Cannes Lions 2022: An overview of the best creative campaigns
Cannes Lions is back. After a two-year pause, the creativity festival returned to inspire with impressive creative campaigns, advertising, brandings, and more. The festival’s themes comprised a range of deep social issues, from the impacts of the pandemic to the climate crisis.
As the biggest creativity festival in the world, Cannes Lions brings up issues entrepreneurs should keep an eye on. Now, you can’t just sell your product — your market path needs to be tied in with impactful ideas that will change society for the better. This list is packed with inspiration for planning your future marketing activities.
Make yourself some refreshing lemonade and note insights from the best creative campaigns of Cannes Lions 2022.
The Wish, Penny
Agency: Serviceplan Germany
Award: Grand Prix in Film Craft
The pandemic took away so many experiences from us: nightlong parties with friends, dates, travels… You name it. In this video for Penny, a German supermarket, Serviceplan Germany throws us back to the times when human contact was scarce.
The mother of a youngster makes a Christmas wish for her son to have his youth back, and experience everything a normal teenager would if not constrained by the pandemic. In this work, we loved the simplicity of the film, how touching it is, and the beautifully remixed “It’s My Life” that makes you relive pandemic times in mind.
With this campaign, Penny promoted the giveaway of 5000 unforgettable experiences that were meant to make up for lockdown times. Among them are the interrail trips, school celebrations, and live concerts.
Check out our list of the best pandemic ads.
Draw Ketchup, Heinz
Agency: Rethink Toronto
Award: Gold Lion in Print and Publishing
The previous years have been tough for most of us. So, Heinz decided to get in a playful mood for this Cannes Lions campaign, and asked people to… draw ketchup. Right, as easy as that. In this witty work, Rethink Toronto approached people with an anonymous request to simply draw ketchup as they see it.
The campaign is perfect in its simplicity. What we love about it is that it speaks to the inner child inside each of us. Tired from the amassing problems of the 21st century, sometimes everything your inner child needs is to draw. To draw ketchup.
Note how the video is accompanied by some classical music to give it a more noble mood. Even if it’s ketchup.
You see how big of an impact music has on us! So don’t be surprised to hear that music can make you more productive — it’s true! Check out our selection of the best tunes for bringing the working mood on.
Portuguese (Re)constitution, Penguin Books
Agency: FCB Lisbon
Award: Grand Prix in Design
Portugal lived under fascist dictatorship for over more than four decades. During that period, artists’ works were censored with a blue pencil, which became a symbol of repression.
In a campaign for Penguin Books, FCB Lisbon decided to recreate Portuguese constitution — and to celebrate Portuguese culture. Artists rethought fascists constitution, turning it into an all-new book with poems about love and life. And the blue pencil became the symbol of art, again.
The book is now being used at schools to teach history through art.
Reverse Selfie, Dove
Agency: Ogilvy London
Award: Gold Lion in Print and Publishing
At times of booming online face filters, Dove decided to change the game. They found that retouching and the use of filters has had a negative impact on young people’s self-perception. Indeed, at times when you can get practically any face you want with the help of filters, what is your real face?
With this campaign, Dove urged people to have a Selfie Talk with a youngster nearby to support their self-confidence. It also advised how to create a more positive relationship with social media, and not to be so dependent on the numbers of likes and comments posts get.
The project has reached over 82,000,000 young people since 2004 and counting.
This campaign has already won our hearts and scored itself a place in the VistaCreate New Year’s top campaigns list. Now, it has world recognition, too. But — ahem — we did it first.
Chornobyl, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine
Agency: Banda
Award: Silver Lion in Design
The Chornobyl 1986 tragedy has been echoing for decades. It is still the biggest technogenic catastrophe the world has ever seen, with its impact felt by millions of people. Banda faced a challenge: to create a new, solid branding for the Exclusion Zone.
In the new branding, the Ukrainian agency came up with the first-ever vanishing logo. The logo will wash away year after year, and will one day disappear completely as the Nuclear Power Plant becomes decommissioned in 2064. The logo creates a flowing visual system around itself, giving hope that the effects of the explosion will soon become more distant, too.
The campaign became one of the flagship projects by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine.
Check out our list of the best creative campaigns by Ukrainian agencies.
Better with Pepsi, Pepsi Purchase
Agency: PepsiCo Purchase
Award: Gold Lion in Print and Publishing
What if there are logos inside logos? Pepsi decided to remind people that most fast food actually goes better with their beverage. For that, the company worked with an origami artist, who managed to find hidden Pepsi logos in the logos of Burger King, McDonald’s, and other fast food chains.
Here, we note how viral the campaign became, generating millions of positive reactions, reposts, and comments of approval calling the idea brilliant. Pepsi basically branded other brands, and that’s what makes the campaign unique. A good addition to the long-time beef with Cola, right?
Need your unique logo? Try creating one in minutes with Logomaker.
Speaking in Color, Sherwin-Williams
Agency: Wunderman Thompson Minneapolis
Award: Grand Prix in Creative B2B
What if you could create colors as you speak? The Wunderman Thompson Minneapolis created a first-ever AI-powered color system, designed to help architects and other visionaries find colors based on their personal inspiration.
It’s amazingly simple. You say: “Crystal clear Caribbean ocean” — and the system creates a unique color palette, analyzing millions of images from the search engine. You can also change the color further as you speak, by saying lighten it up or make it pop more.
In this campaign, the agency stressed that color means something different for everybody, and aimed to redefine how people connect with color.
VistaCreate, too, has its very own Colors project, where you can learn more about different colors, what they mean, and who they work best for.
Backup Ukraine, Polycam x UNESCO
Agency: Virtue Worldwide New York
Award: Grand Prix in Digital Craft
For 4 months now, Russia has been waging a horrible full-scale war against Ukraine. In addition to humans, Russian missiles also target UNESCO heritage sites — monuments and buildings. So, Virtue Worldwide New York asked: how do you preserve something that could be destroyed by bombs in seconds?
The campaign for UNESCO and Polycam came up with a way to save the sites by making their digital copies in 3D. Backup Ukraine now lets anyone become an archivist. People can scan buildings and monuments as full 3D models using just their phones. They can also store them in an open, secure online archive — where no bombs can reach.
Want to support Ukraine on your social media? Check out our Stand with Ukraine templates library.
Rio Carnaval — New Brand, Rio Carnaval
Agency: Tatil
Award: Gold Lion in Design
Rio Carnaval is the greatest show on Earth. The challenge for Tatil was massive, too — to come up with a new brand identity that will transmit the festive idea to millions of people across the globe. To do that, the agency consulted both the visitors of the festival and the show professionals. The one and only symbol soon became evident — a flag.
The agency created an impressive visual identity for the Rio Carnaval. The design works great in all placements — from printed brochures to social media and outdoor advertising. In the end, we could all use a festive mood.
Open Spaces, Burberry
Agency: Riff Raff Films London
Award: Gold Lion in Film Craft
Now, the ads at Cannes Lions are not just ads — they are pure art.
In this magnetic video that you’ll watch in one breath, Burberry and Riff Raff Films London pictured bold people flying over the fields in the open. Add some beautiful string music, amazing director’s work, and voila — you’ve got the Gold Lion.
The surreal film, as we think, speaks to the need of people to be free in their imagination and aspirations. At the end of the video, as the group of people reunites, we feel the interconnectedness with nature and, of course, one another.
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Above are just some of the campaigns that were of major interest this year in Cannes. You can always go exploring for yourself on the Cannes Lions official website. We do hope these creative works inspire your future designs, ads, and creative campaigns.
