Cannes Lion is the most prestigious event in the advertising world. The festival sets the tone for the coming year, showcasing a range of outstanding and innovative digital ads that have had a significant impact beyond just influencing consumer purchasing intentions. Most of the ads that have been shortlisted or are in the running to win the Grand Prix have left viewers contemplating their beliefs, their impact on the world, and the kind of society we are creating for future generations. These ads have transcended traditional digital advertising.
After testing over 40 global digital ads on Incivus, a GenAI platform that measures the Creative Effectiveness of digital ads before their launch, we have identified the top 10 ads that scored exceptionally well on our Creative Effectiveness scale. The Creative Effectiveness score takes into account all the parameters that Incivus evaluates, providing marketers with data-backed insights to make informed decisions, rather than relying solely on gut-based decisions.
Let’s discuss our Creatively Effective picks for the Cannes Lion 2024.
#10 EatQual by McDonalds India
On October 12, 2023, McDonald’s India launched a campaign for #WorldSightDay. The advertisement features a color-blind photographer capturing images throughout the streets of India. It portrays how he interprets colors and the impact of turning on a color-blind-friendly mode. The 1-minute ad garnered 3.5 million views on YouTube and received numerous comments applauding McDonald’s for driving a positive change, while also questioning why it took so long for brands to make such a shift, leaving a lasting impact on the viewer. The ad scored 89.87 on Incivus, the minimal ad copy and the clear-cut visuals and colors all played a key role in how emotionally gripping the ad was.
#9 Rights Against the Right by Laut Gegen Nazis
This ad campaign struck the ‘right’ chord! In an effort to combat hate speech and violence, a non-profit organization called “Laut Gegen Nazis” has obtained the rights to trademarks of neo-Nazi symbols and slurs. The organization aims to prevent the sale of merchandise featuring these symbols and slurs, which ultimately funds hate campaigns. By trademarking these codes, the organization can exert copyright claims and remove them from all merchandise in stores. The ad film features a former neo-Nazi discussing how purchasing such merchandise contributes to funding hate campaigns, the film takes on how the organization left a lasting impact with visuals of hate speech and protest tying the campaign all together. When tested on an Incivus basis the ad copy, visuals, and the overall Creative Effectiveness score was 90.85, fairing high on the scale.
#8 Coors Lights Out by Coors Light
The virality of this campaign is still making the rounds. Coors Light made Shohei Ohtani its ambassador after he struck the baseball onto Coors Light’s ad on the screen of a game. Rather than replacing the sign, they redesigned the packaging and took a spin on the narrative! Thousands of comments and followers flooded the Coors’ Instagram pages, and tweets and discussions surrounding the brand gave them the limelight they deserved. The Creative Effectiveness score was 91.01 when tested on Incivus.
#7 Michael Cera by CeraVe
In a funny campaign featuring actor Michael Cera, the camera zooms in on him as he applies the popular CeraVe moisturizer to soothe dry skin, even putting it on mountains. The ad emphasizes that the cream contains 3 ceramides, which are highlighted in an office setting with a dermatologist board. The dermatologists in the ad reacted to the quirky yet amusing campaign when the commercial concludes with the tagline “CeraVe made by Dermatologists, Not Michael Cera.” The ad debuted on Super Bowl weekend, and the CeraVe brand received 12.2 million views on Instagram, along with numerous comments discussing this clever move by CeraVe. When tested on Incivus, the ad achieved a Creative Effectiveness score of 91.39.
#6 WoMen’s Football by Orange
Causing a worldwide sensation, we witnessed the impact of VFX. The ad film starring players of the men’s football team making goals and displaying striking talents at the game was unveiled to actually be the morphed faces of the men upon the women’s talent, questioning the viewer’s discriminations. The ad film challenged the ideologies to help bring visibility to the women’s football team. The widespread shares of the video making the rounds on social media was validated by our Creative Effectiveness score as well, scoring 91.4 on the scale.
#5 How to Quit by Anzen Health
Tackling the crux of addiction, the How To Quit campaign offered support to those who struggle. With every drug available at the pharmacy having a unique number, the campaign urged addicts to dial HOW-TO-QUIT-(Pill code) with every last three-digits being the unique code correlating to the opioid. At the other end, the addict is met with a drug addiction survivor who talks about the effects of the particular opioid they are, too, addicted to. The campaign went viral on social media and increased the number of people willing to quit drug addiction. When tested on Incivus, the campaign scored 93.08.
#4 Cost of Beauty by Dove
Dove’s Ready Beauty campaign strikes yet again with the Cost of Beauty campaign. It shows the journey of a young woman fighting her body image and constantly comparing herself to those on social media. It shows her journey with an eating disorder that led her to be admitted into the hospital and many such stories to bring light upon the challenges of women in today’s social media-driven world. The campaign scored 93.5 on the Creative Effectiveness score and garnered 280K views on YouTube!
#3 Meet iPager – Help Apple by Android
Android takes a jab at Apple in their “Meet iPager – Help Apple” ad film which showcases a similar visual and textual language to Apple’s advertisements, Android coxes Apple’s little advancements in their digital innovation. However, this ad faired well on social media, and brands like Samsung who use Android software weighed into the banter.
When tested on Incivus, the ad film scored 93.57 on the Creative Effectiveness scale.
#2 The Code by Dove
Dove making the top 5 list on the creative effectiveness scale is of no surprise, Dove’s Real Beauty initiative embarked on 3 billion dollars in revenue in the campaign’s history, we look forward to hearing them speak in the Cannes Lion this year. The Code by Dove challenges how AI sees beauty or rather ‘Real Beauty’, the campaign also goes on to say that Dove will never use AI-generated images in their campaigns to create or distort women’s images, a strong and bold move in the age of AI revolution. The campaign gained 1.7M views on Instagram, with thousands of comments appreciating Dove’s stance. The ad scored 93.63 on Incivus’ creative effectiveness score.
#1 Banned Book Club by Digital Public Library
In a powerful move to combat the rising tide of book bans that threaten intellectual freedom, the Digital Public Library launched the “Banned Book Club.” This gripping ad film highlights the issue, showcasing over 2,000 libraries banning books in the past year alone. The campaign utilizes innovative geo-targeting technology to make these very books accessible digitally to readers in the very communities where they’ve been banned. While the movement sparked media controversy, it also garnered widespread applause for the library’s fierce defense of intellectual freedom. Scoring a staggering 94.44 on Incivus’ Creative Effectiveness scale, the “Banned Book Club” ad tops our list and stands as a testament to the power of creativity in sparking social change.
If you aim to be in the top 10 at Cannes Lion next year, consider testing your ad creative on Incivus to gain detailed insights and choose your most effective creative. Request for a demo here.
