The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity doesn’t start for another two weeks, but the first shortlist is out—and it is absent of any Canadian names.
The Innovation Lions, just created in 2013 and the cornerstone of a secondary festival-within-the-festival as of last year, recognize technological creativity to meet a consumer need or deliver a product, service or brand message in a new way. In other words, all those ideas that agencies, designers, hackers and startups dream up and considered important for brands looking to move beyond advertising to provide some real utility or meaningful surprise for consumers.
Unsurprisingly, most of the work on the list is digital in nature, but We Believers New York made it for creating “edible six pack rings” for beer-maker Saltwater Brewery, which targets “surfers, fishermen and people who love the sea.” As the name suggests, the innovation was a replacement for those plastic beer-can holders that we’ve all come to know as a threat to wildlife. Rather than being trapped by the plastic, animals can eat the holders. Also on the list is Burger King’s cheeky, “McWhopper,” ostensibly a peace offering from Burger King to its bitter burger rival McDonald’s to mark Peace Day.
More representative of the contending work is Netflix Socks. Pittsburgh’s Deeplocal created sensor-embedded socks that pause whatever Netflix content is playing when the wearer falls asleep. “Netflix Switch” is a gadget that, with the single push of one button, turns on the TV, starts up Netflix, dims the lights, turns off the phone and orders favourite delivery food.
To help Samsung raise awareness about the dangers of concussions for athletes in Australia where tackle sports rugby and Australian football are massively popular, Leo Burnett Millers Point created “Brainband.” The headband captures the impact force absorbed by athletes and translates it instantly into data that indicates if the athlete has suffered a brain injury.
In total, 39 submissions made the shortlist for a jury led by Emad Tahtouh, director of applied technology of Australia’s Finch.
Other work to make the list included:
- ”The Next Rembrandt” for ING by J. Walter Thompson Amsterdam
- ”Motorepellent” for Duang Prateep Foundation by BBDO Bangkok
- ”F21 Thread” for Forever 21 by Breakfast New York
- ”Highway Robbery” for Volvo Car USA by Grey New York
- ”The Sound Shirt” for Junge Symphoniker Hamburg by Jung von Matt Hamburg
- ”Slide Amazing in Motion” for Lexus International by CHI & Partners London
Unlike the other awards competitions where the shortlists come out just before the winners are announced, the Innovation list comes out earlier because each of the entrants in contention are required to present their work to the jury live in Cannes during the festival.
Last year the Innovation Lions were handed out at a new awards ceremony on the Friday night of the festival week, but this year they’ve been moved to the Wednesday gala with Friday reserved for the newly named Entertainment Lions (formerly Branded Content) and Entertainment Lions for Music.
