Brand Storytelling: 5 Favorites at Cannes Lions
Cannes Lions is nearly here, and Brand Storytelling is looking back at five of our favorite pieces of branded content that are up for lions next week.
Donate Life - “The World’s Biggest Asshole” The Martin Agency, Richmond, Va. Coleman Sweeney (played by Thomas Jane) is the world’s biggest asshole in this short film for Donate Life. Directed by Will Speck and Josh Gordon (Blades of Glory, The Switch, Office Christmas Party), the short cleverly and convincingly encourages organ donation by showing us that even the world’s biggest asshole can redeem himself in death by donating organs to those in need.
Kenzo - “My Mutant Brain” Framework, London If the idea behind moving away from interruptive ads into artful and entertaining displays is for the brand to get out of the way and simply let the audience be entertained, then this ad may be the best example of that all year. It’s a joy to watch Margaret Qualley lose control (and gain supernatural powers?) in this frenetic and captivating display for Kenzo directed by Spike Jonze.
Boost Mobile - “Boost Your Voice” 180LA, Los Angeles There’s nothing overly flashy, gimmicky, or attention-grabbing about the “Boost Your Voice” campaign, and that’s exactly why we like it. 180LA and Boost Mobile chose to focus their efforts on simultaneously affecting real change and creating a spot-on interactive branded campaign by turning Boost Mobile stores in low-income, impacted voting areas into polling places on election day.
Sony PlayStation - “Gravity Cat” Hakuhodo, Tokyo
The fun and effervescent short film “Gravity Cat” advertising PS4’s Gravity Rush 2 was one of the first great shareable videos of 2017. In it, a pair of sisters struggle to hold on to their pet cat, who seems to have recently gained the ability to alter gravity. If anything, this ad proves that a great idea, the implementation of some serious filmmaking techniques, and an adorable cat are a recipe for success.
The Brady Campaign - “Zero Minutes of Fame” Ogilvy and Mather, Chicago Another example of an interactive campaign creating genuine social change, “Zero Minutes of Fame” allowed users to download a google plugin that removes killers’ names and likeness from online searches. The impact of the message that murderers are not entitled to the consolation prize of infamy was felt all the way in the newsroom, as networks actually shied away from plastering killers’ pictures on their programming in the wake of the overwhelming response to the Ogilvy and Mather campaign.
-- Watch for weekly news updates from Brand Storytelling in your inbox, and share this with other storytellers in your network. Of course, if you’d like to contribute to the story, We'd love to hear from you. Email us!
