Cannes Lions 2024: APAC winners

Bonjour and welcome to Campaign Asia-Pacific's coverage of the Cannes Lions 2024.

The Festival of Creativity has started with a promising and dynamic agenda addressing the industry’s most significant challenges and opportunities. Amid the glitz and glam of advertising and marketing luminaries descending upon the French Riviera for the 71st annual Festival of Creativity, we’re your trusted source for daily updates on the significant victories.

Here's our coverage plan: we are lining up a rolling coverage of all the APAC winners as they are announced across different categories. We will spotlight the Gold and Grand Prix winners via a writeup and top that with a tally of all regional wins at the bottom of this page.

That's not all. Our global editorial team captures the day’s highlights and observations through a daily podcast straight from the festival grounds. Catch their chatter here. We will also be covering the biggest stories from the event. don't forget to bookmark the daily editor's diary, where Rahat Kapur takes you on a walk down the Boulevard de la Croisette and gets behind-the-scenes of the best talks at the Palais, among other highlights. 

Check out all the Special Awards below and APAC winners so far at the bottom of the page.

SPECIAL AWARDS

HIGHLIGHTS: DAY 4

Press conference with the jury

On the fourth day, the winners in categories such as Brand Experience & Activation, Creative Business Transformation, Creative Commerce, Creative Effectiveness, Creative Strategy, Innovation, and the new Luxury & Lifestyle Lions were announced. Although the region didn't secure the top honours of Grand Prix and Golds, it contributed to the tally with Silvers and Bronze awards. Thailand (country tally at 2 awards), Taiwan (country tally 4), and India (country tally 14) each received a Silver, while the remaining regional honours went to AUNZ.

Also announced were the Regional Network of the Year Awards, with Ogilvy named Regional Network of the Year for Asia and BBDO Worldwide Regional Network of the Year for Pacific.

HIGHLIGHTS: DAY 3

Elon Musk's session was the most anticipated of the week. The X CEO waxed poetic about AI, said X is better than newspapers, and explained why he told advertisers to “go f–k yourself” last year. Photo: Cannes Lions

On the third day of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the Creative B2B, Creative Data, Direct, Media, PR and Social & Influencer Lions winners were unveiled. The Media special awards were also announced (refer to the tally below), and OMD won the Network of the Year. The last they took home this honour was in 2022. 

Team OMD, after winning the prestigious Media Network of the Year award

While regional work did not make the cut for a Grand Prix on the third day of the festival, Golds were won in the Creative Data (Leo Burnett India for Turf Finder/Gatorade), Direct (Colenso BBDO for Adoptable/Pedigree), and Social and Influencer (TBWA Hakuhodo for No Smiles/McDonald's) categories. 

Simon Cook, CEO of Lions, said, “It’s inspiring to see the breadth of winners emerging and particularly first-time winners. We saw Iceland win their first Lion last night, and tonight, Kazakhstan are taking home their first-ever Lion, having won Gold in the Social & Influencer Lions. Congratulations to all of our Lion winners, as well as those shortlisted, who are driving progress for people, businesses and society across the world.”

Below, we've rounded up the Gold-winning campaigns from APAC. And at the bottom of the page, we’ve tallied up all the Lions won from the region.

Colenso BBDO had a big night on day 3

The agency has won a Gold Lion for Pedigree ‘Adoptable’, which also won the coveted Outdoor Lions Grand Prix earlier in the week. Colenso BBDO was also awarded a Bronze in Direct for the same campaign and another Bronze for the Pedigree ‘Meowzer’ film. 

“Adoptable” (scroll below to Day 1 to watch the film) is a first-of-its-kind machine-learning model developed in partnership with Nexus Studio. This innovative approach features real dogs from local shelters as stars in Pedigree advertisements. By leveraging AI, Adoptable places adoptable shelter dogs at the heart of global advertising, furthering Pedigree’s mission to combat dog homelessness—transforming every Pedigree ad into a powerful message for shelter dogs.

Campaign: No Smiles
Award and Category: Gold in Social and Influencer 
Brand/Agency: McDonald's/ TBWA Hakuhodo

The campaign worked on the premise that McDonald’s ‘zero yen smile’, which it had upheld since its inception, was a symbol of hospitality for customers, but it was becoming a barrier for those considering part-time work. It went against the values of Gen Z, who wanted to live life on their own terms. So the brand that has always been synonymous with smiles, delivered a message to Generation Z through music: it’s okay not to force a smile and to work authentically. The music resonated with many users and spread rapidly. Interestingly, the film featured Ano, an artist known for her authentic lifestyle as a “non-smiling idol.” Production was by Robot Communications.

HIGHLIGHTS: DAY 2

On day two, the Craft and Entertainment tracks received recognition. Unfortunately, the entire APAC region missed out on a Grand Prix or a yellow metal, but it added to its tally with silver and bronze wins. 

HIGHLIGHTS: DAY 1

The 71st Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity announced the first winners of the week in Health & Wellness, Outdoor, Pharma, Print and Publishing and Audio and Radio categories. Below, you’ll find a sneak peek of the Grand Prix and Gold-winning campaigns from APAC. And at the bottom of the page, we’ve tallied up all the Lions won from the region.

Stay hooked!

Campaign: Pedigree
Award: Grand Prix in Outdoor
Brand/Agency: Colense BBDO for Pedigree
Market: New Zealand

The collaboration between Mars and Colenso continues to shine, with Pedigree’s latest achievement stealing the spotlight. “Adoptable” is a first-of-its-kind machine-learning model developed in partnership with Nexus Studio. This innovative approach features real dogs from local shelters as stars in Pedigree advertisements. By leveraging AI, Adoptable places adoptable shelter dogs at the heart of global advertising, furthering Pedigree’s mission to combat dog homelessness—transforming every Pedigree ad into a powerful message for shelter dogs.

Watch the campaign below. 

Campaign: Fit My Feet
Award and Category: Health and Wellness/ Subcategory: Healthcare product innovation
Brand/Agency: McCann Worldgroup India for Buckaroo Footwear

Campaign: Paper Organs
Award and Category: Health and Wellness/ Subcategory: Direct
Brand/Agency: Starcom/Zenith for Taiwan Organ Sharing REgistry and Patient Autonomy Promotion Center

In Taiwan, organ donation faces both medical and cultural challenges. Traditional Chinese beliefs often discourage organ donation due to the fear that it might hinder an individual's ascent to heaven. Despite awareness of its benevolence, many still need to be mo hesitant to sign consent forms. To address this, "Paper Organs" was created—an innovative product that respects the cultural practice of keeping the body intact. Crafted using traditional paper art techniques, these symbolic organs allow families to perform a burning ritual after a donor's passing. By breaking taboos and prioritizing emotional design, Paper Organs aims to shift public attitudes and alleviate fears associated with organ donation. 

The campaign also won a Gold Spikes earlier this year. 

APAC LIONS BY CATEGORY

DAY 1 WINNERS

DAY 2 WINNERS

DAY 3 WINNERS

DAY 4 WINNERS