"Winning this competition means so much to us. But, honestly, we're still in disbelief," says the duo. 

"After being unable to attend the last in-person event when we won in 2020, this means even more to us. We have been creative partners since 2019, and we've been entering the Cannes Young Lions competition together since 2020. We've learnt to play on each other's strengths and weaknesses," the duo adds.

The competition aims to give the next generation of industry creatives a chance to prove themselves under immense pressure, answering a charity brief to produce an advert in just 48 hours, from brief to finished product, with the theme 'Teen suicide shouldn't be a secret'.

Lynne Wylie, chief marketing officer of Ster-Kinekor, says more than 80 entries received were of a high standard in response to the brief.

"We are privileged to represent the Cannes Festival locally and sponsor the Young Lions competition. We partnered with the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG), and the theme focused on preventing teenage suicide," says Wylie.

"While this is a sensitive topic, we were impressed with how the teams tackled the brief. Selecting the final winner from the shortlisted entries proved to be a difficult task for the panel of judges that comprised some esteemed creative minds," Wylie adds. 

"As it turned out, we are delighted that Bernice and Raphael’s entry was the winner, and we can now honour the prize they should have won in 2020, together with this year's prize," says Wylie.

The two creative teams had just 48 hours from brief to film, edit and produce a 30, 45 or 60-second commercial. SADAG wished to convey a message about safely engaging young people in communicating about mental health and suicide, thereby:
  • reducing the stigma
  • normalising mental health check-ins, and
  • talking about mental health and suicide openly and without shame.

The panel of judges comprised:
  • Pete Khoury from TBWA
  • Clare Trafankowska from dentsu
  • Bruce Murphy as ex McCann
  • Krystle Kemp from SADAG, and
  • Brad Knowles from aHead Marketing Services.

Representing SADAG, Krystle Kemp says that SADAG was humbled to be invited to be part of this year's Ster-Kinekor Cannes Young Lions competition.

"Mental health is often stigmatised and considered a taboo subject. To have this opportunity to highlight and create more awareness around mental health, as well as the help that is available to those in need, was a privilege," says Kemp.

"The calibre of entries was incredible. As SADAG, we were blown away by the creative, relevant and hard-hitting messages the shortlisted finalists put into their entries. Seeing the creative executions put together by young individuals who seemed to understand the importance of mental health and awareness was inspirational and touching," Kemps adds. 

"We are grateful to all the teams for their work, immense effort and research, as the campaigns were unique and impactful. It was an amazing opportunity to participate — congratulations to the winners," says Kemp.

"Mental health is close to both of our hearts, so creating this piece was essential to us. We even stayed up for the last 30 hours of the competition to ensure everything aligned with our vision of helping young people connect with SADAG to overcome mental health issues," says the winning duo.

"The insight behind our idea is that young people do a lot of 'talking' online but don't speak about what is bothering them. This led to our concept, which was to showcase how much one person texts, comments and types in a day without saying anything about how they feel. Ultimately, we wanted to communicate that maybe we need to share more for a generation that shares so much," the duo adds.

As the team makes the final cut, they will go on to represent South Africa at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity — Young Lions competition.

"We're so excited to attend the Cannes International Festival of Creativity and soak up as much knowledge and creative inspiration as possible. Competing on a global stage in the competition is a dream come true. We don't quite know what to expect, but we will give the competition our all and hopefully make the South African advertising industry proud," the duo concludes.

For more information, visit www.canneslions.com. You can also follow the Cannes Young Lions on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.