Middle East Shines at 70th Edition of Cannes Lions Bagging First Grand Prix for KSA
Wunderman Thompson Saudi Arabia’s 'Subconscious Order' campaign for HungerStation has won the Grand Prix in the "Creative Commerce" at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2023. Impact BBDO won big for its client, An Nahar Newspaper, for the second year in a row with a Grand Prix in the Print and Publishing category for their 'Newspapers Inside the Newspaper Edition'
Combining innovative thinking and cutting-edge technology, ‘Subconscious Order’ is an app that taps into the subconscious mind to help the user decide what food they’re most in the mood for – eliminating the frustrations of decision fatigue that we all know so well when trying to pick food. In fact, according to a study by Seated, as quoted by the New York Post, the average adult spends around 132 hours a year looking at menus online. ‘Subconscious Order’ is designed for customers of HungerStation (Saudi Arabia’s version of Doordash or Deliveroo) and uses the camera on a mobile or desktop along with in-app eye calibration and vision AI to track the user’s eye movement. It then uses topic modeling AI to organize food options and present an instant report of what the eye lingered on the longest, to reveal the subconscious craving – generating a list of local restaurants where HungerStation customers can then order the food they desire the most.
Rayyan Aoun, ECD for Wunderman Thompson KSA said, “This is a truly historic win for both Cannes Lions and Saudi Arabia, as it is the first time a campaign from the Kingdom has won a Grand Prix – one of the most prestigious awards for creativity in the world. As the first – and still the leading – food delivery app in the Kingdom, HungerStation is a pioneer in its field. It feels fitting then, that, along with Wunderman Thompson, our innovative campaign has won a Cannes Lions Grand Prix – a groundbreaking achievement for Saudi Arabia.”
The inspiration behind the work stemmed from a study from The Biology of Belief by Dr. Bruce Lipton, which that found ‘the conscious mind can only process 40 bits of info per second. While the subconscious mind can process information up to 500,000 times quicker.’ That prompted the team to ask: “What if we help people connect better with their subconscious mind, and let it find the answer they’re looking for”?
Jason Carmel, Global Lead, Creative Data at Wunderman Thompson, said, “We are incredibly proud to have been part of such a momentous occasion and to have worked alongside HungerStation to deliver a powerful tool which is not only forward-thinking and smart, but that also taps into a genuine desire for the decision-making process to be simplified. This technology signals a step towards the future of ‘Zero UI’ interfaces, whereby users control a device through their voice, movements, glances, or thoughts. But it’s not tech for the sake of tech, it also addresses a need to cleverly address decision fatigue and help people with an important decision – choosing dinner!”
Commenting on the work, Nancy Crimi-Lamanna, Jury President of the Creative Commerce Lions said the campaign “turns transactional into emotional, and solves a pain point about choice overload which drives discoverability of new foods and places to order”. She continued: “In today’s world, brands have to apply meaningful value in order for people to offer the use of their facial data, and ‘Subconscious Order’ did this beautifully. It’s a wonderful example of AI being applied to commerce and is a bold, brave way to change the user experience, which is no mean feat.”
Winners for the Print and Publishing; Outdoor; Radio and Audio categories were announced in the Palace of Festivals and Congresses of Cannes today. Impact BBDO wins big for its client, An Nahar Newspaper, for the second year in a row with a Grand Prix in the Print and Publishing category.
Commenting on the great win, Dani Richa, CEO of Impact BBDO Dubai, “A third Grand Prix at Cannes Lions further salutes the courage of An Nahar and the creativity of Impact BBDO in delivering work defending the freedom of the press, no matter the challenges or the sacrifices.”
FP7 McCann Dubai brought home 9 Lions. The wins included 2 Silver Lions and 7 Bronze Lions for 5 campaigns across multiple business and award categories, with a total of 21 shortlists.
FP7 McCann Dubai won a Silver and a Bronze Lion in the Outdoor Category along with a Bronze in Brand Experience Category for the 'Heinzjack' campaign for Kraft Heinz
More wins bagged by FP7 McCann Dubai were for Babyshop's 'Frequencies of Peace' campaign: A Bronze Lion in Radio, another in Entertainment for Music and Media categories
Commenting on the agency's success, CEO of FP7 McCann MENAT, Tarek Miknas stated, “The results are a testament to the fact that the more we push the envelope and challenge the norms as Creative agencies, the more we see the impact on brand equity and business results. We couldn’t have achieved what we have, without the trust, partnership, and vision of our client partners.”
VMLY&R Dubai, in collaboration with VMLY&R Commerce from the US, earned a Silver Lion in the Radio category for their campaign 'I See Coke' for Coca-Cola. Miguel Bemfica, Chief Creative Officer at VMLY&R, "We are working in tough times. Where brands are competing not only for the attention of the consumers but also counting every dollar before launching anything. 'Alexa, I SEE COKE,' is a lovely example of innovation that takes advantage of all those years of product placement in Hollywood. For us, winning with a creative commerce solution idea for a legendary brand like Coke is magical."
Under the Health & Wellness category, two agencies, And Us and Saatchi & Saatchi, were recognized. And Us received a Silver Lion for their campaign 'Sole Music' for Sole Music, while Saatchi & Saatchi secured a Bronze Lion for their campaign 'Empty Plates' for the UAE Government Media Office.
