First winners announced at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 70th edition

Cannes Lions kicks-off the 70th edition of the Festival with the first Awards Show of the week. The winners of the Pharma, Health & Wellness, Outdoor, Print & Publishing and Radio & Audio Lions were announced, as well as the Lions Health and United Nations Foundation Grand Prix for Good. 

This year, entrants from Armenia and Nigeria made history by being the first to take home a Lion for their country; Bronze Lions in Radio & Audio and Health & Wellness Lions respectively.

Simon Cook, CEO, LIONS, said, “We’re delighted to honour our first Lion winners who are raising the creative bar on the global stage. Thank you to all of our exceptional Jurors who have given their time, dedication and expertise to define the creative benchmark for the Festival’s 70th edition.” 

The Outdoor Lions, celebrating creativity experienced out of home, received 1938 entries and 59 Lions were awarded: 9 Gold, 19 Silver and 30 Bronze. The Grand Prix went to ‘A British Original’ by Uncommon Creative Studio, London for British Airways. The work explores the multitude of reasons people travel by responding to the box-ticking question ‘What is the purpose of your visit?’ With witty responses across 500 print, digital and outdoor executions, the work was delivered with impressive scale.  Commenting on the win, Outdoor Lions Jury President: Javier Campopiano, Worldwide Chief Creative Officer at Grey and Global Chief Creative Officer of OpenX From WPP, Grey/OpenX, said: “Under the surface of a classical OOH campaign, lays a platform that can hold an infinite amount of human truths, stories, desires, emotions, that can be crafted to connect with people wherever they are in their lives, geographically or emotionally.”

In the Print & Publishing Lions, which honour creativity in circulation, 814 entries were received and 26 Lions awarded: 4 Gold, 7 Silver, and 14 Bronze Lions, and the Grand Prix went to ‘Newspapers Inside The Newspaper Edition’ by Impact BBDO, Dubai, for AnNahar Newspaper. The work honours freedom of speech in Lebanon and the crisis that affected the publishing industry, using the newspaper’s daily edition to revive publications that had been shut down due to political failure and pressure. The Print & Publishing Jury said,“The Grand Prix was awarded to a brave piece of work that put into action a publication-based idea to defend the sanctity of a free press, and did it in a way that we hope sends a signal to the industry on how eternally innovative the future of publication can be.”

Radio & Audio Lions, celebrating creativity that is wired for sound, received 715 entries and 22 Lions were awarded: 3 Gold, 7 Silver, and 11 Bronze Lions. The Grand Prix went to the ‘Phone It In’ campaign by Colenso BBDO, Auckland for telecommunications company Skinny, New Zealand. 

In the Health & Wellness Lions, honouring creativity for personal well-being, 1297 entries were received and 37 Lions awarded: 6 Gold, 13 Silver and 17 Bronze. The Grand Prix went to ‘The Last Performance’ By Special, Auckland, for Partners Life. This disruptive piece of work challenged Kiwis to rethink preconceptions around life insurance, encouraging New Zealanders to take action. 

In the Pharma Lions, which celebrate life-changing creativity, from 354 entries, 13 Lions were awarded: 2 Gold, 4 Silver, and 6 Bronze Lions. The Jury awarded the Pharma Grand Prix to ‘Scrolling Therapy’ for Eurofarma by Dentsu Creative Buenos Aires / Dentsu Creative New York / Dentsu Creative Chicago. 

The Lions Health and United Nations Foundation Grand Prix for Good was also announced and the Grand Prix went to ‘Working with Cancer’ for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), by La Foundation Publicis Chicago / Publicis Conseil Paris / Le Truc New York / Digitas New York / Saatchi & Saatchi Health, New York / Publicis Groupe UK, London. 

Special awards also awarded: 

The Healthcare Network of the Year

Rank: 

1. FCB Health
2. Klick Health
3. PUBLICIS 

Healthcare Agency of the Year

Rank:

1. AREA 23, an IPG Health Network Company, New York, USA
2. KLICK HEALTH, Toronto, Canada
3. 21GRAMS, Part Of Real Chemistry, New York, USA

Winners of the Lions will be announced at the Award Shows taking place each evening throughout the Festival, from 19-23 June 2023. Further information on Cannes Lions can be found at canneslions.com.