Latest news with #TheShadedRoute
Campaign ME
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Campaign ME
Gold Lions roar and platforms reveal AI plays
Day 2 at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2025 offered respite from the heat thanks to lovely cloud cover through early parts of the day. It also brought a smile to the faces of those who bumped into old friends from across the globe, which led to a meaningful catch-up or heartfelt conversations along the Croisette. There were those who braved the long queues to access key panel discussions and beach activations, while others celebrated their latest metal cats on the red carpet outside The Palais. Speaking of metal cats, the MENA region's tally of coveted Cannes Lions trophies has jumped from seven on Day 1 to 15 on Day 2, with BigTime Creative Shop leading the pack and contributing to five of the region's total tally with 2 Gold Lions, 1 Silver Lion, and 2 Bronze Lions. The MENA wins include: AUDIO AND RADIO CATEGORY: 1 GOLD LION, 1 SILVER LION Campaign title: The Second Release Agency: SRMG Labs, Riyadh Client: Billboard Arabia, Riyadh DESIGN CATEGORY: 1 SILVER LION Campaign title: Sounds of the Land Agency: SRMG Labs, Riyadh Client: Billboard Arabia, Riyadh DIGITAL CRAFT CATEGORY: 1 SILVER LION Campaign title: The Shaded Route Agency: VML, Riyadh Client: Hungerstation Campaign title: Agency: Client: Hungerstation 1 BRONZE LION Campaign title: Read Better Agency: FP7 McCANN, Dubai / McCANN, Bristol Client: Waterstones DIGITAL CRAFT CATEGORY: 1 GOLD LION, 1 SILVER LION Campaign title: The 4th Judge Agency: BigTime Creative Shop, Riyadh Client: The Ring Campaign title: Agency: Client: The Ring 1 GOLD LION Campaign title: Obsession Agency: BigTime Creative Shop, Riyadh Client: Riyadh Season FILM CRAFT CATEGORY: 1 BRONZE LION Campaign title: Everything or Nothing Agency: BigTime Creative Shop, Riyadh Client: Riyadh Season Campaign title: Agency: Client: Riyadh Season 1 BRONZE LION Campaign title: Obsession Agency: BigTime Creative Shop, Riyadh Client: Riyadh Season HEALTH AND WELLNESS CATEGORY: 1 BRONZE LION Campaign title: The Shaded Route Agency: VML Riyadh Client: Hungerstation OUTDOOR CATEGORY : 1 BRONZE LION Campaign title: The Shaded Route Agency: VML Riyadh Client: Hungerstation Campaign title: Agency: Client: Hungerstation 1 BRONZE LION Campaign title: Not For First Dates Agency: FP7 McCann Dubai Client: McDonald's PRINT AND PUBLISHING CATEGORY : 1 SILVER LION Campaign title: NOTES ON NOTES Agency: IMPACT BBDO, Dubai / AdPro& Jordan Client: Capital Bank Campaign title: Agency: IMPACT BBDO, Dubai / AdPro& Jordan Client: Capital Bank 1 BRONZE LION Campaign title: THE GREAT INDIAN DUNK Agency: LEO Dubai Client: NBA India Platforms claim their seconds in the spotlight For those who brought their running shoes along, Day 2 began with a 6.1km run with the Strava Business Club, while others who preferred an early morning stretch chose the morning yoga session on The Terrace. The morning then began with a fascinating panel discussion, which witnessed Elizabeth Rutledge, CMO, American Express; Aude Gandon, CMO, Nestlé; and Sumit Virmani, CMO, Infosys discuss the marketing priorities for the months to come; how CMOs must be good internal stakeholders, and measure and communicate the value of marketing within their businesses; and the new skills CMOs need to incorporate within a rapidly evolving brand and marketing landscape. However, platforms – YouTube, TikTok, Meta, and Spotify – claimed the spotlight on Day 2 at Cannes Lions with key announcements. YouTube: With the aim to continue connecting communities and content creators with advertisers, YouTube has released Open Call, a feature within the platform's Creator Partnerships hub, powered by the YouTube BrandConnect tool, which permits brands to discover and partner with creators at scale. Through this feature, brands and advertisers will now be able to share a creative brief listing the requirements of their campaign. This will allow multiple content creators within the YouTube Partner Programme the ability to pitch to the advertisers with video content created and designed specifically for that campaign. Once the brands and advertisers view, review and approve the host of video submissions, then the promotions or the partnership ads get activated. In conversation with Campaign Middle East at Cannes, Melissa Hsieh Nikolic, Director of Product Management for YouTube Ads, said, 'It's really about the creators and the authentic content that they're making that resonates with YouTubers and the communities. In particular, with Open Call and Creator Partnerships hub, it's really about bringing brands alongside to find creators who can tell their stories authentically, while giving creators of all different sizes an opportunity. We think there's a lot of power in that, providing people with a lot more ways to connect with brands.' Watch her take on how the ROI on this is measured in the link below. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Campaign Middle East (@campaignmiddleeast) TikTok: At this year's Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, TikTok unveiled updates to TikTok Symphony, its suite of generative AI tools designed to streamline creative production and spark bold new ideas. These new updates aim to make scaling on TikTok faster, easier and more efficient. With Symphony Image-to-Video, TikTok will bring static images to life to help unlock new creative formats, generate multiple variations of existing on-brand content or bring a full product catalogue to life. Next, with Symphony Text-to-Video, all it takes is short text prompt to bring an idea to life, enabling advertisers to rapidly generate, test and iterate on a range of creative executions or customise content at scale. Finally, with Symphony Showcase Products, advertisers will be able to place their products front-and-centre by showcasing them with digital avatars. This gives marketers a new way to feature a product in TikTok-first creative content. Commenting on these new features, Andy Yang, Global Head of Creative and Brand Products, said, 'We're entering a new era of creativity, one where ideas move at the speed of culture, and where AI doesn't replace imagination but rather accelerates it. With TikTok Symphony, we're empowering a global community of marketers, brands, and creators to tell stories that resonate, scale, and drive impact on TikTok. By blending cutting-edge technology with human creativity, we're building a new creative standard, one that's more accessible, more agile, and more inspiring than ever before.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Campaign Middle East (@campaignmiddleeast) Meta: Cannes Lions 2025 also witnessed Meta announcing a bevy of AI-powered features, including AI agents integrated into advertisements, which permits users to chat with an advertisers' bot immediately when clicking on an ad. In addition to merging creatives with conversational commerce, Meta also showcases ways for brands and advertisers to set up these AI agents on Messenger and WhatsApp through smart prompts. They also highlighted how performance insights can be derived to hold the 'AI agents' accountable to their knowledge and usefulness. Additionally, Meta also revealed voice-activated business AI agents, which opens out the possibility for customers to query branded business bots – especially for users who don't like typing and want a faster, hands-free experience. Add to this Meta's AI-powered translation tools, which further bring empower copy and creatives by translating ad content in 10 global languages, therefore, enabling advertisers to take their campaigns global faster. The number of languages that Meta's AI can translate is set to double by the end of 2025. Similar to TikTok, Meta is also rolling out an AI-powered image-to-video ad tool across Facebook and Instagram. Through this tool marketers will now be able to convert up to 20 static product imagess into multi-scene videos with music and subtitles right in the ad interface. WhatsApp: Advertisers can now become channel owners and run ads within their WhatsApp Status, unlocking a new ad revenue model inside the application. Meta is also reportedly testing native ads inside the WhatsApp Updates tab, making it the first time ads will appear inside WhatsApp rather than as a click-through from Instagram or Facebook. However, these chats and channels will be clearly differentiated from the encrypted personal chats, the company clarified. Spotify: Right before Cannes, Spotify revealed two new initiatives to help brands further tap into Spotify's creative playground: the Creative Lab Hub and its inaugural Creative Council. The Creative Lab Hub is a new global destination where brands and advertisers can access Spotify Advertising's most effective tools, formats, and insights — making it easier to create breakthrough campaigns. Meanwhile, its Creative Council brings together industry-leading creatives to help shape the future of advertising and brand storytelling on Spotify. This group includes top creative leads from agencies including R/GA, BBDO, McCann, Anomaly, VML, and GUT, as well as brand leaders from Ulta, AG1, and Coca-Cola. Where are the conversations happening? Meanwhile, Campaign Middle East continues its coverage live from Cannes Lions 2025, conversing with top leaders such as Reda Raad, Group CEO of TBWA\RAAD, and Tom Otton, CEO of Create. Group. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Campaign Middle East (@campaignmiddleeast) Tune into Campaign Middle East's social media channels to stay updated on the latest of what's happening at The Palais, the Rotonde, The Carlton Hotel and stay tuned for exciting events at the Campaign House Hilton Canopy.
Campaign ME
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Campaign ME
The MENA shortlists at Cannes Lions 2025
The Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity is in full swing for its 2025 iteration, with thousands of creatives and advertising flocking to the city's Palais des Festivals et des Congrès for a week of celebrating creativity within the advertising industry. The Middle East has shown up in full force, with strong entries to the Festival's broad range of categories. 43 campaigns from regional shops have made it to the shortlists across 17 categories. Here's a breakdown of the campaigns up for a chance of walking away with a metal cat: This campaign for the UK's Waterstones has collected two shortlists for the Festival's Digital Craft – Data Storytelling and Design Lions – Books categories. HungerStation's The Shaded Route has picked up two shortlists in the Digital category – for Data Storytelling and Real-time Usage & Targeting. The campaign was also shortlisted Health category, shortlisted under Health & Wellness Tech and a Brand Experience & Activation Lions for Tech-Led Brand Experience. Publicis Middle East stands a chance to win a Digital Craft Lion under the Personalised Storytelling & Experience category for its work for KitKat. This work from Impact BBDO has been shortlisted for the Festival's Digital Craft – AI Storytelling category. It's also been shortlisted for two Creative Strategy Lions: Media/Entertainment and Brave Brands. This work from Billboard Arabia by SRMG Labs is up for three metal cats under the Audio & Radio category. The work has been shortlisted for the Use of Audio and Radio as a Medium, Single-Market Campaign and Social Behaviour. In the Entertainment category, the campaign has been shortlisted under Diversity & Inclusion in Entertainment and Audio Content. VML Riyadh is up for two Audio & Radio Lions for its Speak My Language campaign for stc. The campaign stands a chance to win in the Voice Activation category and Use of Audio & Radio Technology. This traditional radio spot by FP7 McCann, Dubai and McCann Health Dubai for Harley Davidson is shortlisted for a Corporate Purpose & Social Responsibility Audio & Radio Lion. The campaign is also shortlisted for a Media Lion under the Audience Insights category. This spot by FP7 McCann, Dubai for McDonald's is up for an Outdoor Lion under the Social Behaviour category. This campaign from FP7 McCann, Dubai forTesticular Cancer Society is shortlisted for three Lions. Under the PR Lions category the campaign is up for the Use of Events & Stunts and Breakthrough on a Budget. It also stands a chance to win an Outdoor Lion under the Use of Humour category. LEO Dubai has collected four shortlists for its work for NBA India across its isolated campaigns named after prominent professional NBA basketballers. The work stands a chance to win a Print & Publishing Lion under the Travel, Leisure, Retail, Restaurants & Fast-food Chains category. This work for UN Women by Impact BBDO, Dubai is up for a Cultural Engagement Lion under the Print & Publishing category. This work from Saatchi & Saatchi Middle East for Nana has been shortlisted for a Design Lion under the Books category. Digitas Dubai's work for Salam has earned a shortlist for the Design for Behavioural Change category under the Design Lions. This campaign from Billboard Arabia by SRMG Labs is shortlisted for Design Lion under the Promotional Items/Promotional Printed Media. Riyadh Season's Everything or Nothing by BigTime Creative Shop is up for a Film Craft Lion under the Production Design/Art Direction category. This spot from Riyadh Season is up for a Film Craft Lion under the Use of Licensed/Adapted Music category. Saudi Arabia's BigTime Creative Shop is the entrant company. This spot from BigTime Creative Shop has been shortlisted for a Film Craft Lion under the Visual Effects category. It has also secured a shortlist for an Entertainment Lions for Sport under the Use of Humour category. Al Joumhouria has picked up two shortlists for its campaigns 'Explosion' and 'Home' for an Industry Craft Lion under the Art Direction: Print & Publishing category. It's Uncensored Press: Breaching The Algorithm campaign has also been shortlisted for a Creative Data Lions under the Use of Print subcategory. The work was submitted by TBWA\RAAD, Dubai. This work from HAVAS Middle East for adidas has picked up an Industry Craft shortlist under the Illustration: Outdoor category. Arla's Recipe For Change was shortlisted twice for an Engagement Lion under the Brand Experience category and the Targeting & Engagement category. The work was also shortlisted under two categories for the Brand Experience & Activations Lions, under Consumer Goods and Market Disruption. The campaign also bagged a shortlist for a Creative Business Transformation Lions. This work from HungerStation by VML in Dubai has picked up five shortlists at Cannes Lions 2025. In the Engagement category the campaign was shortlisted for a Creative B2B Lions under the Targeting & Engagement sub-category. The work also picked up a shortlist for a Creative Data Lions under Data-Driven Targeting, and Data-Driven Consumer Product. Adding to this, the campaign was shortlisted for a Brand Experience & Activation Lions under the Social Engagement & Integration for Live Experience category and the Creative Commerce Lions under the Social Behaviour category. This work from Saatchi & Saatchi Middle East in Dubai for ItsHerWay is shortlisted for a Creative B2B Lions under the Corporate Purpose & Social Responsibility Category. It's also shortlisted for a PR Lions under the Consumer Services/Business to Business category. This work for OMO picked up a Direct Lions shortlist under the Consumer Goods category. VML, Dubai adds to its list with this campaign for Dubai Tourism which is shortlisted for a Direct Lions under the Use of Mobile category. Impact BBDO's work for Easypaisa picked up a Media Lions shortlist under the Healthcare category. This work from Saatchi & Saatchi Middle East / Publicis One Touch, Dubai is shortlisted for a Creative Data Lions under the Use of Events & Stunts. This campaign for Pizza Hut by Publicis Middle East is shortlisted for two subcategories under the Media Lions for the Use of Social Platforms and the Innovative Use of Influencers/Creators. This work is shortlisted for a PR Lions for the Use of Events & Stunts. This work by VML Riyadh for KUDU has been shortlisted for a Social & Creator Lions under the Travel, Leisure, Retail, Restaurants, & Fast-Food Chains category. This work from TBWA\RAAD for KFC has been shortlisted for an Entertainment Lions for Gaming for the Use of Gaming/Streaming Platforms. This spot from BigTime Creative Shop for The Ring has been shortlisted in three categories for an Entertainment Lions for Sport: Brand Storytelling, Sports Live Experience and Innovation in Sport. Another spot from BigTime Creative Shop for Riyadh Season has been shortlisted for an Entertainment Lions for Sport under Fan Engagement/Distribution Strategy This work for AnNahar from Impact BBDO has been shortlisted for a Creative Strategy Lions and a Creative Business Transformation Lions under Long-Term Brand Platform. This work for EBM from Impact BBDO is shortlisted for a Film Lions under the Local Brand subcategory. This work from Saatchi & Saatchi ME for Carrefour has been shortlisted for a Brand Experience & Activations Lions under Cultural Engagement. This work from LEO, Jeddah/ Saatchi & Saatchi Middle East, Dubai for Saudia Airlines is shortlisted for a Brand Experience & Activations Lions under Social Behaviour. This work for Arabian Automobiles Company from TBWA\RAAD has been shortlisted for two Creative Business Transformation Lions under New Relationship Models and Venture Models & Corporate Innovation. This campaign from UN Women by Impact BBDO has been shortlisted for three Creative Effectiveness Lions under Creative Effectiveness for Good, Not-For-Profit/Charity/Government and Breakthrough on a Budget. See all the shorlisted and winning work from Cannes Lions this year here.
Campaign ME
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Campaign ME
Cannes Lions 2025: Day 1 highlights
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2025 is off to a flyer – and if Day 1 of the five-day festival is anything to go by, it has all the makings of another 'best ever' since it found its permanent home in Côte d'Azur, Cannes in 1984. Setting the pace for year ahead, the first day came to life with inspiring keynotes, informative panel discussions and the Middle East region's first Gold metal cat of 2025. True it's representation of the region on the global stage, Campaign Middle East was in the thick of it all. To answer the most pertinent question: Who won what? As it stands, at the end of Day 1, agencies from the Middle East have officially been conferred six coveted awards. These include AUDIO AND RADIO CATEGORY: 1 GOLD LION, 1 SILVER LION Campaign title: The Second Release Agency: SRMG Labs, Riyadh Client: Billboard Arabia, Riyadh HEALTH AND WELLNESS CATEGORY: 1 BRONZE LION Campaign title: The Shaded Route Agency: VML Riyadh Client: Hungerstation OUTDOOR CATEGORY: 1 BRONZE LION Campaign title: The Shaded Route Agency: VML Riyadh Client: Hungerstation1 BRONZE LION Campaign title: Not For First Dates Agency: FP7 McCann Dubai Client: McDonald's PRINT AND PUBLISHING CATEGORY: 1 BRONZE LION Campaign title: JORDAN 23 Agency: LEO Dubai Client: NBA India Keynotes and key takeaways from Day 1 at Cannes Lions Proceedings at Cannes Lions 2025 began with a heartfelt keynote by Tor Myhren, VP of Marketing Communications, Apple, who sounded a call for human-driven creativity in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). 'I've got good news and I've got bad news,' Myrhen said as he began the introductory keynote. 'The good news is that AI is not going to kill advertising. The bad news is AI is not going to save advertising either. We have got to save advertising ourselves; and I think it's by believing in what's always made it special – which is human creativity.' Myrhen went on to discuss the moral compass of a brand, highlighting how Apple has stood its ground on privacy. After playing the Flock ad on the big screen, Myrhen mentioned that although the ad comes across as 'pretty creepy' he still loved that an ad this subversive became that popular. He reiterated that the success of the ad lay in the fact that it was 'extremely human.' He also went on to celebrate a decade of 'Shot on iPhone' ads; he discussed the power of immersive videos; and he showcased the beauty of 'democratising hearing health' with the Airpods referring to the AirPods Pro 2, which now double up as a clinical-grade Hearing Aid. Commenting on the creativity that led to the success of each of these ideas, Myrhen added, 'It's the brain and the heart working together to create something special. No one would say that 40 seconds of muffled sound would become Apple's most watched holiday ad ever. But Google had the highest search volume for hearing aids in the history of Google search after this ad came out. This is making a difference, which is awesome.' Before concluding his keynote, Myrhen injected the brand, marketing and agency audience in Théâtre Claude Debussy at Cannes with a shot of positivity. 'I think the world needs more optimism,' he said, adding, 'We need to drive, with AI riding shotgun. The best marketing makes people feel and laugh and cry and wonder or fall in love with a person or an idea or a brand. We all want to feel. There's no technology, or algorithm, or artificial intelligence that works in our world that is more capable of making us truly 'feel' like the human mind does. I believe that this industry was built on creativity, and that's the game we can win. The human touch is our superpower, so use it. Use your sense of humour; use your incredible taste; use your subtle nuance; use your originality; use your brain and your heart to go out there and make something wonderful.' Responding to this stellar keynote, Ali Rez, Chief Creative Officer, Impact BBDO said, 'Great one to start the week. I think that set the tone for the rest of the week really well. The subject of the human touch, especially in an era where we're increasingly relying on machines was special. Also, the value of emotion and craft – and nobody does it better than Apple – will never be eroded.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Campaign Middle East (@campaignmiddleeast) Through Day 1 at Cannes Lions, Campaign Middle East also interviewed: Aude Gandon, Global Chief Marketing Officer of Nestlé; Matt Manning, President, dentsu Sports International; Mike Khouri, CEO of Independent Agency of the Year-winning Tactical; and reported on a panel at the Stagwell Sports Beach with athlete Noah Lyles, currently the fastest man in the world and Olympic gold medalist; athlete Lauren Carlini, LOVB Madison Founding Athlete and Olympic medalist; Alexis Ohanian, Principal Owner, Los Angeles Golf Club & Angel City FC; and Glenn Cole, Founder and Chairman, 72andSunny. Day 1 Gallery CMOs in the spotlight: Mars, Amazon, Novartis Adapt or die: Why giants can't dance 1/5 Sir John Hegarty, Creative, The Business of Creativity Changing the Game: Building Brands in the Age of Experiences Tune into Campaign Middle East's live coverage across its social media channels to stay updated on the latest of what's happening at The Palais, the Rotonde, The Carlton Hotel and stay tuned for exciting events at the Campaign House Hilton Canopy.
