Final Lion-winners announced at Cannes Lions

In the final Awards Show of the week at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the following Lions were awarded: Film, Glass: The Lion for Change, Sustainable Development Goals and The Dan Wieden Titanium Lions.

Special Awards were also announced, and after a strong performance by Apple across the Lions in 2023, the brand won its first Creative Brand of the Year award, a title held by Burger King for three consecutive years. DDB Worldwide won its first Network of the Year award, and Argentina took its first-ever Agency of the Year spot, won by GUT, Buenos Aires.

Philip Thomas, Chairman, LIONS, said, “The body of Lion-winning work that emerged from the Jury rooms points the way forward, and demonstrates the power of the industry to drive change, build businesses and shape society. Congratulations to all those who entered, who made the shortlists, and who won a Lion at the Festival’s 70th edition to set the creative benchmark on the global stage.”

In the Film Lions, celebrating the creativity of the moving image, 1867 entries were received and 49 Lions awarded: 6 Gold, 16 Silver and 25 Bronze, and the Jury chose to award two Grands Prix: ‘Relax, it’s ‌iPhone‌ – R.I.P. Leon’, for Apple, by Apple, Cupertino, USA; and ‘The Last Photo’, for ITV X CALM, by adam&eveDDB, London, United Kingdom.

Film Lions Jury President, Bruno Bertelli, Global CEO of Le Pub, Global Chief Creative Officer of Publicis Worldwide, Chief Creative Officer of Publicis Groupe Italy, Publicis Worldwide, Global, said, “The first Grand Prix is awarded to the best piece of work in the TV/Cinema section. This winner is a 30-second advertisement that stands out for its sharpness, focused approach, and clever twist. In this case, we aimed to acknowledge simplicity and high-quality crafting. The second Grand Prix, awarded in the sections that cover online films and other formats, is an incredibly bold idea that required overcoming numerous challenges to execute. Despite this, it remains a straightforward piece of work.”

Glass: The Lion for Change, which honours culture-shifting creativity, received 184 entries and 7 Lions were awarded: 1 Gold, 2 Silver and 3 Bronze and the Grand Prix went to ‘Knock Knock’, for the Korean National Police Agency, by Cheil Worldwide, Seoul, South Korea. Inspired by Morse code, the work offers a solution that allows victims of domestic violence to alert the police without saying a word. After dialling 112, they simply tap any number twice, and a link is sent to them.

The Sustainable Development Goals Lions, which celebrate creative problem solving, solutions or other initiatives that harness creativity and seek to positively impact the world, received 691 entries. The Jury awarded 21 Lions: 2 Gold, 8 Silver and 10 Bronze and the Grand Prix went to ‘Where To Settle’, for Mastercard, by McCann Poland, a platform that enables Ukrainian refugees to check the cost of living and income opportunities in selected cities and towns in Poland.

In The Dan Wieden Titanium Lions, honouring provocative, boundary-busting, envy-inspiring work that marks a new direction for the industry, 176 entries were received and the Jury chose to award 3 Titanium Lions, and the Grand Prix went to ‘The First Digital Nation’, for The Government Of Tuvalu, by The Monkeys, Part of Accenture Song, Sydney, Australia.

Titanium Lions Jury President: David Droga, CEO, Accenture Song, Global, said, “How does a nation that is sinking keep its borders, sovereignty and rights? How does its people keep its culture, heritage and identity? By completely reorienting the rules and laws of what it is to be recognised as a nation on the global stage. This is far more than a creative or tech idea. It’s not even about a disposable execution. It is about recognition, policy, and safeguarding GDP. It is also about creating new precedents for dozens of other countries facing a similar future. This work was the highest scored entry from day one of the prejudging, to the very last vote on the Grand Prix on the final day. It is an idea that needed to happen and should live on far beyond any of us.”

The Cannes Lions Grand Prix for Good recognises and celebrates the use of creativity to positively impact not only businesses and brands, but also the world at large. The Jury chose to award this year’s Grand Prix for Good to ‘Anne De Gaulle‘, For Fondation Anne De Gaulle Association, by Havas Paris, France.

The Lions Awards sit within nine Tracks, which were all announced throughout the week: Classic Track, Craft Track, Engagement Track | In partnership with LinkedIn, Entertainment Track | In partnership with ESL FACEIT Group, Experience Track, Good Track, Health Track, Strategy Track | In partnership with Bain & Company, Titanium Track.

The Young Lions competitions were also announced and all the winners can be found here.

During the final Awards Show, Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) was awarded as Creative Marketer of the Year; Susan Hoffman, Chief Creative Officer of Wieden+Kennedy was honoured with the Lion of St. Mark; and the Cannes LionHeart was accepted by Tyler LaMotte, Marketing Director, EMEA, Patagonia on behalf of Founder of Patagonia, Yvon Chouinard. The inaugural Creative Maker of the Year award was presented to legendary filmmaker, screenwriter, actor and producer, Spike Lee.

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The following Special Awards were also announced:

Creative Company of the Year

Omnicom
WPP
Interpublic Group

Network of the Year

DDB Worldwide
Ogilvy
BBDO Worldwide

Independent Network of the Year

GUT
Wieden+Kennedy
Rethink

Agency of the Year

GUT, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Publicis Conseil, Paris, France
adam&eveDDB, London, United Kingdom

Independent Agency of the Year

GUT, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Rethink, Toronto, Canada
Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, USA

Palme d’Or

Somesuch, USA
SMUGGLER, United Kingdom
Biscuit Filmworks, USA
Spoon., Japan
Rebolucion, Mexico

Creative Brand of the Year

Apple
Dove
Heineken

Agency of the Year by Track

Agency of the Year – Classic

adam&eveDDB, London, United Kingdom

Agency of the Year – Craft

Dentsu Inc., Tokyo, Japan

Agency of the Year – Engagement

GUT, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Agency of the Year – Entertainment

Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, USA

Agency of the Year – Experience

GUT, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Agency of the Year – Good

McCann Poland, Warsaw, Poland

Agency of the Year – Strategy

Ogilvy, Mumbai, India

Independent Agency of the Year by track

Independent Agency of the Year – Classic

Rethink, Toronto, Canada

Independent Agency of the Year – Craft

pgLang, Los Angeles, USA

Independent Agency of the Year – Engagement

GUT, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Independent Agency of the Year – Entertainment

Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, USA

Independent Agency of the Year – Experience

GUT, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Independent Agency of the Year – Good

Howatson+Company, Sydney, Australia

Independent Agency of the Year – Strategy

Special, Auckland, New Zealand