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There was so much going on at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity this year but here is a recap on the most important news for the Middle East region mainly the two unprecedented Grand Prix scored on Day one of the festival but there was more.
Impact BBDO Dubai has picked up the most Cannes lions trophies of any agency in the region. The agency won eight Lions including a Grand Prix in Print & Publishing for An Nahar newspaper’s ‘The Elections Edition’, a bold campaign in which the newspaper opted not to print their daily edition but instead donated the paper and ink to print voting ballots on. Additionally, Impact BBDO won one Gold, 4 Silver and 2 Bronze, across three projects.
Another great achievement for the region with seven Lions including a Grand Prix bagged by Havas Middle East who earned next to its wonderful accolade, one Gold, 4 Silver and one Bronze. The Lions were won for two adidas campaigns (Liquid billboard & I’m Possible) across OOH/Cultural Insight, OOH/Special Build, OOH/Live Advertising & Events and Ambient Outdoor and OOH/Corporate Purpose & Social Responsibility.
Horizon FCB Dubai ranked 3rd most awarded agency in the Middle East, as it took home 3 Silver Lions for its ‘Breackchains with Blockchains’ initiative that was created for the ‘Children of Female Prisoners Association’.
Inspired by the reasons that cause Egypt's female debtors’ imprisonment, the agency launched the ‘Breakchains with Blockchain’ initiative—a collection of NFTs designed by international artists. Each tells a woman’s story, the story of why she got sentenced. Each NFT is priced at the amount equal to the cost needed to be freed from prison and grab a second chance at life.
All NFTs that were designed in the initial phase were sold, 17 women were freed and were able to go back home to join their families, their children… but even more important 60 members of the Egyptian parliament signed a petition to change this law.
Reham Mufleh, GM of Horizon FCB Dubai: “Cannes this year was a special celebration! We were not only celebrating creativity but also connecting together as an industry again; minds and souls. And to top that, we came back with 3 Silver Lions to place Horizon FCB in the Top 3 Agencies in the MENA region! There are no words that can describe my gratitude & happiness. I’m thankful to everyone who made this possible and hopefully this will only be the beginning… after all, our Horizon is ‘Never Finished’.”
Mazen Jawad, CEO of Horizon Holdings added: “Happy and grateful, this is not only our first win at Cannes but we made it to the top 3 most awarded agencies in the region. This is just the start of a lot more to come. We’re living & breathing a Never-Finished journey to keep creating work that makes the perfect equilibrium between data and creativity to generate the desired economic multiplier for our clients.”
TBWA\RAAD Dubai was awarded a silver Lions in Direct for KFC’s Chickenstock campaign.
VMLY&R Commerce Dubai bagged a silver lion in Social & Influencer for #FeminineArabic Twitter campaign. #FeminineArabic is a new language setting allowing Twitter users to address Arabic speaking women in the feminine form for the first time ever.
The UAE Government Media Office won a bronze Lion for "The Warm winter Livestream" campaign.
Keko Dubai has been awarded a Bronze Lion in the Film Craft Production - Cinematography category for a film produced for its client Porsche Middle East & Africa (PME), with which the agency has been working since 2019.
Titled Drive2Extremes, the film impressively demonstrates how comfortable the all-electric Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo is on various terrains. Even under the most extreme conditions – from -30°C to +30°C.
The project was a collaboration with film maker Johnny FPV, one of the world’s top drone pilots. The result is a spectacular film that seamlessly transitions between two worlds - Abu Dhabi’s Liwa Desert and Levi in Finland.
One of the thrilling highlights is the transition from one landscape to the other achieved by flying the drone through the rear side windows of the moving car. Truly a spectacular visual that took great skill and craftsmanship to pull off.
“We are confident that there is almost nothing that the Taycan Cross Turismo cannot do, regardless of the terrain and weather conditions, and we wanted to highlight exactly this aspect. This vision gave rise to a film that impressed not only us, but also the experts of the Cannes jury. Drive2Extremes is the manifestation of unbelievably talented people, a magnificent product, and the courage to venture into something new. This award makes us very proud and encourages us to undertake more exciting projects in the future,” says Dr. Manfred Bräunl, CEO of Porsche Middle East & Africa.
“The collaboration with Porsche Middle East and Africa and Johnny FPV was really inspiring, and a perfect example of partnership at work. And what better end to this collaborative endeavour than to win such a coveted award”, says Brigitte Kemper, CEO of the Keko Group.
L-R: Dr Manfred Braeunl, CEO, & Markus Peter, Marketing Director at Porsche MEA, on site at Liwa during the production of the hero film for Drive2Extremes
Drive2Extremes was up against 15 international competitors from different industries and it has undoubtedly set a new industry standard through the use of the most advanced drone technology.
