media update’s Aisling McCarthy attended the event at MESH in Rosebank, on Tuesday, 12 September.

Cannes Outdoor Category judge, Pete Khoury, said that for marketing to successfully reach its desired audience, it needs to be something that makes people look up from their cell phones and actually care about.

For the Outdoor Lions at Cannes, Khoury said that there were over 4 600 entries, which was whittled down to an official shortlist of only 488. Of those shortlisted, there were only two Grand Prix’s, 20 Gold, 31 Silver, and 58 Bronze, meaning that to be awarded, the work had to be truly outstanding.

Best in class vs only in class

When it comes to awards like Cannes and Loeries, Khoury explained that entries can either win by being best in class, or only in class, and that work should always strive to be only in class.

“Being best in class means that you are doing the best of everyone offering the same things as you. However, being only in class means that you have created something no one else has ever done before – and that’s what we should be striving for.”

Simple campaigns can speak volumes

Twitter’s billboard campaigns, which won a Grand Prix, highlighted that successful campaigns don’t need to be overly complicated. The billboards featured only the Twitter logo, a hashtag symbol, and a photograph meant to spark conversation.

“The billboards were not duplicated anywhere, and were placed in prominent places all over New York. They had some exceptional art direction, coupled with a simple, concise idea. That’s really what made it so good.”

Lego’s ‘Build the future’ poster campaign also utilised a simple idea to share an important message. Khoury said that the inclusion of the “Build the future” line was not really needed, and that led to it only winning a Silver.

“At such a high level, an unnecessary line like that can mean the difference between Gold and Silver.”

 

Use technology in new ways

When embracing technology in a campaign, Khoury said certain brands really thought out of the box.

Deutsche Telekom used their trademark colour, magenta, along with augmented reality, to turn any magenta surface into a “magenta portal”, where there was exclusive content, including concert live streams, which were unavailable elsewhere.

Deutsche Telekom also collaborated with the Gorillaz, the world’s most popular virtual band, in order to reach their target market. The “magenta portal” essentially made any surface of the right colour into a platform for the company.

Solving a problem can equal success

Khoury also said that in order for a campaign to be meaningful, advertisers should keep their audience’s value at the forefront.

“Talking at consumers makes you an outsider, but talking to them makes you an insider.”

Campaigns such as Une’s ‘Payphone Bank’ and BOOST Pre-Paid Mobile’s ‘BOOST Your Voice’ both looked to solve problems that were apparent in their communities.

Une’s ‘Payphone Bank’ utilised payphone technology to give poor Columbians, who were not a part of the financial system, the opportunity to deposit their wages into payphones. It also allowed them to get microloans from participating stores, meaning they were able to buy products, like fridges and microwaves, which were otherwise out of their reach.


BOOST Pre-Paid Mobile’s ‘BOOST Your Voice’ tackled the issue of voting in America, where certain poorer areas did not have enough voting stations. BOOST Stores were turned into voting stations, allowing Americans in poorer areas an easier way to vote. BOOST employees were also a part of the system, becoming registered to work at the polling stations.


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With advertising standards ever on the rise, brands need to think even more out of the box than before if they want to be noticed. Read more in our article, Loeries® 2017: Gareth Leck on why brands need creativity more than ever.