A Cannes Lions Winner? ‘Stop, that’s enough!’
(Ed. note: Who doesn't like a little prognostication for awards season? To that end, and leading up to our coverage at Cannes, we engaged four ad schools and asked them, along with some of The Drum's editorial staff, to weigh in on specific creative, if it will win a Cannes Lion and, if so, which ones. Feel free to add your own comments and we'll see who is right at the end of June.)
Awareness messages have had a strong showing at the Cannes Lions in recent years. In 2013, McCann Melbourne's "Dumb Ways to Die" became the all-time Lions winner with 5 Grand Prix, 18 Gold Lions, 3 Silver Lions and 2 Bronze Lions. The campaign, designed to reduce rail accidents on Melbourne's Metro line, struck a nerve — and was an unconventional way to get the point across. Not only was it lauded as a creative darling, but it made an impact, with a case study indicating that there were 21% fewer accidents and deaths compared year-to-year.
Though taking a different approach — one that is much more direct — Gyro Paris created an awareness campaign around the issue of sexual harassment on the country’s transport system — a problem that is, sadly, too prevalent. ‘Stop, that’s enough!’ is a powerful message that struck the right nerves among a wide range of people and stakeholders upon its launch in November 2015 in Paris, Marseilles, Lyon, Toulouse and Lille.
Stop - that's enough! from gyro on Vimeo.
“When women spoke of harassment in transport, nobody believed them, they were not heard,” said Sebastien Zanini, ECD at Gyro Paris. “This campaign’s message was simple yet impactful. It addressed all the public, victims, witnesses and aggressors. It received massive support from the public, the media and important influencers. It sparked an important conversation across much of the major media from TV and radio to news magazines, on and offline.”
But it has been much more than just a campaign and metrics. The effort effected real change, with the French National Assembly reinstating a harassment law, making people who commit these heinous acts accountable to the fullest extent possible.
Gyro has submitted the work to this year’s Cannes Lions in the Outdoor, Charities, Public Health & Safety, Public Sector & Awareness Messages category. The Drum and others weighed in on whether or not this campaign will walk away with a Lion next month in Cannes.
Gillian West, social media manager, reporter, The Drum
As a non-French speaker this campaign didn’t have any real immediate impact on me, the visuals and animation were nice enough but the message was lost. That was, however, until I watched the campaign results, then I was transfixed. Sexual harassment is – sadly – still an everyday occurrence for women worldwide and like this campaign points out too many of us are willing to sit back and let it happen.
Once translated, I watched the campaign again and I have to agree with the creative agency behind the work (Gyro Paris), it’s simple yet impactful. The fact that the creative is inspired by real stories serves as real strength and, despite a modest budget, there’s no denying it’s made waves.
Will it win at Cannes? As an international festival of creativity I can’t imagine the language barrier I experienced being much of a problem so I’d hedge my bets on this doing rather well especially in the Public Health & Safety and Public Sector & Awareness Messages categories.
Alex Pugh, student, School of Communication Arts 2.0
While there have been some notable awareness campaigns (Who remembers Protect and Survive or Smokey Bear?), it’s perhaps not the sexiest of categories.
But work such as this often serves as a valve, allowing a culture to begin a conversation with itself.
In a world where likes are bought, followers are faked and brands honestly believe consumers interact with them online, people were talking about this campaign. IN REAL LIFE. Forget online impressions, the gold-at-the-end-of-the-rainbow that marketers covet nowadays, this campaign made a difference.
And people weren't just talking about it; at the end of 2015 a law was passed which legally recognises sexual harassment on public transport. Should it win a Lion? Hell yeah.
Prediction: Gold (Outdoor, Charities, Public Health & Safety, Public Sector & Awareness Messages)
Sheridan Johns, executive education, Berlin School of Creative Leadership
A smart, elegant idea with clever execution using multiple relevant platforms; it seems to have gotten the message across effectively and delivered concrete results in the process - not every campaign ends with a law being passed supporting the cause! This conversation and cause is worthy of attention in other countries as well so I see it playing well with the international Cannes jury. Strong Lions potential.
Prediction: Silver (Outdoor, Charities, Public Health & Safety, Public Sector & Awareness Messages)