M&C Saatchi Sydney takes out rare Cannes Titanium Lion for Optus ‘Clever Buoy’
M&C Saatchi, Sydney has scored a very rare Cannes Titanium Lion, one of only five awarded tonight, for Optus ‘Clever Buoy’.
The Titanium Grand Prix went to CP+B Boulder for Dominos ‘Emoji Ordering’.
The Integrated Grand Prix went to Wieden + Kennedy New York for Jordan Brand ‘Re2pect’.
VIEW THE WINNERS – Titanium and Integrated Winners.xls
The win has capped M&C Saatchi Sydney’s most successful week ever at Cannes with a 10-Lion haul that included the much-coveted inaugural Gold Innovation Lion for Clever Buoy alongside its PR, Mobile and Cyber Gold’s.
Says Moray MacLennan, CEO, M&C Saatchi Worldwide: “The extraordinary collection of awards by our Sydney office is largely due to the winning combination of a great creative culture coming up with lateral solutions, and a client that made them happen. But it signals more than that – it reflects a step change in the M&C Saatchi global firepower in all major markets. Looking forward to next year.”
Says Jaimes Leggett, group CEO, M&C Saatchi Australia: “This has been an exceptional week in Cannes for M&C Saatchi Australia, and across the M&C Saatchi independent network. Winning a Titanium Lion is testament to the innovative and creative people we are lucky enough to have working with us at our agency in Australia and around the world.”
22 Comments
Go Boulder!!!
That’s nice but it’s an award for a prototype. For something that might happen.
Here’s my prototype for a cure for cancer.
Where’s my Lion?
Right on @Hi
I’ve thought about this all along. Not giving a shit about awards, but for the fact that I don’t want to be eaten alive while I surf!
Great idea, but does it work? Has it worked? Where’s it at? blah blah
But, now it’s cleaned up at Cannes, isn’t this a bit fishy, pardon the pun???? A bit scammy?
I ain’t seen one on my beach, or any other for that matter.
Guess that’s why it hasn’t won an effectiveness award.
Isn’t Cannes supposed to award work that works, not work that “hasn’t actually run yet’.
If we’re awarding ideas that haven’t happened, then why all the drama about scam ads over the years?
The rules change every year. What a joke.
How can you win such accolades when you didn’t do any of the innovation? How come these guys never get a mention? They did the innovation… M&C just wrapped an idea around it.
http://www.sharkmitigation.com/
(I’m not affiliated — just sick of this stuff…)
Not to mention WK judge awarding WK gran prix.
That Jeta work isn’t that great.
When I used to judge these shows, everyone on the panel was a seasoned pro.
Today there are hundreds of categories.
With new ones added each year.
It’s only natural that the bar for judges has to slip in order to fill so many panels.
Hold on a mo.
Are people saying M&C didn’t make the buoy then? What was the award for then?
So the Shark Mitigation guys do all the work, then M&C Saatchi send the lifeguard a text on their ‘Optus’ mobile phone. Brilliant! Titanium for you, sir.
However, the biggest flaw in this thing is right there on the Shark Mitigation website: The ‘Clever Buoy’ uses sonar technology to detect shark-sized objects in coastal areas.
Shark-sized objects? Where’s the genius in that?
Sounding the alarm and panicking the entire beach because there’s a ‘shark-sized object’ in the water that may or may not be a shark, most likely a whale during our regular whale migration season on the east coast or even a just marlin, this is not an award winner, this is a half baked idea that needs to be researched and then worked out how actually make it happen.
Try again, M&C.
is that Cannes is a festival for creativity, not effectiveness. So no, it’s not a show that awards “work that works”. It’s work that awards creative thinking, which falls into a blurry world of whether that thinking needs to be implemented or not. That’s why so much scam can win Cannes Lions. in fact most of the things that win in tech/innovation usually haven’t run outside of the agency. BUT AS HIT POWER GIRL GROUP B*WITCHED SAY IN CANNES, CE LA VIE.
I agree. A case of foreign judges being totally taken in by a very misleading case study.
I may be a little bias and defensive as a co-creator and ex-employee of M&C but wow! There really is a lack of ignorance on around how Cannes Lions are awarded and the judging criteria.
To win an innovation Lion you have to be shortlisted which means actually presenting the idea in person to the panel of judges. It isn’t just a 2 minute case study. The criteria on what can be entered is very clear in the entry guidelines.
As for the panel of judges slipping. Have a look at who the judges were. I think the calibre was pretty high. Just my opinion though.
If you disagree with any of the above then complain to the organisers don’t just call bullshit on an idea.
Of course M&C Saatchi didn’t make the buoy! They aren’t marine engineers. FFS!
Partnering with a specialist to make an idea a reality is how it works these days.
What did you think happened? They built it in their lab with a 3D printer and a soldering iron?
Did any of you bother to read how it actually works?
“It differentiates between the length of an object and its propulsion through the water using sonar signatures. It has successfully identified sharks during testing phases in Sydney Aquarium and the Abrolhos Islands, situated off the west coast of Australia.”
If you’ve got a question, then ask. Don’t hide behind pseudonyms, make assumptions and just troll.
Cheers,
James
This is just an idea…it’ll never happen.
Optus would never tie themselves up to such a risky venture. Imagine their network failed and a shark took a nice chomp at some one. Oh the law suits…..
This comment thread represents the worst of our industry. You should all be ashamed of yourselves.
Celebrate the fact that an Australian Agency has produced work which is being talked about around the world.
Instead, you sit behind you computer trolling like children.
Grow-up.
Clever Buoy is good. It represents a step change in the industry and that’s why it was awarded Titanium.
It’s time the Australian industry too a hard long look at itself…
And childish little trolls went back to writing their beer ads.
@James Bush “There really is a lack of ignorance on around how Cannes Lions are awarded and the judging criteria”. Doesn’t sound like it.
The horse has bolted.
M&C have won.Save your whinging until next year kiddies.
That all sounds kinda fair enough James Bush. There is just one more teensie little thing that would clear a lot of this up for me… What exactly was the brief from Optus that spawned this work?
So tex, I don’t know that you’ve thought that through…
Should we –
a. Wait until next year to whinge about this year’s result? – But everyone will have forgotten by then.
b. Wait until next year to whinge about next year’s result? – But why is it ok to whinge next year and not now?
It’s still rad that you’re called tex though.
Hi James,
I don’t believe the majority are attacking M&C over this, but more so the criteria for judging and awarding at Cannes.
The concept of using sonar to detect sharks is nothing new and a quick Google search will confirm the number of universities and other organisations that have been investigating this for years. Of course, the challenge is actually making such a device feasible for mainstream use to protect our beaches. Thus far, nobody has achieved this, including the team involved in Clever Buoy.
In essence, the judges have awarded nothing more than an existing idea that may, or may not, be practical at some stage in the future. I suspect it has been awarded because it is the first time such a idea has been entered at Cannes, as normally it is a university or technology company who is developing such a device. They generally don’t have much interest in paying several thousand dollars to enter an advertising festival in the south of France.
I also suspect that in judging 3000+ entries, none of the judges have the time to research whether this is actually a new idea, or simply an agency trumpeting their version of an existing concept.
Nobody would have any issue with this being awarded when (or if) it becomes a reality, as you collectively would be the first to achieve such a feat. indeed, you would deserve much more meaningful accolades from outside of the ad bubble. You would probably all be rich too.
As for my use of a pseudonym: I never know who I might be interviewing with in the future and I don’t want my legitimate questioning of the Cannes judging criteria to negatively impact on this.
As for “Sad day for Australian Advertising”: those beer ads you refer to sell millions of dollars worth of product for clients. The job we are supposed to be doing. How many more customers do you suppose Optus have got courtesy of Clever Buoy?
Ocean-goers worldwide breathe a huge sigh of relief – we’re all safe from sharks now.
Thanks M&C Saatchi Sydney.
@James
Actually your descriptor title is ironic. You weren’t the “creator” of the device. The agency was the mediator. You didn’t invent the technology. A big cellular network had the money to make the university’s innovation a reality. So let’s get a reality check to start with.
Let’s not forget James we’re in the art of selling and communicating an idea. Prototypes are great, but to a consumer it means stuff all.