBDO for its client, Skinny Mobile, won Cannes’ Grand Prix in Creative Effectiveness. By inviting real New Zealanders to record their radio commercials through print and out-of-home ads, this low-cost phone company embraced the authenticity of genuine voices with a cheeky, rebellious attitude. We don’t love that they didn’t pay for the talent; We believe every creator deserves to get compensated fairly. But, hey, at least the people who participated knew what they were getting into. In fact, most of them were customers of other carriers.
Using your competitor’s customers for free? Okay, we’re not even mad anymore; that’s just diabolically brilliant.
Takeaway: What could your customers create for you? What are they creating about your brand right now? Better yet: what are your competitors’ customers creating? Start regularly checking social platforms for interesting content and interesting people.
Calm x ITV: The Last Photo
CALM (The Campaign Against Living Miserably) created a powerful campaign by using the last photos and videos of suicide victims to shed light on the hidden struggles of depression and remind us that everything isn’t always as happy as it seems on social media.
According to CALM’s website, “if we can all start one conversation about suicide, together we can save more lives. Over dinner. In schools. In offices. At the pub. In parliament. Right across the country. We need to break the silence and smash the stigma around suicide and get everyone talking about it.” Humans connect through real humans.
Takeaway: Sometimes simply showing candid films of the problem is all you need to do. Starting a conversation with real, compelling content that breaks through can be powerful social proof that your audience is not alone. But remember to always approach sensitive topics authentically and responsibly. And don’t forget to involve the creators themselves in the conversation.
Nike + AQKA: Never Done Evolving
Some humans create more content than others. A world class tennis player, for instance. Nike curated all of the human data from Serena Williams’ long career by analyzing match footage using AI. They plan to use the data to improve products and help train the next Serenas. But they also used the data to simulate a series of matches between different era Serenas, combining tech wonder and sports nostalgia in one piece of lion-winning content.
Takeaway: What existing content is already connected to your brand? How can you reuse that content to make something new?\
Stella Artois + GUT: The Artois Probability
Stella Artois has been around a long time. So long, in fact, that the beer being drunk in certain famous European paintings might just be Stella Artois. So Stella and agency GUT conspired to partner with the Bellas Artes Museum to curate a collection of paintings which had a chance of containing Stella Artois. Then they used AI to analyze each painting and give it a probability rating. We have so many questions. Could this be the very first brand placement? And who knew 400-year-old beer could look so mouth-watering?
TAKEAWAY: Where does your brand show up in culture? In art? In the real world? What does that say about your brand? Can you use this insight to connect with your audience in a meaningful way? Can you change where you show up?
Dove: Turn Your Back
The trendy Bold Glamour filter on social media offers a captivating illusion of beauty. Almost too captivating. Enter Dove! They've always been a champion in the battle against harmful beauty standards. Together with Ogilvy and DAVID, they’re asking us to say no to the Bold Glamour filter with their #TurnYourBack initiative. Everyone is encouraged to join the influencer-led crusade as creators voice their thoughts on the filter's impact, starting a conversation about the perception of beauty.
TAKEAWAY: Embrace emerging social media trends and platforms to foster authentic conversations with your audience. What can you co-create with them?
Samsung: Flipvertising
In this winning campaign, Samsung Electronics Australia successfully asked its audience to google specific search terms in order to get targeted by one lucky winning ad. As people search for the winning ad, their algorithms are flooded with organic content about the Galaxy Z Flip4 – reviews, content and unboxing videos. They discover a whole world of brilliant Z Flip4 content that they might not have come across otherwise as they try to find the exact search terms to lead them to the three films.
“Research showed us that when it comes to product launches, people are influenced more by real people creating their own content and reviews, so we wanted to drive our ad-wary audience to all that great stuff that was already out there.” — Mark Tallis, Creative Director at CHEP.
The films that people find along the way, directed by Max Barden and Sweetshop, act as fun product demos of the new device. Each clip reveals a clue to the next search entry term required to get into the retargeting pool.
Using the algorithm to help customers find organic content. That’s brilliant!
TAKEAWAY: How can you connect to your audience in native ways on the platforms where they spend their time? How can you help curate the organic content around your brand and serve it back to your prospects?
Human Content Licensing Made Easy
The Cannes Lions Grand Prix winners of 2023 exemplify the power of connecting with real human stories to create impactful campaigns. By adopting a human-centric approach, marketers can forge authentic connections with their audience and amplify their brand's voice. At Catch+Release, we connect brands to fresh existing content from creators across the globe and help them license that content quickly and safely.
Ready to embrace the power of human stories? Give us a shout.
