Case Studies for the 2024 Cannes Lion Grand Prix Winners
Whether your love or hate ad awards, these case studies are a masterclass in business storytelling
First things first: advertising awards are ridiculous. They are an enormous waste of time and money.
And Cannes Lions is the most bloated, crassest money-grab of them all. This year, they received 26,696 entries. (See the chart below for a full breakdown of entries and winners by category.)
Total entries were down a little bit from last year, but don’t feel too bad for them; my back-of-the-envelope math suggests they still raked in more than $36M on entry fees alone. (Between entry fees, festival passes and sponsorships, the festival generated $129M last year.)
BUT…setting aside the ad industry’s obscene spend to pat itself on the back (while laying off people left and right)…the best creative work IS inspiring and worth celebrating.
I compiled links to all the case studies for the 2024 Grand Prix winners in all categories. They’re worth watching.
Because, when it comes to winning ad awards, a great case study film is (alas) more important than the campaign itself. 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. The ability to answer the question “did it work?” in two minutes or less is something we should all learn to do.
There’s always debate about whether the work that wins at Cannes is “real” or not. My two cents is that there are two classes of creativity honored by the festival: campaigns that sell stuff and efforts that solve a big problem
There are some super impressive solve-a-problem winners this year: making MRI machines less scary for childhood cancer patients, helping the blind navigate cities, facilitating an escape from Taliban oppression, ending child marriage…
But, respectfully, those are a whole different ball of wax than selling lotion, dog food, or motion-sickness pills. You know…advertising. 😉
2024 CANNES LIONS GRAND PRIX WINNERS
Titanium
Titanium: Doordash all the Ads — Doordash & Wieden+Kennedy
Classic
Audio & Radio: The Misheard Version — Specsavers & Golin
Film: Women’s Football — Orange & Marcel & Play it Safe — Sydney Opera House & The Monkeys/Accenture Song
Outdoor: Find Your Summer — Magnum & Lola MullenLowe & Adoptable — Pedigree & Colenso BBDO
Print & Publishing: Recycle Me — Coca-Cola & Ogilvy
Craft
Design: Sightwalks — Sol Cement & Circus Grey
Film Craft: The Square Meter — Hornback D.I.Y. & Heimat\TBWA ❤️
Digital Craft: Spreadbeats — Spotify & FCB New York (Short version) ❤️
Industry Craft: The 100th Edition — Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung & Schloz & Friends
Engagement
Creative B2B: Meet Marina Prieto — JC Decaux & David ❤️
Creative Data: Room for Everyone — Mastercard & McCann Poland
Direct: The Everyday Tactician — Xbox & McCann
Media: The Handshake Hunt — Mercado Libre & Gut ❤️
Public Relations: The Misheard Version — Specsavers & Golin
Social & Influencer: Michael CeraVe — CeraVe & Ogilvy
Entertainment
Entertainment: We Are Ayenda — WhatsApp & Creative X
Entertainment for Gaming: The Everyday Tactician — Xbox & McCann ❤️
Entertainment for Music: Errata at 88 — Diageo & AlmapBBDO
Entertainment for Sport: Women’s Football — Orange & Marcel
Experience
Brand Experience & Activation: The First Edible Mascot — Pop-Tarts & Weber Shandwick ❤️
Creative Business Transformation: Refurb — Philips & LePub
Creative Commerce: Renault: Cars to Work — Renault & Publicis Conseil
Innovation: Voice 2 Diabetes — KVI Brave Fund Inc & Kilck Health
Luxury & Lifestyle: Loewe x Suna Fujita — Loewe ❤️
Strategy
Creative Effectiveness: It Has to be Heinz — Heinz Ketchup & Rethink
Creative Strategy: A Piece of Me — PN & Dentsu Creative
Health
Health & Wellness: The Last Barf Bag — Dramamine & FCB Chicago ❤️
Pharma: Magnetic Stories — Siemens Healthineers & Area 23
Health Grand Prix for Good: Child Wedding Cards — UN Women & Impact BBDO
Good
Glass: The Lion for Change: Transition Body Lotion — Unilever & Ogilvy
Sustainable Development Goals: Renault: Cars to Work — Renault & Publicis Conseil
Grand Prix for Good: The First Speech — Russia, The First Speech — Turkey, The First Speech — Venezuela Reporters Without Borders & Innocean Berlin
FWIW, these didn’t win Grand Prix, but were some of my other fave case studies this year: Coors Lights Out | Thanks for Coke Creating | Snoop Goes Smokeless | Google Search Playground
Also, if you really want to go deep, LoveTheWorkMore.com does a great job of collecting links for all the Gold, Silver, and Bronze winners, too.
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.
