Latest news with #CannesLions
Time of India
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Eyes that scroll: A Cannes Lions Social and Creator Special: BE Extraordinary
These are campaigns that stood out for use of social media and creator-led strategies . From playful "sonic branding" challenges, to a B2B strategy disguised as consumer engagement or leveraging a social media platform's community, each one had a unique story to tell. Oreo "Name this Oreo', VML Oreo transformed its iconic cookie into a playful exercise in "sonic branding" and social engagement. The campaign leveraged the simple act of twisting, licking, and dunking an Oreo, translating these actions into a "Morse code" for the brand. Different combinations of cookie and cream created distinct auditory responses, challenging a community of Oreo lovers to "guess the sound." This innovative use of social media didn't just showcase the product; it invited active participation and interpretation, turning the familiar cookie into an auditory puzzle. It bordered on sonic branding, demonstrating how the very act of consuming an Oreo could be playfully interpreted through sound, galvanizing a community around a shared, multisensory experience. Lay's Bar Crawl, Slap Global Lay's amplified its "No Game Without Lay's" slogan with a clever social media campaign featuring football legends Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi on a pub crawl. The premise was simple: the stars would attempt to watch a game at various pubs. Upon entering, their first question would be, "Do you have Lay's?" If a pub didn't stock the chips, the celebrity duo would simply leave and move on. This highly engaging social experiment was designed to be filmed and shared, creating immediate, viral content. It leveraged the immense fan base in pubs, turning every potential sighting of the stars into a demand for Lay's. The implicit message was clear: if you want football legends to watch the game at your establishment, you better have Lay's on hand. This was a brilliant B2B strategy disguised as consumer engagement, driving demand for Lay's in pubs by appealing directly to the desires of their patrons and the influence of iconic athletes. US Navy "Subreddit Hunt", VML The US Navy faced a dual challenge in recruitment: a high benchmark for candidates and difficulty reaching this niche audience. They devised an incredibly intelligent and targeted recruitment campaign using the popular online platform Reddit. Playing on the homophone between "submarines" and "subreddits," the Navy began hiding intricate clues, quizzes, and IQ tests within various subreddits. These challenges were designed to appeal to individuals with the specific skills, intensity, and knowledge required for Navy service. Finding and solving these hidden puzzles demanded significant intellect and persistence, effectively pre-qualifying potential recruits. This highly innovative approach turned a digital space into a sophisticated recruitment tool, leveraging an online community's characteristics to identify and engage a highly specialised talent pool for the US Navy. (At BE Extraordinary, a series about the winners at Cannes Lions written in collaboration with Harsh Kapadia, CCO, Grey India, we peer outside the Grand Prix winners, and look at clutter breaking work that picked the silvers and the bronzes, but don't often get discussed.)
Campaign ME
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- Campaign ME
SRMG Labs win Gold and Silver at Cannes Lions
SRMG Labs has won Gold and Silver Lions at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2025. The awards were given in the Audio & Radio category for The Second Release, a campaign developed by SRMG Labs for Billboard Arabia that honours the legacy of Saudi Arabia's first female musical icon, Etab. Fewer than 0.78 per cent of all entries receive a Gold Lion – underscoring the rarity of this achievement and positioning SRMG Labs among the world's creative elite. Jomana Alrashid, CEO of SRMG, said: 'This Gold at Cannes Lions is a monumental milestone for SRMG Labs and for the region's creative voice. In just two years, Labs has become one of Saudi Arabia's leading creative agencies. Earning such rare recognition speaks volumes about the caliber of our work, the talent behind it, and SRMG's commitment to reimagining the creative landscape globally.' The campaign used advanced AI technology to bring Etab's voice and image back to life, introducing her legacy to a new generation. Centered around a remastered version of her beloved track Ya Saudi, Ya Saudi, the campaign reintroduced Etab not only as a musical pioneer, but as a symbol of Saudi Arabia's cultural evolution and growing space for female artistic expression. From a stylised music video to urban fashion, outdoor creative, and digital amplification, the campaign blended heritage and innovation, sparking nationwide conversation. It was launched to coincide with Saudi National Day in 2024 and was also recognised with the Cultural Impact Award from the Saudi Ministry of Culture. Fadi Mroue, Chief Creative Officer at SRMG and Managing Director of SRMG Labs, added: 'With Etab, we weren't just telling a story – we were reframing the narrative. Bringing her legacy back to life using today's tools was about honoring the past, empowering the present, and inspiring the future. I'm proud of our team for delivering work that's bold, respectful, and culturally meaningful – and proud that one of the world's leading creative stages has recognised it.' The recognition arrives at a time when Saudi Arabia's creative and cultural industries are undergoing rapid transformation. The campaign tapped into this shift, blending innovation with authenticity to spark renewed national pride and bridge generational narratives through music. This dual win marks another creative milestone for SRMG Labs. Since its launch in 2022, SRMG Labs said it has consistently delivered impactful work that blends technology, storytelling, and cultural relevance. With accolades spanning Cannes Lions, Dubai Lynx, LIA, and national recognition from the Saudi Ministry of Culture, the agency continues to push creative boundaries while telling stories rooted in identity, purpose, and innovation. The campaign also aims to reflect Billboard Arabia's mission to revive and celebrate the region's musical heritage, spotlight underrepresented voices, and connect new generations with the cultural icons who shaped the sound of the Arab world.
Globe and Mail
6 hours ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Why Reddit Stock Was Moving Higher This Week
Shares of Reddit (NYSE: RDDT) were moving higher this week after the company launched two new AI-powered advertising tools and benefited from some positive analyst commentary on the stock. According to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, the stock was up 19.4% for the week as of Wednesday's close. Reddit gets a tailwind At the Cannes Lions festival, Reddit announced Reddit Community Intelligence, a new tool that can power insights for advertisers from more than 22 million posts on Reddit. As part of the launch, it introduced two new "early stage products," Reddit Insights and Conversation Summary Add-ons. Reddit Insights is a "scalable, AI-powered social listening tool" that gives marketers proprietary data to help guide ad campaigns. The Conversation Summary add-on integrates positive user content directly below an ad, helping to get ads better placement and views. Advertising is Reddit's primary source of revenue, but the company has historically struggled to monetize its platform the way some larger social media platforms have. On Wednesday, Reddit jumped 5.5% as B. Riley said that Meta's deal with Scale AI, in which it's spending $14.3 billion on a 49% stake in the data labeling company, was a positive sign for Reddit as point to the value of the content on its platform, which Reddit refers to as its "corpus." What's next for Reddit Reddit has been a big winner since its IPO last month, but the stock has also pulled back sharply from its peak as investors seem to be doubting whether the company can maintain its strong growth rate. The launch of the AI advertising tools is a step in the right direction, as anything it can do to maintain its momentum in both usage and advertising growth should help drive the social media stock higher. Should you invest $1,000 in Reddit right now? Before you buy stock in Reddit, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Reddit wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $659,171!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $891,722!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is995% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to172%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025
Campaign ME
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Campaign ME
UAE says ‘Cannes-Do' to the ‘impossible'; creates conversations on the Croisette
For the second year in a row, the UAE Government Media Office has attracted incredible attention at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, with several hundred delegates, attendees and passers-by seen raising their phones to scan the QR Code on a massive billboard that read: 'An ad without a logo. There's only one country that would do something that risky.' Positioned perfectly at the busiest entry points within the heart of the Palais, and on the glass façade overlooking the Croisette, these billboards played on the inherent curiosity of the global creative, brand, marketing and advertising industry. Several similar billboards located within the Palais and along the Croisette also drew eyeballs. Campaign Middle East overheard conversations of the 'bold' and 'disuptive' ads from those who stood watching these billboards while waiting patiently in long queues – in the hopes to lay eyes on global celebrities such as Serena Williams, Jimmy Fallon and Reese Witherspoon. Many visitors and attendees at Cannes Lions raised the question about 'what it would be like to work in a country that is daring enough to have billboards that read': 'If ideas don't seem impossible, we're not interested.' 'You didn't get into this business to resize banners. Let's fix that.' 'Where ideas go from 'nice deck' to 'next landmark'.' Commenting on the campaign, Khaled AlShehhi, Executive Director of Marketing and Communication at the UAE Government Media Office, said, 'The UAE Government Media Office returned with louder confidence and sharper intent, taking over the Palais and the Croisette with bold, pointed headlines that did more than catch the eye.' He added, 'The strategically placed outdoor and indoor billboards didn't ask for attention. They earned it. But beyond scale or design, it was the tone that turned heads: not promotional, not ceremonial, but culturally fluent. Made for the creative crowd, by a country that now speaks their language fluently.' With an approach that included out-of-home (OOH) static billboards, digital-out-of-home (DOOH) billboards, and indoor billboards, the campaign created in collaboration with Impact BBDO, was also rolled out across some print publications. Furthermore, the campaign also showed up on digital and social channels as a result of user-generated content (UGC) at Cannes Lions 2025. Reacting to the buzz around the campaign, Ghassan Kassabji, CEO Dubai, CGO MENA, Impact BBDO said, 'The UAE didn't just show up at Cannes Lions. It showed the world what it stands for. If ideas don't seem impossible, they're not enough. This was a bold invitation to dream bigger, do more, and do it from the Emirates.' Ali Rez, Chief Creative Officer, Impact BBDO, added, 'We are beyond proud to have the opportunity to create this bold campaign for the UAE, a place which has always inspired us with its vision of making the impossible possible.' That said, Campaign Middle East also spoke to agency leaders who were not involved in the campaign. For instance, Natalie Shardan, Managing Partner, Serviceplan Group Middle East, and a jury member at Cannes Lions 2025, said, 'If there were a Grand Prix for turning the impossible into reality, the UAE would win it hands down.' She added. 'After 20 years of calling this place home, the UAE's relentless ambition – regionally and on the global stage – still leaves me in awe. And, as someone leading an advertising agency, I know bold messages like this don't just inspire – they attract ambitious creative minds who want to turn possibility into action.' This campaign also closed the loop on 'Bring Your Impossible': The platform launched by the Emirates at Cannes Lions 2024. What began as a campaign has since evolved into a narrative that continues to unfold: A narrative that calls on creators, founders and thinkers to go beyond ambition and move into execution. And, this year, that message was not only reinforced on the streets; but also within the Cannes Lions 2025 jury rooms. Khaled AlShehhi was selected as a PR Lions juror marking a quiet shift in how the UAE is showing up at the highest levels of creative influence. 'We didn't come to Cannes to be seen,' AlShehhi said. 'We came to be part of the conversation on the stage, in the jury room, and on the streets. Our message is simple: if you have an impossible idea, you'll find your partner in the Emirates.' The UAE's presence at Cannes Lions 2025 was further boosted by several UAE-based brands, government entities, and agencies that were seen engaging in the form of panels and partnerships throughout the festival. Additionally, FP7 McCann Dubai, Impact BBDO, VML Dubai and LEO Dubai picked up the coveted metal cat trophies at the Cannes Lions Awards 2025, adding credibility to the Emirates on the global creative stage. There's no doubt about it: These ads weren't just seen; they were felt. They didn't promote; they provoked. They didn't sell; they were invited. They didn't follow; they set a standard. 'And the message was clear,' AlShehhi concluded. 'The Emirates are open for ideas as long as those ideas are impossible.'
Business Insider
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
Gap's CEO: We're done bombarding you with promotions
This week, the world's top leaders in advertising and marketing have been on the coast of France at the Cannes Lions festival to talk about all things brand strategy. There, the CEO of an iconic American company took to the mic to discuss why his company is doing less promotions as it tries to revitalize its image and reputation to consumers. Richard Dickson, the chief executive officer of Gap Inc. — which owns its namesake company, plus retailers Banana Republic, Old Navy, and Athleta — was open about the company's past blunders in a conversation with the Wall Street Journal. "This is a brand that, through its narrative, changed culture and/or shaped culture," he said. "Somewhere along the way, we lost the art of that brand-merchant storytelling and became a retailer that sold stuff. So we had to go in and edit." Here's what Dickson said about what the retailer and its subsidiary brands got wrong in the past — and how he's "reinvigorating" them. Dickson joined as CEO in 2023, after more than 20 years at another iconic brand, toymaker Mattel. There, as BI previously reported, he was credited with reviving the Barbie franchise. He came on as Gap had been facing years of underperformance and brand identity issues as other fast fashion retailers gained steam. But the appeal he saw when joining as CEO nearly two years ago, he said, was that "everybody wants Gap to win." "There's not haters out there of Gap. There's, to some extent, what happened? Where did it go? I used to, if you will, shop at Gap," he said. "These are fertile ground ingredients for any marketing/business narrative." Gap has been around for more than 50 years, and had its heyday in late 90s with iconic commercials like the Khaki Swing video, which he cited in the conversation with the Journal. "The brand started and sort of personified itself by celebrating big product ideas into major campaigns that were about what we'll call fashion-tainment," he said. Now, the company is getting back to that. Recent examples include pop singer Troye Sivan's baggy jeans campaign with Gap, plus Banana Republic's recent partnership with actor Patrick Schwarzenegger, who gained popularity in the hit TV show "The White Lotus." But even though the brand is attempting to transform, it won't be spending more on marketing, said Dickson — the focus will be more on what they spend on and how those strategies come across to consumers. "Today, you don't need to spend more, you need to be more effective in the stories that you're trying to tell." Since he joined in 2023, he's also been trying to dial back Gap's infamous and constant "percentage off" promos. "If you had gone into a Gap store a year ago, or Old Navy, you were to some extent bombarded," he said. "It was almost unbelievable to the extent that even internally, we would pull up our sites and I would say, what are we selling?" "When you go into stores and you see a sign on every single fixture, that's not an experience that's gonna be appealing. So our signing system has gotten a lot more refined. Our sites have become a lot more precise." Although their promotional cadence is not changing, the narrative and how they approach them is. "We love promotions. We love exciting the consumer with great price and great value and great style," he said. "But our communication and how we promote is a much more refined and directed narrative." He's said they've already started to see greater consumer resilience and loyalty as a result. "Each brand is in a different stage of what we'll call revitalization," he said about Gap Inc.'s portfolio. "But the formula is the same: cultural relevance, great product, great execution, and great experience."
