WHAT MAKES A GRAND PRIX WINNER?

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CANNES LIONS JUNE 2014

Cannes Lions Grand Prix winners’ creative genius is undisputed but what human truths underpin 2014’s Lions?

As a behavioural insights practice, we don’t judge a campaigns’ creative strength, but we do deconstruct how and why they resonate with their audience.

Post-recession blow-outs, an appetite for risk and a desire to make a difference are major themes shaping this year's winners.

Still reeling from the global recession, we’ve seen the rise of personal treats, and moments when even small wins become epic. But it’s far from gloomy for Millennials. They’re generation can, not generation can’t. It’s one of their defining mantras.

And far from seeking shelter, people are continuing to embrace risk - as long as there’s an invisible safety harness, whether it’s a Nivea wristband or Volvo roll-cage.

The desire to make a difference is leading to a collective social conscience. At one extreme is hacktivism and civic responsibility - taking on leadership roles where governments can’t or wont. At the other extreme is clicktivism. If changing the world is as easy as buying a new pair of jeans or using an ATM, then who wouldn’t want to be involved?

Explore it, critique it and let us know what you think.

Nick , Sam, Harry, Lore and the Canvas8 team

!“Self-gifting represents a form of carefully planned retail therapy" Bryant Simon, Author !

Up to 59% of a typical London family’s income is spent on rent. Job opportunities are scarce, and finances tightly controlled. And when cash does flow, there’s an urge to treat themselves. It’s a pressure valve.

This intensifies during the festive season. In 2012, people spent an average of around £150 on gifts for themselves during the holiday period – a 27% increase on five years previously.

With nearly two thirds of shoppers admitting to cheering themselves up by spending, seasonal retail isn't always a selfless experience.

SORRY, I SPENT IT ON MYSELF HARVEY NICHOLS

!”The strongest narrative for challenger brands that's emerged in recent years is this idea of the people's champion” Adam Morgan, Author !

When aspirations hit a brick wall, the portrayal of unrealistic achievements typically associated with energy drinks becomes obsolete.

By giving people more energy “in exceedingly average moments,” Lucozade reflects a more attainable reality. A reality where even small wins become ‘epic’.

It drives an underdog mentality that people can easily identify with.

LUCOZADE LUCOZADE ENERGY DRINK

!”Take possession of a cultural artefact, make it more detailed, more contextually responsive, more culturally nuanced and more valuable" Grant McCracken, Anthropologist !

Life is hard. In 2013, 1 in 10 Americans were clinically depressed. For the first time people were projecting that future generations would not have it as good.

Pharrell told the world to stop overthinking it. That happiness was a choice. A state of mind.

He offered a video ‘geo-remix’, simply saying “we’re choosing happiness too” – with postcards to the rest of the world reading "We're happy. With love from…"

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!PHARRELL WILLIAMS - 24 HOURS OF HAPPY UNIVERSAL / IAMOTHER

!”Our brains are social-monitoring devices much more than calculators… learning from the example of those around us” Mark Earls, co-author of ‘I’ll Have What She’s Having’ !

The simple act of smiling can make you happier. There is a positive neural messaging that benefits your health and happiness. And through facial mimicry, the more people smile, the more they make others around them feel happier.

But emotional contagion happens in reverse too.

Coca-Cola’s Happy ID encourages happiness using identity cards to spread positive emotional contagion.

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!HAPPY ID COCA-COLA

!”Data visualisation is the process of making the invisible visible” Dr. Sara Diamond, President OCAD !

Built on a musical algorithm, the living pattern captures the spirit of the avant garde festival. The pattern interacts with the entire festival ecosystem - the programme, the poncho and the city.

Taking cues from contemporary nightclub design with its guerrilla stunts, the effect is open and exciting.

And by giving people their own tools to generate music, it propels the festival from passive to participatory.

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!BERGEN INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL BRAND CAMPAIGN BERGEN INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL

!”By being a racing driver you are under risk all the time" Ayrton Senna, F1 Driver !

Films like Senna and Rush demonstrate a nostalgia for the hard-living, fast driving playboy years of Formula One. A time when Formula One was exciting, loud and dangerous.

Those days are gone, but the data trails remain. And by fusing the data with new technology, Honda simulated the memory through racecar sounds and lights.

Sound of Honda gave people an emotional data-driven experience from a single lap, 24 years ago.

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!SOUND OF HONDA / AYRTON SENNA 1989 HONDA MOTOR CO.

!”Homo sapiens were the only group of early hominids to emigrate over the entire world, which entailed great risk” Marvin Zuckerman, Psychologist !

Humans are programmed to seek out risks and danger. It’s a dopamine release. We’re demanding experiences like Tough Mudder, and shouting “YOLO!”

But 4 in 5 Americans spend their days behind desks. Coupled with an emphasis on health and safety, most people prefer to ‘play it safe’, watching others from the safety of their TVs or tablets.

Volvo’s Live Test Series shows that ‘safe’ doesn’t eliminate risk, but can facilitate it - and by association, safety becomes a little bit cooler.

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!THE EPIC SPLIT / LIVE TEST SERIES VOLVO

!”Children love to play in moderately risky ways. Through play, they acquire the physical, social, and emotional capacities required for healthy development " Peter Gray, Psychologist !

Over the past 60 years, we’ve seen a huge decline in children’s freedom and an opportunity to play on their own. It’s led to a rise in ‘helicopter parenting’.

Nivea’s wristband means kids can roam free, but parents know where they are.

With Brazil’s beaches notoriously overcrowded, the brand played both to parents’ fears and their desire to take a step back.

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!PROTECTION AD NIVEA SUN KIDS

!”The reason we fall out of love with technology is simple. We stop paying attention" Adam Frank, Astrophysicist and NPR commentator !

Louis C.K. reminded us that “everything is amazing right now, but nobody's happy.”

To stop and appreciate everyday things can be immobilising. So we rely on novel stimuli to grab our attention - if only for a moment.

British Airways understood this desire to better appreciate what we already have, using new technology to draw attention to old technology. It reconstructs the appreciation we all had as children when we first saw a plane fly overhead, as awestruck adults pointed to the awestruck child pointing skywards.

!!MAGIC OF FLYING BRITISH AIRWAYS

!”We are more concerned with the context – the ‘what’s going on’ – than the projection of identity" Dr. Pamela Rutledge, Psychologist !2013 may have been the year of the selfie, but selfies are less an expression of self-admiration and more a communication of ‘I was there’ moments.

MegaFon used selfies to communicate the sense of historic occasion, personalise people's Olympic experience and maximise their social currency

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MEGAFACES - MEGAFON SOCHI OLYMPIC PAVILION MEGAFON

!”There's conflict between the desire to do good and the desire to do nothing… We need lazy ways to do good" William Tupe, Philanthropist !

55% of people say they would pay more for sustainable products. Sustainability is rarely the primary motivation to buy a product, but it helps post-rationalise the purchase.

With 2.5 billion aspirational consumers seeking style, status and sustainability, it becomes a pro-social identity marker.

And it’s easy. G-Star realised that solving the world’s problems by buying a great pair of jeans is an attractive proposition.

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!!RAW FOR THE OCEANS G-STAR RAW

!”Fiction seems to be more effective at changing beliefs than nonfiction” Jonathan Gottschall !

The healthy eating debate is a difficult challenge for brands to stomach.

Chipotle’s response? A hard hitting adult narrative softened by a Pixar-style animation, Willy Wonka soundtrack and gaming delivery. It’s a semiotics homerun.

What Chipotle demonstrated is that if you have nothing to hide, then you have something to say.

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THE SCARECROW CHIPOTLE

!”We’re not going to change the world, but if we can make a big enough noise for people to notice there's a problem, someone will take notice” Member of hacktivist group Anonymous !

The perceived failing of many traditional institutions to bring about social change has seen the rise of ‘if you don’t do it, we will’ activism. This attitude speaks volumes of a globally minded citizen focused on results, action and momentum.

Drawing heavily on Hollywood-esque cinematic codes and convention, the result is morality in black and white: supporting ‘Sweetie’ publicises people's affiliation with a campaign for good.

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!SWEETIE TERRE DES HOMMES NETHERLANDS

!”Making things more observable makes them easier to imitate” Jonah Berger, Professor of Marketing !

Political hesitation saw the law allowing gay marriage in Australia overturned in December 2013.

While most Australians have long been supportive of marriage equality, their support has been silent.

For ANZ, in a country where trust in business is greater than trust in government, it was a civic responsibility.

Playfully (and proudly) reskinning ordinary ATMs, ANZ enabled public support to become… public.

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!GAYTMs ANZ

!”Shame reflects how we feel about ourselves. Guilt involves an awareness that our actions have injured someone else" Joseph Burgo, Psychologist !

By 2050, the UN predicts that 75% of the world’s population will be crammed into megacities. This impacts both those moving and those left behind. Cramming into cities paradoxically creates more, not less, loneliness.

Guilt Trips confronts the issue head on - borrowing from the way charity messaging has typically been coded.

V/Line identified the line between shame and guilt; rather than shaming people into a defensive reaction, it used guilt to elicit a positive action.

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!GUILT TRIPS V/LINE

There’s a more in-depth study on the behaviours underpinning this year’s winners, available on request.

For your free copy please email cannes@canvas8.com

Canvas8 is an online intelligence resource that helps innovators better understand what matters to their audience and why.