Contagious editor Chloe Markowicz highlights her top Asia-Pacific Cannes Contenders
The Asia-Pacific campaigns most likely to bag Grands Prix at Cannes Lions, according to Contagious editor Chloe Markowicz.
It’s almost that time of year, when ad execs from the around the world take over the French Riviera for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. While those gearing up to hit the Croisette enthusiastically dust off their Breton T-shirts and prepare their palates for copious amounts of rosé, the chatter has begun about which campaigns will pick up the big prizes.
As people make their predictions, there has been a fair amount of grumbling about the quality of the work over the past 12 months. Perhaps the biggest indication that this might be a lacklustre time for advertising creativity is that D&AD only awarded two of its coveted Black Pencils this year and neither went to entrants within advertising categories.
While it may be a sub-par year for advertising from a global perspective, the story is very different if you focus in on the Asia-Pacific region. A number of campaigns from this part of the world show up on the recently published shortlists from the Titanium, Glass and Innovation categories. And Contagious’ annual Cannes Contenders list features a healthy representation of Antipodean and Asian campaigns, with about 40% of the campaigns that we think are most deserving of Cannes accolades hailing from Australia, New Zealand or China.
Here are some of those favourites:
Skinny / Phone It In / By Colenso BBDO, Auckland
This low-budget banger is perfectly on brand for affordable mobile and broadband provider Skinny. The telco printed scripts for its radio spots on billboards, takeaway coffee cups and beer coasters, inviting New Zealanders to send in recordings of themselves reading the copy. By asking regular people to star in its ads rather than paying for celebrity talent, Skinny found an attention-grabbing way of showcasing its value.
The copy was also adapted to each location and format, with the beer coaster, for example, praising the ‘intoxicating’ nature of Skinny’s mobile network. This tailoring made the scripts feel more personal, thereby encouraging participation and, in fact, 2,650 ads were recorded by the public.
Skinny turned its lack of budget into an opportunity for playfulness, letting the brand’s personality shine through in every medium. It has already picked up two Grands Prix at Spikes and I think it deserves some metal from the Cannes Lions juries too.
Partners Life / The Last Performance / By Special, New Zealand
Life insurance is the perfect example of a grudge purchase; it forces you to reckon with your own mortality and costs you money in the process.
But New Zealand insurer Partners Life managed to get Kiwis to consider life insurance by piggybacking on something they do love: their favourite TV programme. The brand partnered with hit murder show The Brokenwood Mysteries and at the end of each episode a recently deceased character came back on screen to lament that they should have taken out life insurance.
New Zealand is one of the most underinsured nations in the world, but by taking an entertaining approach to extol the benefits of its product, Partners Life was able to change attitudes and encourage people to prepare for the worst. The brand reported that the campaign generated a 75% increase in direct leads to its financial advisers, so though Partners Life used fictional characters to plead its case, it had a business impact in the real world.
Corona / Corona Extra Lime / By DraftLine, Shanghai
In China, AB InBev Corona was having a hard time sourcing high-quality limes. This was a serious problem given that dropping a segment of this citrus fruit into the Corona bottle is so central to the drinking experience.
But the brand came up with a home-grown solution that helped the 24% of farmers in the country living in poverty. It assisted local farmers with producing high-quality limes —designated as Corona Extra Limes — thereby boosting their income. The brand also bundled these fruits with Corona bottles in store, further cementing the beer as a premium product and reminding shoppers of the drinking ritual.
While there’s been a growing sense of purpose fatigue from juries in recent years, here Corona is doing good in a way that is intrinsically linked to its product and business, and that’s sure to endear its project to jurors.
Samsung / Flipvertising / By CHEP Network, Sydney
Most people actively try to avoid advertising, but Samsung flipped this norm with its genius campaign challenging Aussies to hack the Google algorithm so that they would be targeted with ads from the brand.
To launch its new Galaxy Z Series flip phone, the brand promised to give out a free phone to anyone who watched a particular YouTube pre-roll and entered a winning code. But the only way for someone to be served this pre-roll was to Google the right keywords so that Samsung ads would pop up on their YouTube account. By creating a fun scavenger hunt with a desirable prize, Samsung turned a passive audience into one that actually engaged with its brand and learned all about its new phone.
Samsung rang up a 34% sales increase for its Flipvertising campaign and I think it stands a good chance of calling in some Cannes Lions awards as well.
Suncorp / Resilience Road / By Leo Burnett Australia
Australian insurer Suncorp won the Innovation Grand Prix at Cannes last year for its One House to Save Many campaign and I think its follow up will equally impress jurors.
This project took what Suncorp learnt from its prototype house designed to withstand extreme weather and applied it to an entire street of real homes in one of Australia’s most disaster-prone regions.
Resilience Road demonstrates how homes can be better protected against floods, fires, storms and winds, and validates the importance of making buildings more resilient before weather events happen, rather than dealing with the aftermath. It positions Suncorp as a proactive brand, taking measures to make life better for the many Australians who have to deal with the impact of climate change. Although the campaign resulted in an almost 26% quote uplift, its more important outcome is that it will make a real difference for the Australians vulnerable to natural disasters.
From TV characters back from the dead, to premium limes and budget radio spots, the best campaigns from Asia-Pacific this past year have it all. While it’s impossible to say with certainty who will pick up the Grands Prix at this year’s Cannes Lions, the extraordinary quality of work from Asia-Pacific means that there’s more than a good chance that campaigns from this region will be the big winners.
