APN Outdoor congratulates Grand Prix winners in the Outdoor Lions category at Cannes Lions

APN Outdoor congratulates the Grand Prix winners in the Outdoor Lions category at the 2018 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival of Creativity: McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada and Comedy Central.

McDonald’s minimalist campaign, “Follow The Arches”, was created by the Canadian agency Cossette and was described by Outdoor Jury president Chris Garbutt (global chief creative officer at TBWA), as “pure and iconic”.

The campaign was based on the restaurant chain’s logo and directed drivers to follow the curves of the “M” in the arches in whichever direction they need to go, with messages such as “Next Exit”, “On Your Left” and “Just Missed Us”.

Comedy Central’s winning entry was less traditional. Its Donald J. Trump Presidential Twitter Library was a satirical museum experience showcasing Trump’s relationship with Twitter. The free pop-up was created via Pop2Life and situated near Trump Tower in New York.

Says Charlotte Valente, general manager, marketing, APN Outdoor: “While it’s disappointing our Australian entrants didn’t take home Gold, Outdoor still enjoyed the highest number of entries, with twice as many entries as any other category.

“The campaign from McDonald’s is a fantastic example of less is more. The brand leveraged its iconic logo to create something that is instantly recognisable yet never revealed the brand in its entirety to provide an informative message. Sometimes breaking the rules to cut through makes sense.”

Mr Garbutt told www.canneslens.com.au: “McDonald’s [campaign] transcends languages, it’s so simple, confident and iconic.

“Comedy Central’s ‘Donald J Trump Presidential Twitter Library’ was a little bit less traditional. It was fantastic because it invited the audience in, utilising humour as an incredibly effective medium to combat the huge tension surrounding the current political landscape in America.

“The bigger narrative around outdoor occurs when human beings want to change something for the better they take to the streets. Outdoor media has the ability to engage in a face-to-face conversation on the streets, so in a way it’s the most revolutionary medium we have.”

Australia collected two awards in the Outdoor Lions category. CHE Proximity took home a Silver Lion for “Inconvenience Stores” for Swann Insurance, while Y&R Melbourne collected a Bronze Lion for “Sip Safe” for Monash University.