Campaign Asia recently asked top creatives and other agency leaders from across the region to choose the work they expect (or hope) to see winning at Cannes Lions. Only one rule: No picking work from your own agency/network.
Our Creative Director, Duncan Shields, shared his picks. Check them out below.
‘Australian Open ambush’ by Special Group Sydney
This is traditional, disruption-style advertising and it follows that model very, very well. It’s the Uber-Eats takeover of the Australian Open from Special Group, Sydney, and I’d be mildly surprised if it doesn’t pick up some variety of metallic cat for fooling the tennis-watching public into listening to their message.
‘Naughty or Nice Bauble’ by Clemenger BBDO Melbourne
Christmas is always a huge event for brands and everybody is vying for attention at the same time, so to cut through the way that Myer’s Naughty or Nice Bauble did was a real gift—see what I did there, with the gift pun? Eh? Eh?
‘Pre-Testie Bestie’ by FCB New Zealand
It’s a great example of a serious subject using a comedic solution to best land with its target audience. Considering that in this case the target audience is booze-hungry millennials who just want to party, it’s easy to see why it got great results.
‘If you’re separating, we’re here to help’ by DDB Sydney
On a slightly more serious note, the latest series of Westpac ads from DDB Sydney have, for me at least, marked a return to the value of craft in Australian advertising. This year’s work is nothing short of a masterclass in 90-second storytelling. Highly emotional, completely believable and beautifully shot, I’d love to see this do well.
Like Duncan’s opinion on ads? Well you’ll love this.
