Cannes Contenders: Spain

Samsung Unfear 

It’s become a bit of a tradition: every year, Cheil Spain works with Samsung on a concept that showcases the use of its technology for a bigger purpose. This year’s idea was my favourite of the series. 

The brand developed earphones that use advanced AI to block out certain noises that can prevent people on the autism spectrum from fully enjoying life in public spaces. The opportunity to help develop technology that can positively impact the lives of millions of people rarely comes up if you work in an ad agency.

DGT The 36

It’s been a while since a road safety campaign has managed to capture my attention. The last one was [multi award-winning Clemenger BBDO campaign from 2017] Meet Graham. Since then, it feels like everything that had to be said has already been said. But Ogilvy Spain has found a way around it, one that you can’t be indifferent to. 

The headline is shocking: big data can pinpoint with a scary level of accuracy the 36 people who will die in car accidents during the Easter week this year in Spain. By giving these numbers real faces and real names, the campaign enabled people to relate to a problem and encouraged them to change their habits when driving during the upcoming holidays.

Magnum Melting Icon

I love it when brands manage to capture the uniqueness of daily life events and happenings to leverage their message and connect with their audiences. That’s what happened when last year’s heat wave caught everyone by surprise in the UK. Well, almost everyone: LOLA and Magnum used the country’s hottest day in history to swiftly advertise their product melted down in a series of artistic print and outdoor ads. 

The visuals are eye catching, and I can only admire how they managed to get to this level of craft within such tight timing. I also love how they portrayed their product in its least recognisable shape, but still had people sharing it and the media featuring their campaign on the news.

IKEA Proudly Second Best

This is from us, and I still remember the first time that the creative team presented this idea to me and the impact it had. Me and my wife were just some months into expecting our first child, and it felt like an amazing sneak peek into what we were going to be experiencing in the near future. 

It’s subtle, it’s heartwarming, it’s humble, it’s honest and it’s real. It connects with such a universal human part of us, that it quickly went viral on Twitter and LinkedIn, with regular users sharing the campaign and having millions of views and hundreds of thousands of likes in just a couple of days. 

J&B She

This is a masterclass in storytelling. It takes you so gently through the journey of this mysterious old man that you can barely notice that it is a three-minute-long spot. The casting is great, the music is great, the direction is great and the twist at the end leaves you speechless. And it went big on national television, with the brand fearlessly driving a bold conversation around the most traditional time of the year.