Leo Burnett and LG2 dominated the winners list at the Marketing Awards earlier this month and have emerged as early leaders as Canada’s top performing shops at the 59th International Festival of Creativity.
It’s only Monday, but the Festival moved into top gear this morning with long lineups for speakers, the release of five shortlists, and three press conferences ahead of the first awards gala Monday night for Direct, Promo & Activation and PR (read about those shortlists here and here).
The shortlists for Media, Outdoor, Press, Creative Effectiveness and Mobile were released at 9 a.m., revealing 29 Canadian entries in contention for Lions. (Read about the Mobile shortlist here.)
OUTDOOR
Canada’s strongest showing was on the Outdoor list with 14 submissions in the running for Lions which will be awarded Tuesday night.
Leo Burnett’s work for Toronto-based homeless charity Raising the Roof made the list four times for “Dog,” “Outside,” “Help,” and “Job.” The work could win a campaign Lion or the single executions could be recognized on their own.
Three executions from LG2’s and Sears Optical campaign also made the list: “Clover,” “Match” and “Nail.” Those ads are also the only Canadian work still contending in the Press competition (below).
DDB and BBDO both made the list twice.
DDB Vancouver is there both times for B.C. Hydro work: “Burnt-Out Billboard” and “Sensor Boards.”
BBDO Toronto made it for the Canadian Paralympic Committee’s “Unstoppable” and for Mercedes-Benz’s “Mercedes-Benz Blur.”
Rounding out the Canadian Outdoor list are:
• Cossette Vancouver and McDonald’s for “Reflective Bilboard”
• Rethink and Dogwood Initiative for “Oil Poster”
• Lowe Roche and Warner Brothers Entertainment Canada for “Contagion – Bacteria Boards”
Canadian agencies submitted 168 entries in the Outdoor competition in 2012, up from 154 last year. There is no judge from Canada on the Outdoor jury. In total, the competition had 4,843 entries up from 4,490 a year ago.
MEDIA
In the Media competition, Canada made the shortlist eight times from 90 entries, up from 59 submissions in 2011.
Red Urban and Volkswagen made the shortlist twice, once for “Art Heist” and again for “The Beetle Juiced Up.”
IKEA is also on the list twice, once with creative agency Leo Burnett for “Moving Day Wild Postings” and again with Jungle Media Toronto for “Moving Day Montreal.”
Also on the list:
• DDB Vancouver and B.C. Hydro for “Sensor Boards”
•OMD Toronto and McDonald’s for “McTraffic”
• Starcom Toronto and Sears Luxottica for “Sears Optical—Blurring the Lines”
• LG2 and Quebec City Magic Festival for “Magic Hat”
ZenithOptimedia’s Sunni Boot represents Canada on the jury for the Media Competition which saw 3,247 entries up from 2,895 in 2011.
PRESS
In the Press competition, the only shot at a medal rests with LG2. The Montreal agency’s campaign for Sears Optical made the shortlist three times for “Clover,” “Match,” and “Nail.”
Running counter to most of the other competitions, Canada’s presence in the Press competition was down significantly this year, entering just 66 times in 2012, compared to 112 in 2011 and 110 the year before that.
CREATIVE EFFECTIVENESS
Creative Effectiveness is not really a hot category at Cannes Lions. Now in its second year, the competition saw a decline in entries—92, down from 142 last year. Canada upped its offering to four entries this year (from one in 2011), but did not make the shortlist.
The four entries were BBDO Toronto’s “Touch The Rainbow” for Wrigley Canada, Innocean Canada’s “Country Drive” for Hyundai, Leo Burnett’s “Help Us Help You” for James Ready, and John St.’s “Guy at Home in his Underwear” for Stanfield’s
Similar to the Cassies, Creative Effectiveness intends to link agencies’ efforts with demonstrable results. Results account for 50% of each entry’s score, while strategy and the creative idea rate for 25% each. PricewaterhouseCoopers review each submission.
The shortlist, comprising of only 13 finalists, is dominated by the U.S. with six entries—two from Crispin Porter + Bogusky, two from Wieden + Kennedy, one from Grey New York and one from Ogilvy New York. India, the U.K., Germany, Australia, Argentina and Columbia round out the list.
