Awards: Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity
Founded: 1954; Mobile Lions launched 2012.
Deadline for entries: March.
Entry fee (for Mobile Lions): €399 (US $528.65) for international entries €478.80 (US $634.37) for UK entries.
Number of entries: 1,061.
Winners announced: June.
Prize: (much coveted) Lion trophy.
mobiThinking verdict: mobiThinking campaigned for years for a Mobile Lions category at Cannes, so it’s good to see it attract a whopping 965 entries in 2012, 1,061 in 2013 and 1,187 in 2014. Quality and variety of winners at Cannes is exceptional, highlighted by an SMS-based m-learning initiative from the Philippines winning the Mobile Lions Grand Prix 2013. This is in part due to the mobile categories being carefully crafted to help to avoid the tsunami of branded novelty apps that monopolize other mobile awards (disclosure: mobiThinking’s Andy Favell was one of the advisers to the Cannes organizers as the Mobile Lions was set up). The most excellent thing about Cannes is that most entrants prepare an enlightening video case study, most of which you will find below.
Previous mobile winners with video case studies: Cannes Lions 2013 • Cannes Lions 2012 • Cannes Lions 2011 • Cannes Lions 2010.
• Part 1: Grand Prix and Gold winners (this page) – descriptions and video case studies from Cannes Mobile Lions and mobile winners in other categories (13 video case studies).
• Part 2: Mobile Lions winners and shortlist by category – including video case studies from Silver and Bronze Lions winners, both Mobile Lions and other categories (21 video case studies).
• Part 3: Mobile winners in other Lions categories – from Cyber, Media, Direct, Promo, Outdoor, PR Lions, Film, Branded, Creative Effectiveness and Innovation Lions (8 video case studies).
• Please wait a few moments for all the videos to load.
• Congratulations winners, if you would like to see your video case study featured here, or if we’ve have missed any award-winning mobile campaigns at Cannes, please contact: editor (at) mobiThinking.com.
• Guide to mobile awards • World Summit Mobile Awards • EMMAs • Smarties (MMA Awards) • Global Mobile Awards • Cannes Lions • Meffys • Webby Awards •
Grand Prix winners
Nivea Protection Ad (Brazil)
Awards: Grand Prix Mobile Lion; Gold Mobile Lion; Gold Media Lion; 2x Silver Media Lions; Bronze Mobile Lion; Bronze Promo Lion.
Category: H01. Mobile: Integrated mobile campaign.
Brand: Nivea.
Agency: FCB Brasil São Paulo.
Summary: The campaign’s main goal was to win new consumers for Nivea Sun Kids. The message should reinforce the product’s main attribute: protection. At the same time, Nivea wanted to continue the series of useful ads that started with the SolarAd Charger. First challenge: how to protect children even more? We thought about another concern related to Nivea Sun Kids’ current consumption: children who get lost on the beach. That’s how we had the idea of making the Protection Ad. An ad that turned into a bracelet for children to wear so that parents could monitor them on their smartphones. All that was needed was to download the app, pair the bracelet, identify the child and choose the distance where the child could go. If distance was exceeded, an alert was sent by the app. With radar, it was possible to see if the parents were getting nearer or further from children.
Success: The campaign was featured in 10 press articles and 40 digital ones. For the first time, Nivea Sun Kids had the top sales in its segment, with a 62 percent increase in Rio de Janeiro. Nivea was present as an innovative brand in places where its consumers are: the beach, parks and clubs. 8 in every 10 people impacted by the ad, downloaded the app. The bracelet even became object of desire – Nivea still receives several requests for it every day.
More information: submission.
Video case study: Nivea Protection Ad (Brazil).
The Scarecrow (USA)
Awards: Grand Prix Cyber Lion; Grand Prix PR Lion; 2x Gold Cyber Lion; 2x Gold PR Lion; Bronze Cyber Lion; Bronze Titanium Lion.
Category: I01. Cyber: Integrated multi-platform cmpaign.
Brand: Chipotle Mexican Grill.
Agency: Creative Artists Agency Los Angeles.
Summary: Chipotle is known for its burritos, but few know that Chipotle has radically changed fast food. “The Scarecrow,” is an entertainment franchise (animated short, mobile game, and song) depicting a scarecrow’s journey to bring wholesome food back to the people. The short, distributed on YouTube and in-game, is set to Grammy Award-winning artist Fiona Apple’s remake of “Pure Imagination” from film classic “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” The mobile game continues the film’s story as players help The Scarecrow correct the wrongs committed by Crow Foods. Players received a mobile coupon to Chipotle delivered immediately to their devices. The song is available on iTunes for charity, and the game is available free on IOS App Store. The Scarecrow franchise created a conversation about food in popular culture generating over 614,000,000 PR impressions. In its first month, The Scarecrow sparked 18.4 million conversations across 17 social platforms with a 92.7 social sentiment score. For the first time, Chipotle unseated Taco Bell as top social brand on the Restaurant Social Media Index Top 250 list. Since launching, the film has reached over 12,500,000 YouTube views. Over 650,000 people have downloaded the game, playing for an average of 5 minutes. The song debuted #32 on Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart and reached over 13,000 purchases on iTunes.
More information: submission; viral video; mobile game trailer.
Video case study: The Scarecrow (USA).
Gold Lions winners
The Kan Khajura Station (India)
Awards: Gold Mobile Lion; 2x Gold Media Lion.
Category: J02. Mobile: Social for mobile: Response/real-time activity.
Brand: Unilever India.
Agency: Lowe And Partners Worldwide Mumbai.
Summary: While much of the world is connected and spoilt with an overload of entertainment through regular media and digital mediums, there are parts of the world where people still live in digital isolation. In Bihar and Jharkhand in India there are power cuts of up to 8-10 hours everyday, leaving many of a population of up to 130 million people disconnected from the world. Being a key growth market for Unilever we wanted to find a way to reach out to them. Our answer lay in the only electronic equipment that people here keep turned on the rudimentary mobile phone – owned by 54 million people here! So we transformed their rudimentary mobile phones into an entertainment medium – The Kan Khajura Station – with 15 minute of free, on-demand entertainment.
We got together mobile operators, content providers and our brands to create The Kan Khajura Station. To join us all they had to do was make a missed call to a number, and we would call them back with jokes, music, Bollywood songs, and advertisements from our brands. The Kan Khajura Station has quickly become the largest media channel in the region with a community of entertainment lovers with 24 million callers and 8 million loyal listeners. Our goal was 10 percent of the population in 6 months. We got 25.5 percent. We have 13000 hours of engagement each day and 2.3 million hours to date. We delivered 70 million ad impressions.
We created a new media through a rudimentary mobile phone that brought people out of media darkness and connected them with the world. All this at a cost of under 4 US cents per person.
More information: submission.
Video case study: The Kan Khajura Station (India).
Rice-Code (Japan)
Awards: Gold Outdoor Lion; Gold PR Lion; Silver PR Lion; Bronze Media Lion.
Category: D03. Outdoor: Ambient: Special Build. A12. PR: Public Sector.
Brand: Inakadate Village.
Agency: Hakuhodo Tokyo.
Summary: Inakadate, a small village in northeast Japan famous for rice, was struggling with an aging and declining population along with drop in rice sales. To save the village, we created huge art pictures in rice fields. We then developed a new technology called “rice-code,” which let visitors scan the rice art with their phones like a QR code and purchase the rice. “Rice-code” transformed a scene into a brand new selling place. The project successfully attracted 251,320 visitors, about 30 times the population of the village and sales jumped dramatically. Meanwhile, sale of rice related to rice-art increased 380% compared with the previous year. The effect of Rice-code’s PR was to gain more than $100,000 media exposure.
More information: submission.
Video case study: Rice-Code (Japan).
Offline Book (Singapore)
Awards: Gold Mobile Lion.
Category: B03 Mobile Websites and Web apps: Media, entertainment and leisure.
Brand: Math Paper Press.
Agency: DDB Group Singapore.
Summary: Math Paper Press is a print publisher with a problem: With everybody reading online, how does a print publisher keep hard-copy books relevant? The mobile opportunity: Many people surf the Web on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, and lose Internet connection often when they go indoors or underground, meaning: online resources can ‘go offline’. But books never go offline. The Web application: using a simple HTML patch that alters the existing cache of partner Websites, we substituted standard offline notifications with excerpts from Math Paper Press publications. So when people go offline, instead of an offline page, they get an ‘offline book’. Each instance of lost connection became a surprising reminder of the ‘always available’ nature of hard-copy books. We even directed people to the actual book with a bookstore location at the end of each excerpt. We created different patches customized with different genres of books. Each patch became a mini Web app that we made available free on a microsite. Next, we invited Websites, blogs, etc. to download the customized Web apps that suit their target audience. Helping them to keep visitors engaged at their URL, even when offline. Thus a simple idea championed by a single client in Singapore has turned into an ongoing movement that any Website or blog anywhere in the world can participate in. Results: within a short span of two months since launch, Math Paper Press titles saw an increase in sales. More importantly, store traffic at Books Actually, the main carrier of Math Paper Press titles, increased by over 20 percent, signifying a renewed interest in hard-copy books. The Offline Book created widespread interest with Website/blog owners. Early partners ranged from fine arts blogs and design studios to surprising adopters like an engineering site. We’re currently in talks with multiple parties, ranging from a floral distributor to a national heritage site. For under $US20,000, we launched a movement that could potentially reach 7 million mobile users in Singapore alone, and 7 billion mobile users worldwide, directly.
More information: submission.
Video case study: Offline Book (Singapore).
Pay Per Laugh (Spain)
Awards: Gold Mobile Lion; Silver Design Lion; Silver Media Lion; 2x Bronze Direct Lion; Bronze Media Lion; Bronze Promo Lion.
Category: A02. Mobile: Creative use of technology: Augmented mobile experience.
Brand: Teatre Neu.
Agency: The Cyranos/McCann Worldgroup.
Summary: The first comedy shows where you only pay for what you consume.
We fitted out each seat with a facial-recognition system that detects smiles, then made proposed the following deal to spectators: “Entrance will be totally free. If the show produces no laugh, you won´t pay anything. However, if you laugh, you have to pay for each smile”. Each smile produced is worth 30 Euro cents, something that in this day and age is quite a reasonable price. And so that no-one would cry for having laughed more than they could afford, the maximum amount to pay was 80 laughs or 24 Euros.
The average price of the tickets increased by 6 Euros compared with traditional shows. The system was covered by the main national media outlets. This produced more publicity, and produced 35 percent more spectators. Each pay per laugh produced 7,200 Euros of ticket money compared to 4,400 euros that was normally taken. Currently the Pay Per Laugh system is being copied in other comedy theaters in Spain. A mobile phone app was created to use as a system of payment in other independent theatres.
More information: submission.
Video case study: Pay Per Laugh (Spain).
Alvio (USA)
Awards: Gold Mobile Lion; Bronze Mobile Lion.
Category: A03. Mobile: Creative use of technology: Networked Mobile Technology.
Brand: QOL.
Agency: R/GA New York.
Summary: Children with asthma, and their parents, would benefit if the kids would do more breathing exercises. Existing devices are scary, or boring, or both. We saw an opportunity to create a breathing trainer that acts like a game controller. But instead of using your thumbs, you control the game with your breath. Alvio tracks your progress while you play. And because it’s fun, kids will keep playing while they get healthier. We designed Alvio’s games around the ways people need to improve their lung health. Inhaling and exhaling moves the character up and down to hit targets. Other games measure how hard you can exhale — a very important indicator of the seriousness of your condition. Alvio is being tested in Montefiore Medical Center in New York City in their pediatric department. It will be used in-hospital for 6 weeks and then at home with the patients for 6 months. The app was hand-delivered on iPads by the company. Alvio is partnering with some of the top hospitals in the US, to make our games even more useful. So we can help even more kids with asthma go out and play. And help their parents to breathe easier.
More information: submission.
Video case study: Alvio (USA).
Google Racer: Mobile Chrome Experiment (USA)
Awards: Gold Mobile Lion; Bronze Mobile Lion.
Category: A04. Mobile: Creative use of technology: Innovative technology for mobile
Brand: Google Chrome
Agency: Google Creative Lab/Active Theory
Summary: With Racer, Google wanted to demonstrate the power of Chrome, the mobile Web, and the magic that’s possible when devices talk to each other. Typically, multi-player mobile games are native apps, so our challenge was to squeeze every ounce of performance and richness out of compiled technologies like Javascript, CSS, and HTML5 Canvas – and deliver it for mobile hardware (which is great for gaming because of its size, but less powerful than its desktop counterparts). We learned a lot along the way as we labored and tinkered to make Racer fast, visually crisp, and acoustically sharp. We wanted to see Racer reach audiences of all ages around the world, but with the hope of inspiring developers everywhere to build awesome mobile multi-player experiences. We’ve always seen Racer as an early experiment to demonstrate these new technologies and capabilities. Live on-stage demo during Google I/O 2013 to launch the experiment, mobile site, desktop site, launch video, behind the scenes video and an installation to showcase the experiment on a larger scale. 3.2 million Website visitors, 70 percent of users coming from mobile or tablet.
Coverage was universally positive, focusing on Google’s innovative use of technology within the mobile browser including use of Websockets and the Web audio api.
More information: submission.
Video case study: Google Racer: Mobile Chrome Experiment (USA).
SAT-JF14 (Brazil)
Awards: Gold Mobile Lion; Silver PR Lion; Bronze Promo Lion;
Category: C03. Mobile apps: Media, entertainment and leisure.
Brand: Record Collection – John Frusciante.
Agency: Loducca São Paulo.
Summary: On March 31 2014, John Frusciante launched his latest LP, Enclosure, into space within an experimental cube satellite called SAT-JF14. A video on his official Website and Facebook page announced that fans could get the mobile app to track SAT-JF14 in real time as it orbited the Earth. When the satellite hovered their location, they could use the app to unlock the album and listen to it for free on the app one week before the official launch in stores on April 8. The app was built for iOS7 and Android platforms. It had a map tab for the user to track the satellite’s location and connect with it once it hovered over their geographic region. During this one week, the app had over 30,000 downloads and 200 reviews with an average of 4.5 out of 5 stars. It also came with a chat service that allowed those who had downloaded the release to communicate with each other generating 25,000 messages.
The album’s launch was featured in all major music sites/magazines like Rolling Stones, Billboard, The Verge and also technology sites like Gizmodo. The Website, where people got to learn more about the launch and find the link to download the app, received over 500 simultaneous visits on it’s peak. More information: submission.
Video case study: SAT-JF14 (Brazil).
ELO Teddy Bear (Brazil)
Awards: Gold Mobile Lion.
Category: G01. Mobile: Messaging Campaigns, including SMS, MMS and Mobile Email.
Brand: Amaral Carvalho Hospital.
Agency: DM9 DDB São Paulo.
Summary: Amaral Carvalho Hospital is a top cancer treatment centre in Latin America. For children undergoing treatment, isolation can hurt more than any physical pain. They are pulled from their normal routine and away from friends and family. To help shorten this distance, we developed a special line of bears that receive and play audio notes from WhatsApp sent from family and friends every time children press the teddy’s hand. They were named “ELO” (means “LINK”) for linking hospitalized children with the love they miss from home. The ELOs made a huge impact on the kids and their families, and when the project’s video was posted on the hospital’s fanpage it became one of the most shared videos in Brazil and a medical benchmark for hospitals throughout the country and abroad. Being a public hospital, it treats mainly families with few resources, so it needed to be something that they could all participate in cheaply. With the ELOs and its built-in app on one end and cellphones on the other, we found a totally costless solution, as WhatsApp works on any smartphone family and friends had and the messages are sent for free. Each child received one ELO and each one had a specific number that was given to friends and family so that they’d know where to send the message for that specific child. Aside from bringing enormous happiness and relief to both the children and their families, the ELOs became an international phenomenon. The project delivered unforeseen visibility for the hospital worth U$7 million in earned media nationally and internationally. It impacted over 60 million people on social networks alone and became a medical benchmark for hospitals throughout the country and abroad, being written about in medical and health publications in different countries.
More information: submission.
Video case study: ELO Teddy Bear (Brazil).
Bloody Tube (Japan)
Awards: Gold Mobile Lion.
Category: H01. Mobile: Best Integrated Campaign Led by Mobile.
Brand: Bascule.
Agency: Bascule Tokyo.
Summary: We invented new interactive system called Massive Interactive Entertainment System (MIES) which can synchronize a Live TV show with the smartphone of millions of users all over the Japan in real-time. To demonstrate it, we created a live TV show where viewers can join in by playing the game at home using their smartphone. The game takes place on the smartphone, but the action is shared with the family and friends in real time via the TV screen. Following a presentation to the TV broadcaster in Feb. 2013, we purchased a one-hour TV slot. Many different businesses, including Sony gave the idea their support, allowing the inclusion of many innovations to the show, such as giving points to viewers if they made purchases on their smartphones. On June 15, 2013, Bloody Tube was broadcast live in Japan, attracting attention across the TV business – all six major Japanese TV broadcasters wanted to collaborate on TV shows. So far, we’ve done more than 30 interactive TV programs of all varieties. The sponsors are also very happy because we sent $10 worth of reward points for shopping to winners’ smartphone during the show resulting in 70 percent of them signing up to sponsors’ reward schemes.
More information: submission.
Video case study: Bloody Tube (Japan).
Minute of Silence (Australia)
Awards: Gold Mobile Lion; Bronze Direct Lion.
Category: H01. Mobile: Best integrated campaign led by mobile.
Brand: RSL Australia Anzac Appeal.
Agency: DDB Group Melbourne.
Summary: Every Anzac Day Australia takes a Minute of Silence to remember fallen veterans. With fewer people carrying cash but most carrying a Smartphone – particularly the younger generation – we devised a simple and powerful way they could pay their respects and donate using their phone. We set up a phone line where people could pay to listen to a Minute of Silence. TV commercials, print, outdoor, radio and social media asked people to call. You simply called the number, listened to the recorded silence and money from the call goes to help veterans and their families. No credit cards, no apps, no downloads. Your donation is deducted from your phone bill. After hanging up, people received an SMS containing a video ‘thank you’ message from a veteran. A Website featured a series of emotional videos where veterans reflected on their own personal Minutes of Silence. Paying to listen to silence? Such an innovative approach from a charity certainly got fingers dialing and tongues wagging. Results included: a) 10,000 Website hits on the first night; b) Three days after launch it became the 3rd highest trending topic in the world on Twitter; c) Massive PR coverage with over $2 million of earned media; d) But most importantly, the appeal has raised over $3 million, so far, for veterans and their families. And it’s still going.
More information: submission.
Video promotion: Minute of Silence(Australia).
A Trip Out To Sea (France)
Awards: Gold Mobile Lion; Bronze Cyber Lion; Bronze Direct Lion; Bronze Promo Lion.
Category: I03. Mobile: Craft: User experience.
Brand: Guy Cotton Lifejackets.
Agency: CLM BBDO Boulogne-Billancourt.
Summary: Each year in France, too many people drown at sea because they neglect to wear a lifejacket. 43 percent of French people believe that because they can swim they do not need one. However, no matter whether you merely enjoy water activities, are a boatingenthusiast or a genuine professional, in the case of an accident, the chances of surviving without a lifejacket are unlikely. How could Guy Cotten, a brand leader in marine clothing and safety equipment, get this message across? We created a Web site with an interactive video that made users experience their own drowning, during which they had to scroll continuously to stay above the surface. During long minutes, scrolling was their only chance of survival, which generated a physical and psychological exhaustion. Quickly, they understood how tiring it is to swim at sea without a lifejacket, just like it is tiring to scroll continuously. The mobile format was key for this campaign, as tablets are popular with young adults, who often neglect to wear a lifejacket at sea.
Launched with a 0 Euro media plan, the experience instantly generated a massive buzz around the world, worth more than 800,000 Euros in earned media. There were 1 Million unique visitors to the Website in the first 48 hours, all coming to drown virtually. The buzz quickly reached 221 countries, raising an outstanding amount of positive feedbacks on social media. Traffic to the Guy Cotten Facebook page increased 2150 percent. The buzz was relayed in 1200 articles worldwide. Best of all, thousands of users said on social networks they would never neglect wearing their lifejacket anymore, praising the campaign’s strength and efficiency.
More information: submission.
Video case study: A Trip Out To Sea (France).
• Part 1: Grand Prix and Gold winners (this page) – descriptions and video case studies from Cannes Mobile Lions and mobile winners in other categories (13 video case studies).
• Part 2: Mobile Lions winners and shortlist by category – including video case studies from Silver and Bronze Lions winners, both Mobile Lions and other categories (21 video case studies).
• Part 3: Mobile winners in other Lions categories – from Cyber, Media, Direct, Promo, Outdoor, PR Lions, Film, Branded, Creative Effectiveness and Innovation Lions (8 video case studies).
• Please wait a few moments for all the videos to load.
• Congratulations winners, if you would like to see your video case study featured here, or if we’ve have missed any award-winning mobile campaigns at Cannes, please contact: editor (at) mobiThinking.com.
• Guide to mobile awards • World Summit Mobile Awards • EMMAs • Smarties (MMA Awards) • Global Mobile Awards • Cannes Lions • Meffys • Webby Awards •
Dont miss:
• Revealed: mobile banking customers at world’s largest banks – the huge, the tiny and the AWOL
• The 10 ways mobile search is different: implications for your mobile Web/search strategy
• US consumers will spend more time on mobile devices than PCs in 2014: three hours a day. When will marketers catch up?
• EU unfetters the mobile Web, with plan to scrap roaming fees in Europe. When will the rest of the world follow?
• Mobile browsing stats: why do iOS users surf more than Android users?
• UK regulator benchmarks mobile/fixed broadband progress against EU countries
• The insiders’ guides to worlds greatest mobile markets • Latest: Brazil
• Guide to mobile industry awards
• Mobile marketing resources: links to the most useful places on the Web (2014 update)
• Mobile SEO best practices for 2014
• Next-generation mobile ads: What is a demand-side platform (DSP) and real-time bidding (RTB)?
• Guide to mobile agencies
• Guide to mobile ad networks
• Mobile events 2014 • best conferences, great discounts and free tickets •
• The big compendium of global mobile stats
• Most popular content on mobiThinking in 2013
Leave a Reply