With the Cannes International Festival of Creativity 2024 approaching, Mediaweek heard from representatives at Special Melbourne, Innocean, DDB Group Melbourne and Dentsu Creative to learn about the predicted frontrunners.
Here, Gillian Dalla Pozza (associate CD, Dentsu Creative), Ryan Fitzgerald (ECD, Special Melbourne), Wez Hawes (ECD, Innocean Australia), and Psembi Kinstan (group ECD, DDB Melbourne) discuss the promising entries from their own offices, which they believe are their strongest contenders for a coveted Lion.
DDB Group Melbourne’s Kinstan is confident that “across the network, I’m sure we’ll see success for Macca’s Original Mouthful, VW RooBadge and Greenprint.”
But from its Melbourne office, specifically, he believes Movember’s Mancestry “has the tech, idea and humour to cut through.”
He explains: “To help the men that grow for Movember connect more deeply with their health, we created a DNA kit that analysed the hair from your mo and linked growers to notable ancestors from history (we actually found more than one influencer related to Ghengis Khan, and another related to Eric the Red).
“Crucially, each Mancestry test also uncovers health markers within the DNA that each man should be aware of, prompting potentially life-saving conversations with healthcare professionals. Whilst the experience was exceptionally humorous, it was a perfect example of health by stealth.”
Dentsu Creative’s associate creative director Dalla Pozza says she’s cheering for the agency’s Second Chance Champions campaign to pick up some metal at Cannes.
“And how could it not?,” she continues. “We created a world-first at the Transplant Games giving athletes the opportunity to split their winning medals with the donors or the donor families who made their ‘second chance’ possible. We also managed to shift some pretty ingrained public perceptions by focusing on all that is gained with organ transplants, rather than focusing on the loss.”
Innocean Australia’s Hawes says the agency’s “fingers are crossed that the Cannes jurors read the supporting material, or that there is an Aussie juror who explains who’s who in the Kia Tasman campaign.
“It’s a brave strategy to launch a new ute without the car, or even the name of the car, so we’re hoping the jurors recognise this and it brings home some metal for Australia.”
Hawes adds that Innocean is also pinning its hopes on the White Ribbon The Daily Issue campaign.
“We printed just 1% of the articles on men’s violence against women in Australia since the start of 2024 in a special edition newspaper,” he explains.
“The campaign garnered nationwide coverage and recently picked up a coveted Yellow Pencil at D&AD.”
Special Melbourne’s Fitzgerald says the agency is hoping its work for the Dylan Alcott Foundation, the Shift 20 Initiative, “will raise eyebrows in the south of France.”
Shift 20 Initiative for the Dylan Alcott Foundation
“The Initiative was created to normalise disability inclusion and representation in advertising for the almost 20% of Australians who have some form of visible or non-visible disability, who are only represented in advertising 1% of the time. We launched with a mass inclusion moment, where 10 of Australia’s biggest brands swapped out a key scene in their advertising to feature a person with disability. The long term impact of the initiative was cemented with open source tools to give brands, agencies and production companies the tools they need to help make the shift, amongst other initiatives.
“The long term impact of the initiative was cemented with open source tools to give brands, agencies and production companies the tools they need to help make the shift, amongst other initiatives.”
He contends that “Whatever happens on the Côte-d’Or, we’re excited that the Shift 20 message will be shared directly with some very clever jurors who can help us make the change.”
See also:
The Shift 20 Initiative: Setting the standard for representation in advertising
Climate Dr Certificate, Plastic Forecast, WoMen’s Football: Creatives’ Cannes contenders from other agencies