Publicis Dublin was the big Irish winner in Cannes this week, bagging two Silver Lions and two Bronze Lions for its work with Heineken Ireland and the brewer’s wasted beer initiative.
Elsewhere, Boys+ Girls won a Siver Lion for its “Connected Island” campaign for Three Ireland while The Public House made one of the shortlists for its Team Ireland “Sounds Support” campaign. In addition, In the Company of Huskies was pipped to second place in the ACT Great Ads for Good initiative which is part of the week-long festival of creativity.
Publicis Dublin’s two Silvers came in the Brand Experience and Activation and Creative Strategy, Corporate Purpose & Social Responsibility categories. The two Bronze awards, meanwhile, came in Outdoor Corporate Purpose & Social Responsibility and the Creative B2B categories.
“We’re absolutely thrilled to have left a mark at this year’s Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, with a total of four Cannes Lions and two shortlists for our work with Heineken Ireland and Virgin Media. Creating work to this level requires serious commitment and collaboration from the entire team. Congratulations to everyone involved,” says Geraldine Jones, managing director, Publicis Dublin.
‘In a lockdown situation it’s natural for brands to think about themselves and the impact the pandemic is having on their business,” adds Ger Roe, board creative director, Publicis Dublin. “What’s inspiring about working as a partner with a brand like Heineken Ireland is when they couldn’t serve the customer they wanted to serve the planet. It started out as a powerful local initiative, but having such a strong joined up relationship with the Publicis global team at Le Pub meant we were able to turn it into to so much more, creating a range of sustainable solutions that made a real difference,” he adds.
Boys+Girls, meanwhile, picked up its Silver Lion in the Creative Effectiveness category. Entries to this category are limited to previous year’s winners.
“Having won a Gold Cannes Lion for Creative Strategy and a Bronze Cannes Lion for Brand Experience in 2021, this Silver completes the Pride,” says Pat Stephenson, founder and chief relationship officer, Boys+Girls. “We’re very thankful to our fantastic client Three Ireland for going on this journey to prove that Irish creative work can cut it at the very top table internationally. This is work that has demonstrated proper commercial and brand growth to Three’s business,” he adds.
Elsewhere, In the Company of Huskies was pipped at the post at the last minute in the ACT awards, which has now become a key feature of Cannes every year. The agency narrowly missed out on the top slot, coming in second place with its campaign for Women’s Aid and Allianz to the Italian agency Different.
“We hugely admire Allianz for having the courage to really demonstrate their ambition to protect people with this campaign,” says Damian Hanley (pictured below), creative director of the agency who was there to accept the award on behalf of Allianz, Women’s Aid and Huskies.
