Cannes Lions 2019: A round up of the first Grand Prix winners

Here’s a look at the first batch of Grand Prix winners from Cannes Lions, including an open source platform that makes creativity accessible and an app to help improve China’s respiratory health; plus Nike, of course

The first major winners at Cannes Lions were announced last night, with – unsurprisingly – Nike’s Colin Kaepernick billboard campaign by Wieden + Kennedy winning the Outdoor Grand Prix. Here’s a quick look at all the Grand Prix winners so far:

Outdoor Grand Prix: Wieden + Kennedy’s Dream Crazy for Nike
In the first of what may easily be a number of awards at this year’s Cannes Lions for Nike’s Dream Crazy campaign, the Colin Kaepernick billboard has picked up the Outdoor Grand Prix. The controversial campaign, which was directly criticised by President Trump, was spread far and wide on social media last autumn, dividing audiences as it went. Read our analysis of the ad’s copy by Nick Asbury here.

Health and Wellness Grand Prix: Ikea’s ThisAbles 
In an important step for the furniture industry, Ikea earlier this year launched a campaign showing how some of its most popular products would be made available with disability-friendly add ons. Among those announced are the Insider, a mirror which helps make the contents of high shelves visible to those at a lower height and the Glass Bumper, which protects glass doors from collisions from wheelchairs and other mobility aids. The add-ons are either available to buy or can be downloaded for 3D printing. The products were announced with a spot made by McCann Tel Aviv.

Design Grand Prix: Google’s Creatability Another initiative in the accessibility space, Creatibility explores how creative tools – for drawing or making music – can be made friendly for people with disabilities. It’s an open source programme where the community is encouraged to participate in the development of the tools, access tutorials and submit their own projects. Read more about Creatibility here.

Print & Publishing Grand Prix: BBDO’s Blank Newspaper Created by Impact BBDO Dubai, this campaign used the creation of a blank front page for Lebanese newspaper An-Hanar to send a message to the government. The aim was to create a conversation around elected officials failing to form a government, by pointing out what happens when journalists also down tools. Readers were then encouraged to write their own headlines and messages for the government on the blank page and share them on social media.

Disease Awareness Grand Prix: GSK’s Breath of Life 
This app lives within WeChatt and was created for GlaxoSmithKline by McCann Shanghai. It allows people to test if they have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which often gets mistaken for a harmless shortness of breath and goes undiagnosed in China where over a 100 million people are estimated to have the condition. The app uses the phone’s microphone to test users’ approximate lung volume, with those under a certain level prompted to seek medical attention.

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