By Mary Maddever and Jennifer Horn
Last night, a collective of Canadians in Cannes went to sleep with 43 Lions in their grasp.
Today, they woke up (presumably in the afternoon following a night of celebrations at the Gutter bar) to another 12 Lions and the knowledge that the country has officially beaten its own personal record – clocking in a total of 55 awards, up from 51 in 2023.
That’s 12 Lions (six Silver and six Bronze) captured by agencies Rethink (which, once again, led the way with 8 medals), as well as Dentsu Creative and Ogilvy with two Lions each, this afternoon.
Clients sharing these accolades include Heinz Ketchup, Coors Light, Molson, SkipTheDishes and Dove; they do so across the Creative Strategy, Brand Experience & Activation, Creative Business Transformation and Creative Commerce categories.
Sitting in conversations with the jury presidents, Vita Harris, CSO at FCB Global and the guiding voice for Creative Strategy, told reporters that the lens the jury took was to first ask if the idea could work without the strategy underpinning, and then evaluated the creativity within that strategy. Then what they wanted to see was enduring brand value and connectivity.
Harris says what they saw in the work reinforced a powerful factor – that creative strategy does not have to decide between building the business and inspiring positive change in the world, which is evidenced by the winners below.
Check back here this afternoon at 3:30pm ET, when Cannes unveils the Gold and Grand Prix winners.
Creative Strategy (5)
Silver
“Heinz Ketchup Fraud”
Heinz Ketchup
Rethink
“Cost of Beauty”
Dove
Ogilvy London / Ogilvy Toronto
Bronze
“Cost of Beauty”
Dove
Ogilvy London / Ogilvy Toronto
“Inflation Cookbook”
SkipTheDishes
Dentsu Creative
“It Has To Be Heinz”
Heinz Ketchup
Rethink
Brand Experience & Activation (5)
Silver
“Coors Lights Out”
Coors Light
Rethink
“Inflation Cookbook”
SkipTheDishes
Dentsu Creative
“Heinz Ketchup & Seemingly Ranch”
Heinz Ketchup
Rethink
“Smack For Heinz”
Heinz Ketchup
Rethink
Bronze
“See My Name”
Molson
Rethink
Creative Business Transformation (1)
Bronze
“Heinz Ketchup & Seemingly Ranch”
Heinz Ketchup
Rethink
Creative Commerce (1)
Bronze
“Heinz Ketchup & Seemingly Ranch”
Heinz Ketchup
Rethink
