Ogilvy One London took home the Cannes Lions Grand Prix for Direct for its ‘The Magic of Flying’ campaign for British Airways. Inspired by the way children are fascinated by airplanes in the sky, the ‘Magic of Flying’ billboards feature a child that points up to an actual plane when it flies overhead. The billboards were triggered to display the ads in time with British Airways flights using an ADSB antenna as well as a cloud height sensor.
Jury President James McGrath said the campaign was an extraordinary yet simple piece of work. “We were kind of blown away by the simplicity and the purity of this idea… Very emotional piece, very timely, as we would say very placely, perfectly catches the essence, the joy of flying and then obviously beyond the capturing the moment it literally then connects so beautifully to the idea, directly to the idea of sharing, both the idea but also the idea of travel and the idea of flying, I think that it’s so simple but sort of complex all at the same time. That’s why it was the best of 2014 for us,” McGrath said.
18 Gold Lions, 17 Silver Lions, and 39 Bronze Lions were awarded in the category.
From Asia, Dentsu Tokyo’s ‘Sound of Honda/Ayrton Senna 1989’ for Honda Motor Co. took home a Gold Lion as well as a Silvel Lion. Also from Japan, TBWA\Hakuhodo’s ‘3D on the Rocks’ for Suntory Holdings Limited bagged a Bronze Lion.
McCann Worldgroup India’s ‘Share my Dabba’ for Happy Life Welfare & Dabbawala Foundation took home two Silver Lions.
Meanwhile, Leo Burnett Hong Kong’s ‘Gift Box’ for The Salvation Army, Crown Relocations bagged a Bronze Lion.
From the Philippines, BBDO Guerrero’s ‘Unselfie’ campaign to raise funds for Yolanda survivors took home a Bronze Lion.
Selected from a total of 2,676 entries, the Direct winners were announced at an awards ceremony in Cannes on June 16. See the full list of Driect winners here.
