Leo Burnett’s Toronto office started the week off strongly in Cannes with nine shortlist appearances across two competitions, Promo & Activation and Direct, early Sunday.
Six of the nominations were for P&G‘s “#LikeAGirl,” a favourite to win big here this year and a recent winner of Best of Show at the Marketing Awards, two for Bell Media and one for IKEA.
Grey Canada Toronto also had a strong showing with four appearances: two in Direct, one in Promo & Activation, added to its nomination in the Press category for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America’s “Groceries not Guns” campagin. (The Press and Mobile Lions shortlists were also announced Sunday morning.)
In the Promo & Activation competition, #LikeAGirl received three nominations (Use of Social Audience in a Promotional Campaign, Fast Moving Consumer Goods, Use of Social Platform(s) in a Promotional Campaign).
In total, there were seven Canadian entries on the Promo & Activation Lions list, which are awarded to work “designed to create immediate activation and or offer for the sales of a product or service,” according to the Festival’s official definition.
Aside from “#LikeAGirl” and “Groceries not Guns,” the other Canadian entries on the list include:
•Rethink Toronto for “Hockey Heavan” for Molson Canadian;
•Leo Burnett Toronto for “Kings and Queens of the Court” for Bell Media (TSN); and
•JWT for “Raise the Pride” for Toronto PFLAG.
The Promo & Activation jury has a Canadian representative, Rene Rouleau from Proximity, and the competition saw 78 Canadian entries up from 74 last year, while overall there were 3,196 down from 3,241.
#LikeAGirl also made three appearances on the Direct shortlist (Social Audience in a Direct Marketing Campaign; Fast Moving Consumer Goods; and Writing For Direct).
The Direct Lions are created for “targeted communication designed to generate a direct response by means of call to action that produces measurable results whilst building prolonging relationships.”
Grey’s two nominations for Moms Demand Action were in Use of Social Audience in a Direct Marketing Campaign and Integrated Campaign Led by Direct Marketing.
Leo Burnett was also nominated once for “Kings and Queens of the Court” for Bell Media and for IKEA’s “Inspiration Boxes.”
Joining Leo Burnett and Grey on the Direct list are:
•JWT for “Better Tomorrows” for The Hospital For Sick Children; and
•Rethink Toronto for “Ubersafe” for Uber.
Leo Burnett Toronto’s Judy John is president of the Direct jury, a competition where entries were up about 5% from last year (2,813 compared to 2,677) while Canadian entries were also up slightly from a year ago: 50 compared to 48.
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