Insights from the winners of the 2023 Cannes Creative Effectiveness Lions 

Humour, distinctive assets, shared value of purpose, and driving fame through earned media lead to commercial success, according to a new WARC report analysing the winning campaigns in the Cannes Creative Effectiveness Lions, 

Creative Effectiveness Lions 2023 - Insights from the winners is based on judges’ commentary, interviews with winners and industry experts, while a data lens has been applied to the winners to reveal the most common media and creative strategies used in this award-winning body of work.

Commenting on the report, Amy Rodgers, Head of Content, WARC Creative, said: “Findings in this study are critical to understanding how marketers are meeting business goals and driving sustainable impact over time. The winners of this category are unquestionably creative, and now awarded for their effectiveness too. They are simple but disruptive ideas that really work to drive business growth.” 

Four key themes 

• Finding joy and levity

After a few years of decline in humour in advertising, 2022 saw an uptick and this year’s creative effectiveness winners reflected a more light-hearted approach, even to serious issues. Humour is memorable, distinctive and persuasive, and people gravitate towards positive emotions. 

‘Invaluable Food’ by Leo Burnett for food festival Madrid Fusion, ‘Hack Market’ by Marcel Paris for online marketplace Back Market, and ‘Apologize the Rainbow’ for confectionary brand Skittles by DDB Chicago, all used this strategy to their advantage in very different campaigns.

• Distinctive assets become the campaign

This year’s creative effectiveness category winners saw brand equity in distinctive assets used at the core of the campaign: the assets became the idea. 

This was the case for ‘Foamy Haircut’ by Africa São Paulo for Brazilian beer brand Brahma and ‘Draw Ketchup’ for sauce brand Heinz Ketchup by Rethink Canada. They both applied creativity to their product iconicity and tapped into the emotional connection that consumers have with brands they love.

• Redefining purpose

There’s a shift in purpose from brands driving change not as an obligation but as an opportunity to create shared value, so benefiting both the business and the challenge or issue they are aligned with. 

The Grand Prix, ‘Shah Rukh Khan My Ad’, for chocolate brand Cadbury by Ogilvy Mumbai, created shared value by supporting the supply chain for its Celebrations product in India by promoting small businesses.

• Driving fame through earned media

Be it to create behavioural change, drive ticket sales or raise money, winners harnessed the power of earned media to generate mass attention and participate in culture. Reflecting this change, the use of word-of-mouth as both a media channel and an objective, is up this year.

The crowdfunding campaign ‘Our Worst Vintage’ by Seven.One Ad Factory for wine brand Flutwein, relied on the power of donated and earned media to reach, and raise, millions. 

A sample of the report can be downloaded here. The full report is available to WARC Creative subscribers. It will also be discussed on an upcoming WARC Cannes Creative Effectiveness podcast.