Case Studies for the 2023 Cannes Lion Grand Prix Winners

Whether your love or hate ad awards, these case studies are a masterclass in business storytelling

John Kovacevich
3 min readJun 23, 2023

--

Let’s get this out of the way: I think advertising awards shows are a huge waste of time and resources.

And Cannes Lions is the most bloated, crassest money-grab of them all. This year, they received 26,992 entries. My back-of-the-envelope math suggests that’s north of $40M on entry fees, alone. (I have strong feelings.)

BUT…setting aside the ad industry’s grotesque spend to pat itself on the back, the best creative work IS inspiring and worth celebrating.

I compiled links to all the case studies for the 2023 Grand Prix winners in all categories. They’re worth watching.

Because, when it comes to winning ad awards, a great case study film is (sadly) more important than a great campaign. This year’s winning case studies are a masterclass in the genre. (I put a ❤️ by my favorites.)

Even if you don’t give two figs about trophies, lots of us make our living telling business stories.

“Did it work?” is a question we get asked all the time. The ability to make a clear, compelling case—in two minutes or less—that “Yes, it worked like gangbusters” is something we should all learn to do.

Cannes Lions 2023 Grand Prix Winners

Radio & Audio: Skinny — Phone It In ❤️

Brand Experience & Activation: EA Sports/Apple — FIFA 23 x Ted Lasso

Outdoor: British Airways — A British Original

Print & Publishing: AnNahar — Newspapers Inside The Newspaper

Entertainment | Entertainment for Gaming: Clash of Clans — Clash from the Past ❤️

Digital Craft: Nike — Never Done Evolving, ft Serena

Industry Craft: Japan Railway Group — My Japan Railway ❤️

Entertainment for Sport: Michelob ULTRA — Dreamcaster

PR: DoorDash — Self-Love Bouquet

Media: Dove — Turn Your Back

Direct: Adidas — Runner 321

Creative Data: Stella Artois — The Artois Probability ❤️

Design | Creative Business Transformation: Microsoft — AdLam

Creative B2B: TERR4 — B3 Stock Exchange & U.N. Global Impact

Social & Influencer: Samsung — Flipvertising ❤️

Health & Wellness: Partners Life — The Last Performance

Health Grand Prix for Good: MSK Cancer Center — Working with Cancer

Pharma: Europharma — Scrolling Therapy

Innovation: Augmental — MouthPad

Mobile: PedidosYa — World Cup Delivery ❤️

Creative Effectiveness: Mondelez — Sha Rukh Khan-My-Ad

Creative Strategy: Renault — Plug Inn

Creative Commerce: HungerStation — The Subconscious Order

Titanium: Government of Tuvalu — The First Digital Nation

Grand Prix for Good: Fondation Anne de Gaulle — Paris Anne de Gaulle

Sustainable Development: Mastercard — Where to Settle

Glass: Korean National Police Agency — Knock Knock

Film: CALM x ITV — The Last Photo (case study) | CALM x ITV — The Last Photo (the film)

And these next few winners aren’t case studies, but simply links to the winning work. (Yes, in some categories, they let the work speak for itself!)

Film: Apple — R.I.P. Leon

Film Craft: Kendrick Lamar — We Cry Together

Entertainment for Music: Michael Kiwanuka — Beautiful Life & Apple — The Greatest

WANT MORE? Click here for links to the 2023 Gold, Silver, and Bronze Cannes Lions winners

MORE: The 10 Commandments of Award Show Case Study Videos

Here’s a quick breakdown of the entries and winners in each category:

NEW: See the case studies from the 2024 Grand Prix winners

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John Kovacevich is a creative director and the founder of Agency SOS. He writes a weekly email newsletter highlighting three bits of creative inspiration for modern marketers. You should subscribe.

--

--

John Kovacevich
John Kovacevich

Written by John Kovacevich

husband, father, writer, ad man, occasional actor

No responses yet