CANNES, FRANCE — Innocean (Global CEO Lee Yong-woo) has achieved a remarkable milestone by winning the highest award, the Grand Prix for Good, for the first time at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the world’s largest and most prestigious international advertising festival. This marks the first Grand Prix win since the company’s establishment in 2005, solidifying its position as a top-tier global marketing solutions company.
Innocean announced that it won a total of five major awards at the 2024 Cannes Lions, including one Grand Prix, one Gold, and three Bronze awards, achieving its best performance ever.
The Grand Prix for Good-winning campaign from Innocean Berlin, titled “The First Speech,” was praised for its creativity and impact in the public service project category, which includes submissions across print, film, and media for non-profit or charitable organizations. Based on the brief and concept direction from Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Innocean Berlin produced distinguished creative work, achieving the Grand Prix.
Notably, while Cannes Lions awards a Grand Prix in each of its 30 categories, the Grand Prix win for “The First Speech” is particularly significant as it is awarded to the most outstanding public service work across all categories.
Founded in 1985, Reporters Without Borders is an international organization dedicated to promoting press freedom and protecting the rights of journalists worldwide. The “The First Speech” campaign, created in collaboration with this prominent non-profit, carries a public message advocating for the support of independent journalism with the slogan “Trust the free press. Not pretty words.”
“The First Speech” campaign also won additional Gold and Bronze awards in the ‘Film’ and more categories, and especially the ‘Film’ is the most traditional and important category announced at the end of the festival, recognizing impressive brand storytelling in video campaigns.
“Winning the highest award among domestic agencies in the Film category, which is the root of the Cannes Lions, is significant,” explained Innocean. The campaign also won two Gold awards at the New York Festivals, one of the world’s top advertising festivals.
Additionally, Innocean Berlin won two Bronze awards for the “Capa vs. War” campaign, created in collaboration with the Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center, known for capturing the brutal and human aspects of war. Innocean noted, “The social message about the ongoing brutality of war resonated globally, earning high praise.”
Innocean Berlin has consistently received acclaim on the European stage for its differentiated creativity, with previous notable campaigns like “Printed by Parkinson’s” and “There’s Nothing Comic About Dyslexia,” which raised awareness for Parkinson’s disease and dyslexia, winning Gold (2021) and Silver (2023) at Cannes Lions.
To achieve this milestone of winning the Cannes Lions Grand Prix, Innocean has focused on strengthening its creative strategy and expanding its reach globally. Since establishing its first overseas branch in India in 2005, Innocean has strengthened its global network. Targeting the world’s largest advertising market, the United States, it acquired the American creative subsidiary David & Goliath (D&G) and partnered with Singapore’s leading independent agency TSLA. Last May, it signed an MOU with Thailand’s largest retail group, Siam Piwat‘ for a full-fledged entry into the Southeast Asian market, assisting client business expansion in the highly interested Thai market for K-brands and content.
With these efforts, Innocean has been recognized as Korea’s No. 1 advertising company for two consecutive years and achieved outstanding results beyond regions and boundaries, including the Kia EV9 campaign, which ranked No. 1 in automobile brand preference at the ‘Super Bowl 2024’ in the United States.
This year marks the 71st Cannes Lions, the world’s largest advertising festival with participation from over 90 countries. Held from June 17 to 21, it included award ceremonies for the best works across 30 categories (Innovation, Health & Wellness, Design, Film, Digital, Media, Gaming, etc.), lectures and seminars by global marketing leaders, educational programs for young marketers, and networking events.
