All Very Unconventional From The Sound Of It

Michael Hedges June 29, 2015 Follow on Twitter

The creative side of advertising thrives on the edge. On one side is all the excitement digital media affords. On the other, it’s the workhorse of traditional media. Big ideas must fit both. And those ideas can come from anywhere.

Each year ad people and their followers descend on the French Rivera to show-off their wares at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Notwithstanding celebrities in view and renowned parties awards, known simply as the Cannes Lions, are liberally distributed among creative directors, writers and producers. The discerning eye - and ear - can spot a trend or two among the spots.

A seven-and-a-half minute audio portrait won the Radio Lion Grand Prix for Grey Berlin, the first ever top honor by a German agency. Titled “The Berlin Wall of Sound” the spot for streaming audio platform Soundcloud, “unconventional” and “ominous” said AdAge (June 24), features voices from the era mixed with an eery audio track. It was created by production houses Studio 206, Mokoh Music and Studio Funk to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Soundcloud’s Berlin offices are located along the Berlin Wall’s perimeter.

"It's harrowing, it's macabre and it's a memorial to the Berlin Wall," said radio jury president Paul Reardon. "For us, it was a really interesting, fresh way of looking at radio in light of how it's consumed these days. You could argue it's for a niche audience, but the way we interact with radio is changing rapidly. For Soundcloud to remind people of what radio can do and how many levels it can do it, it seemed relevant, on top of being strategic, an original idea and flawlessly executed."

"In the year of 2015, when audio and radio on a global level seem to be making headlines every second week— whether its the advance of digital radio, Spotify or Apple collaborating with Beats -this is a really relevant piece,” he said in a statement. Apparently, the Soundcloud ad appeared only on the Soundcloud service. It also won gold in the Cyber Lion category - the proprietary wave-file looks like the Berlin Wall - and a Radio Silver Lion.

The 2014 Cannes Lions Radio Grand Prix went to Ogilvy & Mather Johannesburg, South Africa for a Lucozade energy drink campaign; one of which took a poke at those always draining client conference calls the tag-line being “Give Me Strength.” A year earlier a campaign by McCann Melbourne, Australia for the extraordinary Dumb Way To Die public service announcements for Metro Trains, which also won two Gold Lions. A radio campaign for Go Outside Magazine created by Talent Sao Paulo, Brazil using a technical trick to chase away bugs took the Radio Grand Prix in 2012. BBDO Johannesburg, South Africa won the 2011 Radio Grand Prix for a Mercedes Benz campaign. No map is needed to find four of the last five Cannes Radio Grand Prix winners from the Southern Hemisphere. A Radio Grand Prix wasn’t even awarded in 2010.

This year there were 1,720 entries for Cannes Radio and Radio Craft awards, 179 short-listed and 58 winners. Two South African agencies - Ogilvy & Mather Johannesburg and TBWA Johannesburg - took Radio Gold Lions. Wunderman Columbia and Prolam Y&R Santiago, Chile each took one as well as one each from the UK (O&M London), Canada (Grey Toronto) and the US (Y&R Miami).

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