GLOBAL, SEPTEMBER 10,2012 – There is no shortage in creativity and organizers of a global communications challenge to find innovative new ways to tell the story of overseas aid said they had been overwhelmed by the quality of creative ideas submitted.
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, who together launched the Aid is Working. Tell the World challenge in February 2012, received over 900 applications from 85 countries.
The highest number of entries came from the USA, China, UK, India, Canada, South Africa, Romania, Australia, Brazil, Kenya and Nigeria. The creative communications community contributed more than 30% of the entries; other participants included leading international development organisations and academic institutions.
"The participation from the creative communications industry has exceeded our expectations, testament to the spirit of our community to put to good use the power of creativity to solve a global problem," said Philip Thomas, Cannes Lions CEO.
The selection process to identify the ten finalists has now reached its final stages. The selection committee is made up of the Cannes Chimera – winners of the 2011 Cannes Lions Grand Prix – as well as members of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s review board and a small group of experts. The ten finalists, due to be announced in November, will each receive $100,000 to develop their idea. They will also be invited to join the Cannes Chimera members at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation campus in Seattle, USA, where they will be mentored to hone their ideas, with a chance of winning up to $1,000,000 to put them into practice.
In order to build on the success of this first round of the challenge, the organisers today announced they would launch a follow-up call for submissions. Now live and running until November 7, this call for ideas will present four specific submission categories for grant seekers. These are:
Ideas that can be implemented via mobile telecommunications
Ideas involving new ways to communicate data on aid
Ideas that engage young audiences
Ideas that demonstrate the progress of aid
"We had such a rich variety of entrants to our first communications challenge; we now want to go deeper into areas that have the potential to bring some exciting new approaches," said Tom Scott, Director, Global Brand and Innovation at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
"We hope this new challenge will ignite new ideas and unique responses from the global community and value the creativity people will bring to this topic. It’s imperative that we communicate these life-changing stories to the world so we can help build greater international support for on-going investment that will continue to improve the lives of poor people."
The communications challenge – Aid is Working. Tell the World (Part 2) – is open to everyone. The idea has to be submitted on two sides of A4 paper between now and November 7. All ideas will be judged anonymously, solely on their merit. As with the first round, applicants will be eligible for $100,000 seed funding, and the chance to win $1,000,000 to bring ideas to fruition.
The finalists of the newly launched communications challenge will be invited back to the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity in 2013 to present their idea to the rest of the global advertising and communications community and the difference it has made.
The new Cannes Chimera members, who will advise on the programme, review submissions, and mentor the winners as they develop their projects are:
Alexander Schill, Worldwide Chief Creative Officer and Partner, Serviceplan Group, Munich
Winner of the Design Grand Prix: ‘The Solar Annual Report 2011’, Austria Solar
Carlo Cavallone, Creative Director, Fabrica, Amsterdam
Winner of the Press Grand Prix: ‘Unhate’ Campaign, United Colors of Benetton
Drew Ungvarsky, Owner and Creative Director, Grow Interactive, Norfolk USA
Winner of the Mobile Grand Prix: ‘Hilltop Reimagined for Coca-Cola’, Google
Graham Fink, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy, Shanghai
Winner of an Outdoor Grand Prix: ‘#Cokehands’, The Coca Cola Company
Jaime Rosado, Vice President and Regional Creative Director, JWT San Juan, Puerto Rico
Winner of the PR Grand Prix: ‘The Most Popular Song’, Banco Popular de Puerto Rico
Jonathan Bottomley, Head of Strategy, BBH London
Winner of the Creative Effectiveness Grand Prix: ‘Axe Excite – Returning to Universal Truths to Create Global Hits’, Unilever
Jesse Coulter, Co-Chief Creative Officer, CAA Marketing, Los Angeles and
Todd Hunter, Creative Executive, CAA Marketing, Los Angeles
Winners of both the Film and Branded Content Grands Prix: ‘Back to the Start / Cultivate Campaign’, Chipotle
Joao Livi, Executive Creative Director, Talent, São Paulo
Winner of the Radio Grand Prix: ‘Repellent Radio’, Go Outside Magazine
Jonathan Fowles, Executive Director and Head of Strategy, Manning Gottlieb OMD, London
Winner of the Media Grand Prix: ‘Google Voice Search’, Google
Nick Law, Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer, R/GA New York
Winner of both a Cyber Grand Prix and the Titanium and Integrated Grand Prix: ‘Nike+ Fuelband’, Nike+
Patrick Kampmann, Creative Director, Volontaire, Stockholm
Winner of a Cyber Grand Prix: ‘Curators of Sweden’, Swedish Institute/Visit Sweden
Rob Reilly, Worldwide Chief Creative Officer, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Boulder and
Angel Anderson, Experience Director, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Boulder, USA
Winners of both the Direct and Promo & Activation Grands Prix: ‘Small Business Gets an Official Day’, American Express
Stephane Xiberras, Chief Creative Officer, BETC Paris
Winner of the Film Craft Grand Prix: ‘Bear’, Canal+
Ted Royer, Executive Creative Director, Droga5, New York
Winner of the Grand Prix for Good: ‘Help I Want to Save a Life’, Help Remedies
Thimoteus Wagner, Chief Creative Officer, Jung von Matt, Hamburg
Winner of an Outdoor Grand Prix: ‘The Invisible Drive’, Daimler
Members of the first Cannes Chimera will remain part of the Cannes Chimera consultancy board, which will grow year on year.
