As the Cannes Festival came to a close last month, we wanted to share our favourite campaigns that were shortlisted for an esteemed Lion.

Creative. Emotional. Memorable. These are the key ingredients to winning a Cannes Lion. At Rise at Seven, we believe the art of storytelling is integral when creating award-winning campaigns which is why the campaigns in this blog caught our eye and won our hearts.

THREE IRELAND: THE CONNECTED ISLAND

  • Silver Cannes Lions Award for Creative Effectiveness (Consumer Services / Business to Business)

To demonstrate the power of Three’s connectivity, this campaign brought Three’s technology to the forgotten Irish island of Arranmore, reversing over 150 years of emigration.

Working with the Arranmore Island Council, they sent a series of open-letters announcing that the island was once again open for business, inviting people to return to the island.

By leading with a human approach, this cut through the noise of some media outlets and became an international campaign.

Arranmore received over 3,500 enquiries for people to move to the island, tourism increased by 84% and the population grew by 11%.

As for Three, they gained +18% in business leads, +203% in corporate based business growth and +50% on business revenue.

HEINEKEN: THE UNWASTED BEER

  • Won Silver Cannes Lion for Brand Experience and Activation Excellence in Brand Experience (Brand-owned Experiences)
  • Won Silver for Creative Strategy Challenges and Breakthroughs (Corporate Purpose and Social Responsibility)
  • Won Bronze Cannes Lion for Creative B2B Products (Corporate Purpose and Social Responsibility)
  • Won Bronze Cannes Lion for Outdoor Corporate Purpose & Social Responsibility
  • Shortlisted for Creative B2B Products (Market Disruption)
  • Shortlisted for Brand Experience and Activation Culture and Context (Market Disruption)
  • Shortlisted for Creative Business Transformation Business Design and Operations (Operational Transformation)
  • Shortlisted for Sustainable Development Goals Planet (Responsible Consumption and Production)
  • Shortlisted for Creative Strategy (Sectors > Food and Drink)

10% of all global greenhouse emissions comes from food and drink waste and lockdown from COVID-19 made matters worse, wasting 87 million pints of beer.

Heineken created The Unwasted Beer campaign and bought back 250,00 kegs from bars, produced biogas from their digester, harnessed this power and used it to power 1,000 homes a day and heat a care home in the local community.

16.5 million litres of beer repurposed. €8 million returned to bar owners. 61, 687 homes heated by green energy per day. 37 million impressions.

CORONA: NATURAL BAR

  • Shortlisted for Brand Environment and Experience Design
  • Shortlisted for Brand Experience and Activation Excellence in Brand Experience (Sectors > Food and Drink)

Built with raw materials, Corona Extra opened the UK’s first 100% natural bar to celebrate their beer also being brewed with natural ingredients. To replace concrete, plastic and metal, eco-designer Molly Windels-Lyte used materials like sand, bamboo, clay and wood to create the all-natural space.

The bar opened on World Oceans Day, along with Corona’s announcement that they are the first global beverage brand to attain a net-zero plastic footprint.

FORTNITE: VIRTUAL O2 ARENA

  • Shortlisted for Digital Craft Form (Music / Sound Design)

London’s famous O2 Arena became available for just one week in Fortnite Creative, allowing users to enjoy virtual entertainment by Leicester-based band Easy Life.

The arena also featured hidden rooms and new challenges with the chance for users to win rewards.

Taking the campaign one step further, Easy Life and Fortnite teamed up to create an in-lobby only track for gamers to enjoy after the virtual concert.

SAMSUNG: THE COST OF BULLYING

  • Shortlisted for Creative Strategy Corporate Purpose & Social Responsibility (Asia)

Online gaming had reached a new level in China, and Samsung wanted to tackle this issue by making bullies pay for their behaviour - literally. Samsung worked with game developers to ‘hack’ Magic Quest. When bullying behaviour was detected, the system raised the price of in-game purchases. Over two weeks, over one million bullies paid the price and reports of bullying within the game fell by 40%.

OTO X FAITHLESS: A BLISSFUL SLEEP REMIX

  • Shortlisted for Health and Wellness Consumer Products Promotion (Nutraceuticals PR)

Inspired by research stating that 82% of UK adults suffer from insomnia and 55% consider themselves to be bad sleepers, Oto and British electronic band Faithless remixed their iconic dance track Insomnia to a 27 minute piece designed to help you sleep.

With the help of sleep scientist James Wilson, the original song has been slowed down to an optimal tempo of 100bpm and extended to the average amount of time it takes for Brits to fall asleep.

ELENA’S: ADIOS AMOR ADIOS

  • Won Silver Cannes Lions for Digital and Social (Sites and Microsites) (Mexico)
  • Won Silver Cannes Lions for Campaigns in Multiple Social Networks (Mexico)
  • Won Silver Cannes Lions for Promotions and Activations (Candy, Snacks and Food) (Mexico)
  • Shortlisted for Promotions and Activations (Best New Product Launch / Re-Launch) (Mexico)

Ice cream brand Elena's Helados had to close their doors when the pandemic hit, meaning they relied solely on supermarket sales. They needed a product to stand out against their biggest competitors.

Ice cream has always been the go-to comfort food for a breakup, and Elena’s took this one step further with ‘Adios Amor Adios’.

This special edition 1L pint of ice cream featured five flavours strategically layered to reflect the stages of a breakup - denial, anger, sadness, acceptance and hope. Codes were also added to each layer for the customer to receive digital experiences and prizes.

This campaign generated +230% website visits, +160% sales in other ice cream flavours, +420 social media mentions and a sold out drop within one week of launching the flavour.

ARSENAL X ADIDAS - NO MORE RED

  • Shortlisted for Entertainment Lions for Sport (Sports for Good)

Inspired by the increasing number of teenage murders and knife attacks in London, Arsenal and Adidas joined forces to tackle the root cause behind youth violence and provide a safe space for young people.

The No More Red initiative works with organisations like Box Up Crime and The Ben Kinsella Trust and receives support from actor Idris Elba, and Arsenal legend Ian Wright.

Agree with our favourites? Want to get started on your next viral story? Get in touch to see what we can do.

You can also read the official festival wrap up.