Listen To This Algorithm

Michael Hedges June 23, 2014 Follow on Twitter

Faced with all the hype and hubbub from the masters of the digital universe, the advertising people have, mostly, turned to big data, big numbers and all the boring nerdy stuff. Being creative is less important in the world of Facebook. It’s all about targeting, efficiency and programmatic buying. Well, almost…

The Grand Prix for radio at the Cannes Lions ad fest went to South African agency Ogilvy and Mather Johannesburg.  The winning campaign was for sports energy drink Lucozade. The three-spot series was designed to be perky and succeeded.

“It has every element of craft,” said radio jury president Tony Hertz, quoted by AdAge (June 18). “It’s beautifully written, excellently produced and there is nothing to criticize about it.” Sometimes the best radio spots are abundantly good radio spots; ear candy, yes, but other tricks left aside. The Lucozade campaign also won gold Cannes Lion for scriptwriting. Producer was Johannesburg production house Produce Sound. “It was one of those campaigns that because you had to listen to it a lot, it didn't feel like a duty.” See and hear all radio Cannes Lions winners here.

Last year’s radio Grand Prix went to the Australian “Dumb Ways To Die” campaign, which won altogether Grand Prix in five categories and 18 Gold Lions to become the all-time most-awarded ad campaign in Cannes history.  The 2012 Cannes radio Grand Prix was awarded to Brazilian agency Talent for Go Outdoor magazine’s “Radio Repellent” campaign. Radio entries were off again this year; seven Gold Lions were awarded down from nine in 2013.

Five of the seven radio Gold Lions were from the Southern Hemisphere, a trend worth noting as European and North American agencies engage evermore completely in digital everything. Dubai’s Impact BBDO and Australia’s Eardrum won gold for the Commercial Insurance three-spot series in the use of music and sound sub-category.  Radio specialist agency Eardrum is no stranger to Cannes, winning a gold Lion for best use of radio in 2012.

Bogota, Columbia agency Sancho BBDO won a gold radio Lion for the Fundación Éxito childhood hearing campaign “Radiometries” as best use of radio as a medium. The campaign also won bronze in the media category. Also winning gold for use of radio as a medium was the “Raising Voices” campaign from Ogilvy & Mather Argentina for Colegio Las Lomas Oral featuring a rendition of the Argentine national anthem by the school choir. A pointedly anti-discrimination radio spot called “Happy” for Fundación Todo Mejora from Santiago, Chile agency TBWA/Frederick won a gold Lion for public service.

Winning a gold radio Lion in both the food and scriptwriting subcategories was the slightly existential “Life and death in New York City” spot for Magnum ice cream from Madrid agency Lola. “I savor the taste of my coming death, a death in New York,” starts the VO. “A death that begins with her…” and it ends with that crunchy bite. “When a Magnum dies, pleasure lives.” Great radio ads tell stories and set-up that sell-line.

Radio’s ascendance among South Africa’s ad community has come from good marketing sense and a concerted effort from agencies and broadcasters. “It started about ten years ago when the executive creative directors really made an effort to work towards raising the skill level and approach to radio because TV budgets in (South Africa) started dwindling,” said Cannes radio jury member and agency House of Brave executive creative director Vanessa Pearson, quoted by Biz-Community (June 19). TV spots, she explained, were less and less locally produced, spots from elsewhere with local voice-overs. “Radio is really important in South Africa.”

Radio was represented in other Cannes Lions categories. Hindustan Unilever’s branded content initiative offering 15 minutes of radio listening – plus ads – won gold in the mobile category. The “Better with music” TV ad campaign for Spanish radio channel Radio Euskadi won gold in the film category.

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