PR Grand Prix Goes Down Under To Clemenger BBDO Melbourne
Romania earned both its first and second ever Grand Prix wins at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity as an “American Rom” campaign for Kandia Dulce’s Rom chocolate bars out of BV McCann Erickson, Bucharest, took the Grand Prix honor in both the Promo & Activation and Direct Lions competitions last night.
Meanwhile the Grand Prix for PR went to ad agency Clemenger BBDO Melbourne for National Australia Bank’s “Break Up” campaign.
The Rom work stirred the pot by replacing the candy bar’s Romanian flag-themed packaging with one featuring the USA’s stars and stripes. This raised the patriotic ire of many in Romania who came to the defense of the chocolate’s Romanian heritage, sparking news coverage and grass-roots protests. After a week of objections and debate, BV McCann Erickson as planned brought back the original home country packaging.
As for the PR Grand Prix winner, National Australia Bank also disassociated itself–not from a candy wrapper but from the bad rap of big banking. National Australia Bank had been known as one of Australia four major consumer banks in Australia, a distinction which had an inherent stigma attached given the global economic meltdown. So Clemenger BBDO Melbourne launched a 24-hour PR blitz which heralded National Australia Bank’s breaking away from its three major competitors. The campaign began with what appeared to be an accidental tweet about a pivotal decision about to be made by National Australia Bank. The PR initiative distanced National Australia Bank from the undesirable big banking label and differentiated it from the country’s other big three.
Now into its third year, the PR category received 819 entries, up 43 percent from 2010. The jury, chaired by Dave Senay, president/CEO of Fleishman-Hillard, shortlisted 105 and went on to award 10 Gold, 13 silver and 15 Bronze Lions.
Of the 2,125 entries submitted in the Promo & Activation category, a 33 percent increase versus last year, 175 were shortlisted from which 55 were selected as winners by the international jury led by Warren Brown, creative founder of BMF. Along with the Grand Prix a further five Gold, 17 Silver and 32 Bronze Lions were also awarded.
Of the 1,858 entries submitted in the Direct Lions category, an increase of 29 percent compared to 2010, 204 went on to make the shortlist of which 10 Gold, 15 Silver and 31 Bronze Lions were awarded. Presiding over the Direct Lions Jury was Alexander Schill, global chief creative officer and partner of Serviceplan Group.
The prestigious Direct Agency of the Year award was won by Ogilvy Argentina, Buenos Aires.
All of the Promo & Activation, PR and Direct Lions winners along with their credits can be viewed here.
Vatican, Microsoft Create AI-Generated St. Peter’s Basilica–For In-Person and Virtual Visitors
The Vatican and Microsoft on Monday unveiled a digital twin of St. Peter's Basilica that uses artificial intelligence to explore one of the world's most important monument's while helping the Holy See manage visitor flows and identify conservation problems. Using 400,000 high-resolution digital photographs, taken with drones, cameras and lasers over four weeks when no one was in the basilica, the digital replica is going online alongside two new on-site exhibits to provide visitors -- real and virtual -- with an interactive experience. "It is literally one of the most technologically advanced and sophisticated projects of its kind that has ever been pursued," Microsoft's president Brad Smith told a Vatican press conference. The project has been launched ahead of the Vatican's 2025 Jubilee, a holy year in which more than 30 million pilgrims are expected to pass through the basilica's Holy Door, on top of the 50,000 who visit on a normal day. "Everyone, really everyone should feel welcome in this great house," Pope Francis told Smith and members of the project's development teams at an audience Monday. The digital platform allows visitors to reserve entry times to the basilica, a novelty for one of the world's most visited monuments that regularly has an hours-long line of tourists waiting to get in. But the heart of the project is the creation of a digital twin of St. Peter's Basilica through advanced photogrammetry and artificial intelligence that allows anyone to "visit" the church and learn about its history. The ultra-precise 3D replica, developed in collaboration with digital preservation company Iconem, incorporates 22 petabytes of data — enough to fill five million DVDs — Smith said. The images have already identified structural... Read More