Digital Inspiration From Cannes

As a source of inspiration Cannes is almost too rich – it can take weeks to absorb and unpack everything you saw and heard. The sheer volume of award-winning work is overwhelming. Nevertheless, we decided to round up a handful of digital pieces that appealed directly to us. Not necessarily all Gold winners, but projects that captured our imagination.

The first was a big winner, however. “Long Live the Prince” from Engine UK won the Titanium Grand Prix. We’ve written about it before, but there’s no escaping its emotional power. A schoolboy soccer prodigy who was killed aged 15 in a senseless act of knife violence is magically returned to life 15 years on, so we can find out what his life might have been.

Staying in the Titanium category for a moment, here’s a fun but useful project from Ogilvy India. How do you get the world’s biggest movie star to advertise thousands of small businesses around the country? With a dash of AI open-source wizardry that allowed anyone to tap into his charisma – all thanks to Cadbury.

There were many worthy winners in the Digital Craft category. We’re big fans of “DojaCode” from Mojo Supermarket in New York, which won a Silver. The campaign encourages girls to learn how to code, by tapping directly into pop culture and revealing the first ever “code-able” music video.

Meanwhile, “Audiotorial”, from RGA in London, brought Google together with The Guardian newspaper in a project for the Royal National Institute of Blind People. What does using the internet feel like for blind and partially-sighted people? And how could it be adapted to their needs? The project is both a solution and an awareness-raising campaign.

Another fascinating project is the Black Elevation Map, for the travel brand Black & Abroad, which won a Creative Data Gold. It uses data visualization to create a map that highlights important locations of Black culture, from historic sites to Black-owned business, restaurants and galleries. It includes 12 city guides and 10 national guides. The film for the project is simply a joy to watch.

There’s no question that the creative use of data is changing travel. For one thing, it can draw our attention to sites or towns that we might have missed, by targeting us through GPS and social media. The idea below has a social benefit, too, as it encourages drivers to take a rest on long journeys. And we mean long – the campaign hails from Australia.

Difficult to do a round-up of striking creative work without including Burger King at some point, so let’s finish with the “Burger Glitch” from Ogilvy Worldwide. The case film is a celebrity-packed treat – and you’ll also hear the word of the year at Cannes: “metaverse”.

Of course there were many more winners, and we urge you to browse our showcase. It was good to be back “live” in Cannes. See you next year.