Each year, the Cannes Lions Festival celebrates the most notable work from the creative industries. This year there was no shortage of brilliant campaigns up for judgement. So which of these inspired us the most, and what were our highlights from the event? 

From film to mobile, online, out-of-home, to print, publishing and radio, Cannes saw the best campaigns of the year scrutinised before expert judges. One of our favourite campaigns which spanned several of these areas, was from the collaboration between Netflix and BBH New York, who scooped the Grand Prix for best integrated campaign. To promote the new season of hit series House of Cards, the two partners created a satirical take on a political campaign, encompassing promotional videos featuring political party broadcasts, out of home ads, print, social media, and even a full website.

This year, our favourite campaign winners undoubtedly centred around the film categories, and we especially loved the work from hot sporting brand, Under Armour, who scooped the Film Craft Grand Prix award with their campaign, “Under Armour Phelps.” Featuring Michael Phelps, this was a well-executed production, displaying the mental and physical effort it takes to become a world-class swimming champion, ending with the company’s slogan, “I will”. And of course, we can’t forget about the New York Times’ brilliant VR Film, “The Displaced”, which rightly won the Cannes Lions Entertainment Grand Prix. One of the pioneers of VR in terms of its marketing and event video footage, The NYT’s groundbreaking video depicts in 360 degree detail, the stories of three refugees who have been separated from their homes due to conflict. Setting the standard for the future of online journalism, the New York Times already has its own app, featuring video footage from reporters and short documentary style videos for instance, all which can be experienced in full-depth virtual reality.

While we unfortunately couldn’t attend to witness the proceedings up close, we tuned into the live-stream each day, to not only discover the shortlisted campaigns, but also hear some of this year’s inspiring talks and panels. Sticking with the theme of VR, we highly enjoyed the talk from Wired’s Kevin Kelly, “Where we are all heading”, which examined the future of richer media experience, and how in his opinion, VR will become the way in which we begin to share online content with one another. Another of our favourite talks was from agencies Razorfish and Contagious, who came together for the panel, “Cracking the code of creativity.” In this, both speakers focused on key questions creative agencies are faced with, in order to address topics such as the context in which creativity thrives, how digital automation from AI for instance has affected this, and the implications great creativity can have on the wider world. Similarly, the talk entitled, “Will a Robot Win a Lion?” also centred around AI technology, with a particular focus on how machine learning might impact the creative industry- from automated project briefs, to even full scale campaign work.

Were you lucky enough to attend Cannes this year? Which campaigns, agencies and individuals do you think were worthy of celebration? We’d love to hear your thoughts, so please tweet to us @PracticeDigital and share your comments on our Facebook page.